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Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection

Ground Fires is a collection of creative nonfiction probing the social and environmental complexities that marked the narrator’s long membership in the Boy Scouts of America. I grew up a Scout, part of a quirky, adventurous troop in a New England college town. After earning Eagle and graduating high school, I moved west, working for seven summers and a few more seasons at Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico. I led backpacking trips through the mountains and high desert, teaching teenagers about land I knew and loved, land that was changing fast. From bears to wildfire to challenging politics, these stories seek the colorful people and places behind a uniquely American institution, in hopes that Scouting might serve as a bright force in shaping the future of our diverse and wild country.

Ross Paulson receiving award from his brother, John Paulson and flanked by his parents, Ed and Hattie Paulson. The Rev. J. Adin Mann is standing in the background. Photo taken in the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rugby. An American flag is visible on a pole in the background. The three male Paulson’s are dressed in Boy Scout uniforms., Film negatives, 12 x 10 cm., Title supplied by staff., “Ross Paulson to Get God and Country Award Sunday”, The Pierce County Tribune, Feb. 18, 1960, pg. 7. A special service was conducted by Rev. J. Adin Mann, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rugby, Sunday, Feb. 21. Ross Paulson was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Paulson.

Congressman Rahall stands in his Washington office with a Boy Scout.

Congressman Rahall stands in his Washington office with a Boy Scout.

I argue in this dissertation that U.S. rhetorics of national masculinity, while consistently present during the twentieth century, have changed shape in response to economic, social, and political crises. My research begins with the early twentieth-century Boy Scouts of America. It then moves to the late twentieth century, focusing on Ronald Reagan's inaugural speeches and the U.S. Army's campaign brochures, seeking to understand how U.S. national boundaries around masculinity have been drawn and redrawn according to political economies of the body. In these examples, the middle class struggles to define itself against realities of advancing capitalism that threaten the social capital of whiteness, manhood, and middle-class status.In chapter one, I present a literature review of masculinity, gender, and nationalism theories and an overview of my research methods.In chapter two, I present a rhetorical analysis of American masculinist nationalism at the turn of the 20th century, focusing on rhetoric that was used to develop boys and young men into masculine preservers of the nation, including training manuals from the Boy Scouts of America. I particularly concentrate on narratives of the formation and beginnings of the BSA. I connect the rhetoric of these narratives to the concurrent changes in Roosevelt's military goals. In chapter three, I examine how, beginning with President Ronald Reagan, the economy became rhetorically tied to ideals of freedom and democracy. I argue that the effect of this rhetorical shift has been that national projects that were formerly tied to national pride and service can now be executed through calls to improve the national economy or even one's individual economic status.In chapter four, I argue that this rhetorical shift has changed the rhetoric of Army recruiting. I analyze U.S. Army recruiting brochures and surveys to argue that masculinist nationalism in this context maintains elements from early-twentieth-century masculinity, but i

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Boy Scouts of America on February 13, 2006.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich at the Dorchester Boy Scout Conservation Event on February 3, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Carroll County Boy Scouts on February 19, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Carroll County Boy Scouts on February 19, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Carroll County Boy Scouts on February 19, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Carroll County Boy Scouts on February 19, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Carroll County Boy Scouts on February 19, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Carroll County Boy Scouts on February 19, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Carroll County Boy Scouts on February 19, 2005.

Photograph of Governor Robert Ehrlich with the Carroll County Boy Scouts on February 19, 2005.