Spring 2021 Historical Studies Journal

Published: May 18, 2021

Since 1986 the University of Colorado Denver Historical Studies Journal has celebrated the scholarship of History students. Each year students and faculty submit student papers for consideration, and the journal's senior and assistant student editors select a handful of outstanding papers for publication. The process allows students to gain essential experience on both sides of the publication process as writers and editors. Over the years the journal itself has become an ongoing repository of diverse scholarship.

The six selected articles for this year's Historical Studies Journal represent a wide array of topics and historical perspectives. Noah Allyn's "The Blueprint for Refugee Resettlement" highlights how the Eisenhower Administration worked around U.S. immigration policies when it relocated Hungarian refugees following the Hungarian Revolution. In "Back Channel Diplomacy," John Elstad explores the tensions over Pakistan's nuclear development during the Soviet-Afghan War. This paper exposes the covert relationships and transactions between the U.S., Afghanistan, and Pakistan. James Stark's "Deliverance" highlights Colorado's own 10th Mountain Division and its crucial role in an Allied victory of World War II.

Daniel Harvey's  "Mile High Hardcore" studies the cultural backlash to Denver’s growing punk rock scene and the punk’s enduring effects on the city’s underground music subculture. “What Happened to the Parades?” by Crystal Huntley explores the revival of pageantry when Masonic and Templar associations took root in the American West during the late-19th and early 20th centuries. Finally, this year’s Journal concludes with an historiography by Matthew Taylor that explores the cultural contexts that affected historians’ analyses about the relationship between slavery and the American Revolution. 

The History Department would like to thank the authors and editors of these outstanding articles for their contribution to the Historic Studies Journal and its 35-year tradition of diverse scholarship. Above all, the department would like to extend its appreciation to senior editor Mark Ortiz for his tireless work on this year’s edition.