Margins in the Media: Race, Gender, and British Indian Immigrant Relationships in Early Twentieth-Century U.S. Print Media
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
Date of Award
Summer 8-18-2025
Abstract
This thesis investigates societal perceptions of gender and race in the United States during the early twentieth century, through the observation of the discussion of British Indian immigrant marriages to white, Mexican, and African American women in the early twentieth-century newspapers. Print media outlets often depicted these unions through racial and gendered rhetoric that criminalized their behaviors. This thesis demonstrates that print media sources reported on the social and legal hurdles these couples faced and the ways news outlets attempted to enforce social norms regarding immigration, race, and gender. This thesis examines various newspapers as primary sources from Southwest regions of the United States, including Texas, Arizona, California, Utah, and Oklahoma. The selected publications provide a window into the complexities of relationships between British Indian immigrants and white, Mexican, and African American women. It becomes apparent that the attempted narrative did not fit the lived experiences of the actors involved in the publications. Instead, participants typically often took on opposite roles.
Advisor
William Kuracina
Subject Categories
Arts and Humanities | History
Recommended Citation
Shepherd, Hannah LeAnn, "Margins in the Media: Race, Gender, and British Indian Immigrant Relationships in Early Twentieth-Century U.S. Print Media" (2025). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. 1290.
https://lair.etamu.edu/etd/1290
