Julia Brookins, a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at the University of Chicago, was the recipient of the second Elaine B. Davis Research Award. The announcement was made at the DRT Library's Texas History Forum on May 22, 2010.
The Davis Award will enable Ms. Brookins to conduct research for her dissertation, entitled Immigrant Settlers and Frontier Citizens: German Texas in the American Empire, 1844-1898. Ms. Brookins' doctoral research focuses on German Texans in order to examine how U.S. continental expansion influenced the way that European immigrants understood American society and adapted to it. Specifically, she concentrates on two aspects of immigrant acculturation: the experiences of German migrants and the consequences for racial minorities such as Tejanos, Mexicans, African Americans, and American Indians. Ms. Brookins' work focuses on the period beginning with Texas statehood in the 1840s and ending in the 1890s, when U.S. imperialists redirected their energies overseas following the closure of the American frontier.
|
