McDonald, Martin, Smith Present at Missouri Conference on History
Owen Martin, Jason McDonald and Christian Smith.
Jason McDonald, associate professor of history, along with Owen Martin and Christian Smith, senior history majors, presented at the Missouri Conference on History, March 11-13.
The group submitted their research in a panel focused on right-wing political movements and conservative opposition in 20th century America. The panel, titled “Conservatism, Radicalism, and Political Conflict in Twentieth-Century America,” featured three papers that addressed distinct aspects of American political activism.
McDonald’s paper explored the legacy of eugenicist Harry H. Laughlin and questioned whether the Truman administration’s immigration policies marked a substantive ideological departure from those underlying the Immigration Act of 1924. Martin’s paper, titled “Faith, Fascism, and Franco: How the Spanish Civil War Transformed Father Coughlin’s Populist Crusade,” examined the impact of the Spanish Civil War on the ideology and organization of the Coughlinite movement in the late 1930s. Smith’s paper investigated congressional conservative opposition to the Truman administration’s Fair Deal program, utilizing archival research supported by the Schwengel Scholarship, which allowed him to access primary sources at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri.
The group submitted their research in a panel focused on right-wing political movements and conservative opposition in 20th century America. The panel, titled “Conservatism, Radicalism, and Political Conflict in Twentieth-Century America,” featured three papers that addressed distinct aspects of American political activism.
McDonald’s paper explored the legacy of eugenicist Harry H. Laughlin and questioned whether the Truman administration’s immigration policies marked a substantive ideological departure from those underlying the Immigration Act of 1924. Martin’s paper, titled “Faith, Fascism, and Franco: How the Spanish Civil War Transformed Father Coughlin’s Populist Crusade,” examined the impact of the Spanish Civil War on the ideology and organization of the Coughlinite movement in the late 1930s. Smith’s paper investigated congressional conservative opposition to the Truman administration’s Fair Deal program, utilizing archival research supported by the Schwengel Scholarship, which allowed him to access primary sources at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri.
Martin was awarded the Petra DeWitt Prize for Best Student Paper, an honor presented annually at the Missouri Conference on History to recognize exceptional research. The conference is among the largest regional gatherings of historians in the Midwest. It offers students the opportunity to present original research alongside faculty scholars and graduate students from institutions throughout the region.
