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CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

History

Matthew Luckett’s Book Explores Horse Stealing on the Western Great Plains

October 28, 2020 By Kandis Newman

Mathew Luckett with his new book “Never Caught Twice: Horse Stealing in Western Nebraska, 1850-1890.”
Matthew Luckett with his new book “Never Caught Twice: Horse Stealing in Western Nebraska, 1850-1890.”

Riffling through dusty files in an old shed behind a courthouse in Chadron, Nebraska, External Master’s in Humanities academic coordinator Matthew Luckett scanned ledgers and criminal case files that had not been touched in decades. He was looking for horse thieves as part of his research for his book “Never Caught Twice: Horse Stealing in Western Nebraska, 1850-1890.”

The book, published by the University of Nebraska Press, documents the widely misunderstood crime in American mythology of horse stealing, revealing that it was perpetrated by four main Western Plains groups whose crimes inadvertently transformed plains culture and settlement. For some, violence was the solution for combating horse thievery, which potentially established the vigilantism that remains in American culture today.

Luckett believes that much of the content in his book has never been researched before. He found that four Plains groups–American Indians, the U.S. Army, ranchers and cowboys, and farmers–were responsible for much of the horse thievery on the Western Plains. From Lakota and Cheyenne horse raids to rustling gangs in the Sandhills of Nebraska, the crime was widespread and devastating across the region.

“Never Caught Twice” is available on Amazon. Click here for more information.

Along with visiting courthouses in the Midwest, Luckett conducted some of his research at the National Archives in Washington D.C.; the Nebraska State Historical Society in Lincoln, Nebraska; and the Autry Museum of the American West in Burbank.  He found that horses were not only of critical importance in both Native American and white societies, but their theft undermined communities and jeopardized the peace in the region, causing people to act furiously in defense of their most expensive possession and beloved property.

“There was a time when horses were incredibly important. They were pets, friends, and part of the family, as well as valuable, utilitarian, and an indispensable means of production that was hard to replace,” says Luckett, who taught at CSUDH from 2013 to 2018.

The Great Plains in the mid- to late-1800s had a “cash poor economy.” Luckett explains: “Not a lot of people had enough money on hand to purchase a new horse. When a horse was stolen or died, they needed to replace it the next day, but that was typically beyond the means of most farmers and ranchers. On the other hand, horse thievery was one thing that people could potentially do something about.”

For a time, horse stealing and raids were a reciprocal response, according to Luckett. “If someone stole your horses then you would go steal some back. Ranchers would do the same thing. It was a culture of stealing. What changed this were the homesteaders.”

Luckett says that homesteaders were not like the cowboys, who worked ranches with dozens of men, hundreds of horses, and thousands of cattle. “Sometimes homesteaders would be lucky to have one horse, or would have to lease a horse, only owning 20 percent of it. So, when they arrived on the Great Plains they would demand that the police provide them with private property protection.”

However, law enforcement officers did not make a lot of money and did not have the resources to track horse thieves through hundreds of miles of open land, Luckett adds. “People would try to supplement law enforcement themselves. This is where the idea that horse thieves were always hanged came from, but that didn’t happen. Horse thieves were seldom caught. When they were caught and convicted, they would go to prison.”

Cowboys were notorious horse thieves on the Plains, according to Luckett. They only made about a dollar a day for four or five months out of the year.

“That’s not a lot of money. This was the Western Great Plains, and it wasn’t like you could go on unemployment,” he said. “They would quickly run out of cash and to survive they would steal horses, cattle, and other things. They would change the branding on animals and sell them in places like Omaha where no one knew the stolen brands. They got away with it because they were the ones doing the record keeping and guarding the horses and the cattle.”

Stealing horses had been a part of Plains Indian culture long before Anglo-American expansionists arrived, Luckett explains. However, he found that once the U.S. government relegated Native Americans to reservations, they were often more victim to horse raiding than thief.

“Then ranchers began going onto the reservations and stealing their horses. So not only was Indian land taken, but so was their livelihood,” he explains. “The army protected ranchers and settlers from Plains Indian horse thieves, but the opposite wasn’t true whenever white people would go up there [reservations] and bring them back down to Nebraska or Kansas.”

Luckett draws a parallel from modern life in the U.S. to horse stealing on the Great Plains. “Today, many Americans still guard their possessions with the threat of violence,” he says. “The reality is, the things we try to protect the most are insured, but we continue to view private property as something that justifies using vigilante justice to protect, and even lethal force. Where does that idea come from? I think those old horse thieves could provide an answer to that.”

Daily Breeze: CSUDH Receives $1.6 Million to Preserve Historic Music from African Diaspora

October 7, 2020 By Paul Browning

The Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers in Italy in 1996.
The Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers in Italy in 1996.

Source: Daily Breeze

The Michigan-based Georgia and Nolan Payton Foundation has offered Carson’s Cal State Dominguez Hills a $1.6 million gift that will help preserve historic musical performances and songs for the new Center For African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians.

Formerly known as the African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians Program, it already includes the Georgia and Nolan Payton Archive of Sacred Music. The program, which focuses on music created and performed in Southern California, is internationally recognized for its preservation and promotion of African Diaspora music, which dates from the days Black people were enslaved.

“The investment in support of our Center for African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians is a cherished gift that will continue to give for generations to come,” said CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham in a statement.

“If the challenge to current generations is to build upon and extend the legacies left by our ancestors,” he added, “then this bestowal by the Payton family will help fulfill that promise.”

The Payton Archive consists of oral histories, as well as audio and visual materials. It includes the works of Los Angeles-based African Diaspora musicians and a number of special collections.

Image from the online exhibit “Will the Circle Be Unbroken: The Sacred Music of the African American Diaspora.” exhibition, curated from the holdings of the Georgia and Nolan Payton Archive. (Courtesy African American Music Collections, Gerth Archives and Special Collections, Cal State Dominguez Hills).

Professor Emerita of Music Hansonia Caldwell, who founded the African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians Program at Cal State Dominguez Hills, called the foundation’s latest donation “thrilling.

“Over the years, the programs and materials supported by the foundation have added tremendously to the educational experience we have been able to provide the students of CSUDH,” she said in a statement. “Additionally, it has ensured the preservation and celebration of an important part of the African Diaspora cultural heritage of California.”

Other projects funded by the foundation include, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken: The Sacred Music of the African American Diaspora,” exhibit, curated from the holdings of the archive, which opened on campus in February, but was later moved online.

The exhibit showcases the role sacred music plays in the cultural institutions of the African American communities of Los Angeles and how those traditions have affected the politics and social structures on the region.

CSUDH Receives $1.6 Million for Center for African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians

September 29, 2020 By Kandis Newman

CSUDH Receives $1.6 Million for New Center for African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians
Images from the Hansonia Caldwell Collection and the Virginia White Collection, courtesy of CSUDH’s Gerth Archives and Special Collections.

California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) has received a $1.6 million gift to create an endowment that will support historic and innovative research, preservation, and performance activities hosted by the new Center for African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians, located in CSUDH’s College of Arts and Humanities.

The gift was donated by the Georgia and Nolan Payton Foundation. The funds will support a variety of activities hosted by the center, including the continued preservation and digitization of new collections of spirituals, a broad arrangement of music/folk songs inspired by the hardships of enslaved Africans. Other endeavors will include gallery and museum exhibitions, festivals, and performances by visiting artists, commissioning of new choral compositions, a scholars-in-residence program, and grants for faculty scholarship and research.

“Our university is honored to receive this generous donation from the Georgia and Nolan Payton Foundation. The investment in support of our Center for African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians is a cherished gift that will continue to give for generations to come,” said CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham. “If the challenge to current generations is to build upon and extend the legacies left by our ancestors, then this bestowal by the Payton family will help fulfill that promise.”

Henrietta Fortson, a national officer of the National Association of Negro Musicians, examines the Don Lee White Collection in CSUDH's Gerth Archives and Special Collections. Photo by Judith Blakely.
Henrietta Fortson, a national officer of the National Association of Negro Musicians, examines the Don Lee White Collection in CSUDH’s Gerth Archives and Special Collections. Photo by Judith Blakely.

The Georgia and Nolan Payton Foundation has been a long-term supporter of the African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians (ADSMM) Program at CSUDH, which is internationally recognized for its preservation and promotion of African Diaspora music.

The foundation also helped establish the Georgia and Nolan Payton Archive of Sacred Music at CSUDH. The primary goal of the Payton Archive is to facilitate research and documentation of collections of African Diaspora sacred music created and performed by the multicultural population of Southern California.

The Payton Archive consists of music, books, periodicals, documents, audio and visual materials, and oral histories. It is also home to the works of Los Angeles-based African Diaspora musicians, beginning with the Hansonia Caldwell Special Collection, the Jester Hairston Special Collection, the Lillie Hill Jones Collection,  the Dr. Don Lee White Collection, and the most recently acquired Dr. Albert J. McNeil and the Albert J. McNeil Jubilee Singers Collection.

“Over the years, the programs and materials supported by the foundation have added tremendously to the educational experience we have been able to provide the students of CSUDH,” said Professor Emerita of Music Hansonia Caldwell, who founded the African Diaspora Sacred Music and Musicians program at CSUDH. “Additionally, it has ensured the preservation and celebration of an important part of the African Diaspora cultural heritage of California. It is absolutely thrilling for the university to receive this important gift, thus furthering the mission of the archive.”

Other Projects Supported by the Payton Foundation:

The “Will the Circle Be Unbroken: The Sacred Music of the African American Diaspora” exhibition, curated from the holdings of the Georgia and Nolan Payton Archive, opened at CSUDH in February 2020.

The exhibit showcases the role sacred music plays in the cultural institutions of the African American communities of Los Angeles, as well as the ways those traditions have impacted the politics, social structures, and history of African Americans in the Los Angeles region. The exhibit has been moved online due to COVID-19: https://scalar.usc.edu/works/will-the-circle-be-unbroken/index.

To build on the ADSMM Living Legends Concert Project, which began in 2003 featuring performances by contemporary musicians, CSUDH has commissioned a composition that celebrates the life and words of Harriet Tubman. The piece was composed by celebrated music artist and educator Rosephanye Powell, who was featured in the annual Living Legends Residency and Concert. The debut of the composition was scheduled for 2020, which has been postponed due to COVID-19.

CSUDH Unearths Lost Time Capsule

July 30, 2020 By Paul Browning

Gregory Williams, director of the Gerth Archives, holds a time capsule buried on the CSUDH campus in 1974 and unearthed in June 2020.
Gregory Williams, director of the Gerth Archives, holds a time capsule buried on the CSUDH campus in 1974 and unearthed in June 2020.

In recent years, only rumors remained about a time capsule buried in 1974 at what was then California State College at Dominguez Hills. The ceremony was part of a dedication and plaque installation to commemorate the 1910 Dominguez Air Meet that took place there, but no evidence of its burial remained until the capsule was recently found.

A time capsule buried on campus in 1974 by the Native Daughters of the Golden West to commemorate the 1910 Air Meet that took place at what is now CSUDH.
A time capsule buried in 1974 by the Native Daughters of the Golden West to commemorate the 1910 Air Meet that took place at what is now CSUDH.

“The time capsule became somewhat of a mystery among staff since most of the folks who were at the ceremony are not around anymore,” says Gregory Williams, director of the Donald R. and Beverly J. Gerth Archives and Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH).

The Native Daughters of the Golden West (NDGW) hosted the dedication in 1974 at the campus, and it was well attended by the university community. It featured the installation of a new NDGW plaque, and the original plaque that was installed within a mile of campus in 1941 by a Compton chapter of the organization. The original plaque was removed years later to make way for new construction in the city.

Plaque dedicated by the Native Daughters of the Golden West
Plaque dedicated by the Native Daughters of the Golden West.
The 1910 Dominguez Air Meet featured pilots from as far away as France, and dazzled more than 176,000 curious spectators who traveled to the 10-day event from across the country and Canada by train, horse, and buggy – and a few in early automobiles. Many had never seen an airplane before, let alone aerial maneuvers or the breaking of air speed and altitude records (5,000 feet was achieved).

The NDGW is a fraternal organization founded in 1886 and headquartered in San Francisco that “preserves and marks the Golden State’s historical landmarks and sites.” The air meet fit the bill as the first of its kind in the United States.

A stout cement stand that supported the worn bronze plaques stood for 46 years at the entrance of campus off Victoria Street, but with construction of the Innovation and Instruction Building and renovation of the North Lawn encroaching on its space, crews removed the damaged marker in June.

The original marker dedicated in 1941 to commemorate the 1910 air meet.
The original marker dedicated in 1941 to commemorate the 1910 air meet.

After the debris was cleared, the time capsule was visibly protruding from the dirt where the plaque marker stood. The short, metal-capped PVC pipe is still sealed and being stored in the archives. In the coming months, the university will discuss the next steps for the capsule, and potentially relocating the plaques.

“We will be having discussions about when and how to open the time capsule, and potential events that could be created around that,” Williams said. “It will be interesting to see what’s inside. No matter what they decide to preserve in a time capsule it will – in some way – reveal something about the collective mindset or culture of that era, and often reveal hope or curiosity of what the future might bring.”

Faculty Highlights: June-July 2020

July 9, 2020 By Paul Browning

Our faculty members participate in conferences around the world, conduct groundbreaking research, and publish books and journal papers that contribute to their field and highlight their expertise. We feature those accomplishments and more in this section. To share faculty news, email ucpa@csudh.edu.

College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences

Hamoud SalhiHamoud Salhi, associate dean of International Education and senior international officer, appeared on Algeria Daily News (An-Nahar) to discuss Algeria’s debate regarding the introduction of a new amendment to allow the military to intervene and participate in a peace mission for a regional conflict. Salhi also appeared on the network Echorouk News (Sunset News) to discuss racism on a global scale.

 

 

 

College of Business Administration and Public Policy

Prakash L Dheeriya

“Nowadays, most credit card issuers offer credit cards with no annual fee. That was one gimmick they tried to get more customers. Their fine print indicated that they would charge fees for all other services. Similarly, the intro zero percent APR offers also come with strings attached. …In other words, those zero percent offers may end up costing more to you in the long run if you are not very disciplined in payment of your monthly bills, have poor credit, don’t pay attention to when the free period expires, or are persistently late in payments.” — Prakash L Dheeriya, professor of finance, was featured in the “Ask the Experts” section of the Wallethub article “7 Best Zero Percent Interest Credit Cards in 2020.” Dheeriya addressed the question “Are zero percent credit cards a trap?”

College of Arts and Humanities

“The various social media platforms have revolutionized the ways in which individuals encounter and consume pop culture and have greatly diversified the routes of pop cultural flows and influences,” — Jung-Sun Park, professor and coordinator of the Asian-Pacific Studies Program, was quoted in the CNN article “Why the past decade saw the rise and rise of East Asian pop culture.” She also referred to social media and the Internet as having “totally transformed the transnational flows of pop culture.”

Devon TsunoDevon Tsuno, assistant professor of art, was part of the artist coalition “In Plain Sight” that used art to bring awareness and speak out against immigrant detention centers in the United States. Their work was skytyped above detention centers on July 3 and 4. Tsuno’s skytype was a phone number, that when dialed, the caller hears letters written by people incarcerated at detention centers.

 

 

 

Laura TalamanteLaura Talamante, associate professor of history, authored the chapter “Mapping Women’s Everyday Lives in Revolutionary Marseille,” featured in the book “Life in Revolutionary France” that will be published in August 2020. The book examines how the French Revolution brought political, social, and cultural change, and how these changes affected everyday lives, in urban and rural areas, and on an international scale.

 

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