History_Academix :“History Matters More Than Ever: What the Past Teaches Us About Who We Are”

Abstract This article examines H. H. Holmes and his association with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition through the intersecting lenses of urban modernity, crime history, mass media, and historical memory. Rather than treating the exposition simply as the backdrop for the so-called White City murders, this study examines how the rapidly changing physical, cultural, and bureaucratic landscape of Gilded Age Chicago created opportunities for anonymity, mobility, fraud, and crime. It also distinguishes between documented aspects of Holmes’s criminal career and the sensational mythology that developed around his infamous building and alleged victims. Drawing upon contemporary newspaper coverage, court records from People v. Mudgett (1895), Holmes’s published confession, and subsequent interpretations, the article argues that Holmes became the dark mirror of the White City. While the exposition celebrated rational planning, technological innovation, economic progress, and American modern...

  Charleston S.C. Houston Tx SLAVERY AND SLAVE AGENCY – HOUSTON AND CHARLESTON David Buie College History Professor | Historian of Reconstruction, Memory & American Conflict | Dual Credit & Higher Education Instructor | Writer | Curriculum developer February 1, 2026 Introduction Slavery in the American South is often imagined as a single, uniform institution applied evenly across a homogeneous region. This assumption is misleading. The South was geographically, economically, and culturally diverse, and slavery reflected those differences. As David Goldfield argues, cities are products of their regions. This study applies that framework by comparing slavery and slave agency in two very different southern cities: the long-established port city of Charleston, South Carolina, and the frontier city of Houston, Texas. Rather than offering a comprehensive history of slavery in either location, this essay focuses on how slaves exercised agency and how local institutions developed t...

  Abstract Hidden beneath the modern streets of downtown Houston lies the largely forgotten site of the oldest Civil War prisoner of war camp in Texas. Overshadowed by more infamous prisons such as Andersonville, the Houston prisoner of war compound played a significant yet overlooked role in the Confederate carceral system and the broader history of the American Civil War. This project examines the origins, operation, and legacy of the Houston prison, focusing particularly on the experiences of the 42nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry captured during the Battle of Galveston in 1863 Today, the former site of the Houston Civil War prisoner of war camp lies beneath a younger, though historically significant, structure: the Merchant and Manufacturers Building. Were it not for a Texas state historical marker placed in 1965, there would be no indication that a Civil War prison once stood in the heart of what is now one of the largest cities in the United States. The Houston prison was...

  PTSD: A Look Through Film (1945–1989) David Buie College History Professor | Historian of Reconstruction, Memory & American Conflict | Dual Credit & Higher Education Instructor | Writer | Curriculum developer January 25, 2026 PTSD: A Look Through Film (1945–1989) David Buie World War II has, until relatively recently, been remembered as a “good war.” This perception was largely shaped by motion pictures, newsreels, and documentaries produced during and immediately after the conflict. Central to these films are their protagonists, who carry the action and serve as the primary point of connection for audiences. These characters also function as the chief instruments through which filmmakers convey meaning. By examining how filmmakers portray central protagonists, one can discern broader cultural motivations and attitudes toward World War II and war in general. An analysis of protagonists in eight films spanning four key historical periods reveals how changes in character d...