Date of Award

5-2025

Degree Type

Thesis-Restricted

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Program

History

Department

History

Major Professor

Dungy, Kathryn

Second Advisor

Mitchell, Mary

Third Advisor

Mosterman, Andrea

Abstract

This work centers on Chief Alfred Sam and the Oklahoma Blacks who were followers of his 1914 Back-to-Africa Movement. While public memory has portrayed return to Africa movements as disconnected moments in Black history, my work reinterprets Sam’s movement as foundational and revisits Galveston as the space utilized by nearly five hundred of his followers. It further asserts, that Galveston should be considered as the historical extraction point for the United States’ only Back-to-Africa movement of the twentieth century. While the Galveston landscape holds more than 200 historical markers and is the commemorated home of Juneteenth, no commemorative markers exist on the island to note the historical presence of Sam’s movement - a missed opportunity for the City of Galveston, African American history, and ultimately – U.S. history.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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