The Raven and the Crown: Ethnic Diversity and Political Legitimacy in the Reign
of Matthias Corvinus
Alexander Boston, History
Honors Advisor: Monique O'Connell
The image of Matthias Corvinus (1443-1490), Hungary’s only native-born king in a four hundred
year span has been a rallying point for Hungarian nationalists since the 1840’s. Surprisingly,
during his own lifetime, Matthias never portrayed himself as Hungarian. Instead, Matthias
created a cosmopolitan image more akin to Renaissance princes of Italy and France drawing
heavily from Classical themes. The Hungarian kingdom at the time stretched from Croatia to
Transylvania and from Bohemia to Belgrade, Serbia, comprising a host of ethnic and religious
groups that were for centuries before and since in almost constant conflict. Although source
limitations make certainty impossible, I argue that the widespread policy changes instigated by
Matthias were purposefully coordinated. His decisions all appear to reflect an awareness of the
contemporary ethnic divisions and seek to overcome these divisions through disseminating a
common culture, economy, judiciary, and military. In addition, the policy and patronage
decisions appear to reflect the same underlying Renaissance philosophy. As a result, the
multitudes of ethnicities present in Hungary not only remained loyal to Matthias throughout his
reign, but appear to have considered themselves Hungarian. The paper prompts questions
about how politicians may, through coordinated economic, cultural, and military policy
strategies, learn from Matthias’ example to unite divided nations.
Future plans: I will be attending Wake Forest University School of Law.
The Political Reasoning behind Kwame Nkrumah’s continued Promotion of PanAfricanism following Ghana’s Independence: 1957-1966
Michael Byington, History
Honors Advisors: Nathan Plageman and Anthony Parent
In 1957, Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana to its independence from British colonial rule. In the years
that followed, the new Prime Minister continued to advocate for a single, unified African
government in a movement known as Pan-Africanism. This paper explores why Nkrumah so
vigorously pursued Pan-Africanism following Ghana’s independence. Historians agree that the
most rational interpretation of Nkrumah’s continued support of Pan-Africanism is that he feared
European-induced neo-colonialism. But a more careful review of reports written by nonGhanaians, British trade directories, and Nkrumah’s own words demonstrates that Ghana’s
leader was also apprehensive about the actions of other newly independent African states.
Nkrumah believed Pan-Africanism was the means by which he could protect the political and
economic interests of Ghanaians from both external empires and African nations. His continued
advocacy of Pan-Africanism demonstrates that he was neither a Pan-African hero nor Ghanaian
tyrant but rather an overly ambitious leader of a newly liberated nation. More importantly, his
actions demonstrate why Pan-Africanism failed. On the one hand, Nkrumah’s notion of the
movement gave undue privilege to Ghana at the expense of other African states. While
Africans shared the common concern of neo-colonialism, the leaders of newly independent
African nations did not want to relinquish their national sovereignty to a continental body under
Nkrumah’s direction. Pan-Africanism, as proposed by Nkrumah, was impossible despite the
many political and economic benefits it might have held for Ghana or the continent as a whole.
Future plans: While I intend to eventually attend law school, I am moving to Denver this summer to
take part in an internship with the Denver Nuggets basketball team.
"Winston-Salem had its Mob": Textiles, Tobacco, and Race in the Industrial South
Eleanor Davidson, History
Honors Advisor: Michele Gillespie
Winston-Salem’s early twentieth century industrialization caused tension between white textile
mill workers and Richard J. Reynolds’s black tobacco workers, culminating to a race riot six
days after Armistice that interrupted the seemingly calm racial climate that had prevailed during
the war. The alleged rape of a white woman by a black assailant sparked an outbreak of
violence from textile workers who attempted to kidnap and lynch the accused man. Civic and
industrial leaders downplayed the event, which reached a national audience, and the local
justice system actually prosecuted white perpetrators to return the city to racial harmony and
economic productivity. In reaction to the riot, city leadership and business elite promoted and
maintained Winston-Salem’s “New South” reputation as a city void of race problems and
favorable to industrial progress. In so doing they perpetuated a paternalistic system of class and
race-based discrimination that kept wages low and labor sympathy splintered.
The Ascendancy of Girolamo Savonarola in 15th Century Florence
William McClure, History
Honors Advisors: Monique O'Connell and Paul Escott
Savonarola’s rule of Florence from 1494 to 1498 is a unique episode in Florentine history and in
the progression of the Renaissance. Espousing moral virtue, he attacked what he perceived as
the vanities produced by the Florentine culture yet also instituted republican reforms which
permitted citizens greater agency over their society. Though the current scholarship is deep on
the actions of Savonarola and much attention is given to his motivations, there is not yet a
comprehensive understanding of how he gained and maintained power during this period.
Drawing heavily from his sermons, correspondences, and accounts and critiques written by his
contemporaries, this paper argues that Savonarola rose to power through three specific means.
It concurs with arguments previously set forth that Savonarola gained power by attacking the
previous oligarchic government of the Medici and by capitalizing on the general disgust with the
papacy and Church bureaucracy. However, this paper adds the previously unmentioned
argument that Savonarola also effectively appealed to and integrated the disaffected young men
of Florence into his movement. In setting forth these three components of Savonarola’s rise to
power as well as maintenance of de facto leadership, this paper adds to the scholarship about
Savonarola and this period of Florence and contributes to future research projects on this topic.
Future plans: I am excited to begin my life outside of Wake Forest with a position in AT&T
corporate sales. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities for academic and personal growth
that have been afforded me in my time at Wake.
From Empire to Neighborhood: Latin America In U.S. Foreign Relations from 1898
to 1937
Matthew Moran, History
Honors Advisors: Simone Caron and John Hayes
This paper explores the changing relationship between the United States and Latin America
throughout the first half of the 20th century. Beginning with the Spanish-American War in 1898,
the paper traces how a foreign policy of imperial control evolved into one of limited intervention,
only to be replaced with a policy of restraint and cooperation under President Franklin
Roosevelt. This paper further argues that the main factor behind this evolution was not a
change in the business or security communities, but rather a shift in how Americans viewed the
use of force and the role of the United States in the hemisphere. This challenges a prevailing
wisdom that argues that foreign policy is the result solely of economic motivations or security
concerns and introduces ideas and culture as important elements of understanding a state’s
policies abroad.
Future plans: Working in public relations in New York City.
“We Called Ourselves ‘Revolutionaries’”: Remembering Integration at Wake
Forest University
Margaret Wood, History
Honors Advisor: Michele Gillespie
On May 18, 1962, Edward Reynolds was admitted to Wake Forest College for the fall term of
1962 as a full-time undergraduate student. Reynolds’s admission signaled an end to racial
segregation in the undergraduate school at Wake Forest. While Wake Forest University was the
first prominent, private, Southern college to integrate, the public memory created of the
university’s integration is very narrow. This thesis seeks to reconcile some of this memory by
recognizing the struggles of students who helped integrate Wake Forest. It scrutinizes the
impetuses behind Wake Forest’s integration, the federally-mandated desegregation at the
University of Georgia, the integrations at Tulane University, Duke University, Emory University,
Vanderbilt University, and Rice University as elite, private Southern colleges, and the parallel
motivations of Wake Forest’s sister Baptist institution, Mercer University. The connections
between Wake Forest, the University of Georgia, Tulane, Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt, Rice, and
Mercer are evidence of a network of influence among all Southern schools as pressure to
integrate climaxed in the 1960’s. It determines that, while Tulane, Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt and
Rice were moved to integrate by a desire for national prestige and the finances needed to attain
that national prestige, Wake Forest’s motivations to integrate seem to have largely been driven
by student, faculty, and administrative moral, Baptist imperative. Telling the story of integration
at Wake Forest University is important to ameliorate race relations by relating to and relieving
the resentment of students at all universities whose stories of integration have not been publicly
shared.
Future plans: I plan on getting my master's degree in international relations and to eventually
attend law school. I hope to one day practice international law.