From the Editor

Abstract

Dear Reader:

We are delighted to present to you this thirteenth edition of the Fairmount Folio. Awaiting you is an array of historical essays from Wichita State University graduate students. Each of these six outstanding essays was carefully selected by the Editorial Board based upon its scholarship and carefully edited for the readers' education and enjoyment.

This edition is unusual in that each essay deals with American history and two deal specifically with Kansas history. We have grouped the essays chronologically, beginning with David Ferguson's, "No Taxation Without Representation!!! (And Only If Both Can Be Within The Bounds Of Our Legislative Control.)" This essay explores the complex issues of colonial Americans' demand for representation in the British parliament in the 1760s and the repercussions of those demands. The next essay is by Kate Page, "Those Pirates and Muslim Barbarians: The American Public View of the Barbary Nations and the United States Participation in the Barbary War." The author looks at the response and attitude of the United States on pirating and the Barbary Wars in the early nineteenth century. Next, we move into the Civil War era with Karen Powers', "Catholic Nuns in the Civil War." This essay documents the important nursing role Catholic nuns played during this conflict. And Jillian Overstake's essay, "The Nurse, the Soldier, the Spy: Three Women of the American Civil War and the Primary Sources They Left Behind," tells the story of three interesting women and their contributions during the Civil War. In "Race in Kansas," Karen Powers follows the issue of race from the "Bleeding Kansas" days into the early twentieth century. And in the final essay, "Dr. John Brinkley: Quack Doctor, Radio Personality, and Politician," Jason Gilliand looks at the life of this interesting and eccentric Kansan.

Dr. Helen Hundley deserves a special thank you for her help and support throughout the process of compiling and editing these essays. It has been a tremendous learning experience for me and I am grateful for being given the opportunity to serve as Editor. I would also like to thank the Editorial Board - Dr. Robin Henry, Dr. Ariel Loftus and Dr. Hundley -- for their input in the process of selecting these papers. It has been a joy to work with each of these professors.

Please enjoy the fruits of our labor in these enlightening essays.

Judy Welfelt

April 2011