United States History

Reconstruction

The Reconstruction Era (1865 to 1877) was a particularly difficult time in U.S. history as the nation sought to cope with the devastation and social upheaval brought about by the Civil War.
In this collage the string overlaying the U.S. flag and pictures of the period symbolizes the country’s attempts to reunite a fractured nation.

Bull Moose

Theodore “T.R.” Roosevelt, Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th President of the United States (1901–1909). He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement known popularly as the “Bull Moose Party.” In 1901 President McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt became President. Roosevelt became the first person elected to a term in his own right in 1904 winning the largest percentage of the popular vote since the uncontested election of 1820. 
This assemblage evokes a vertical U.S. flag with time-sequenced photographs of Teddy Roosevelt campaigning with red stripes and cutout stars on a blue background. The repetition of the images is the artist’s attempt at constructional animation, a technique often used in mixed media as a visual tool.

Wholly Bully

USS Olympia, a US cruiser, depicted in this work, is best known as the flagship of Admiral Dewey, the hero of the Battle for Manila Bay in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War. This construction includes photographs of Teddy Roosevelt, whose Rough Riders gained fame in Cuba during the war, Captain Charles Dwight Sigsbee and the USS Olympia under steam.

Seneca Falls

Women’s suffrage in the United States was achieved gradually at state and local levels during the mid 19th and early 20th centuries culminating in 1920 with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment which provided: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” A critical moment in this long battle was the Seneca Falls Convention that In June 1848 issued the first formal demand authored by US women for suffrage. This construction depicts photographs of early suffragettes juxtaposed with kitchen items of the day.