JBHR Volume 11 Issue 1

The James Blair Historical Review Volume 11 Issue 1 Letter From the Editor Dear Reader, On behalf of the James Blair Historical Review’s Editorial Board, it is my honor to present to you the latest issue of our journal. As beautifully said by French novelist Amantine Dupin, better known by her pen name, George Sand, “Every historian discloses a new horizon.” Original works of history are immeasurably valuable to humanity as they provide us with the crucial ability to better examine the significance of our past. The articles published in this issue are stellar additions to the scholarship, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to first introduce these magnificent new horizons. Greyson Hoye’s “Classroom Walls: State Education and the Nazi Past in the German Democratic Republic” impressively details how the East German education system dealt with questions of German-ness and antifascism in the wake of Nazism and the Holocaust. Rachel Horowitz’s “Peasantry or Proletariat?: Bolivia’s Cocalero Movement of the 1980s” insightfully describes both the peasant and working-class elements of Bolivia’s coca growers resistance movement. Claudia Caplan Wolff’s “’Being Sick in Body, But of Good and Perfect Memory’ Jewish Wills of Early New York: Meaning, Connection and Legacy” effectively utilizes wills from 1704-1740 to understand the increase in and lives of the Jewish population of the city of New York. Winslow MacDonald’s “Assassination of an Island: An Environmental History of the Eugenics Movement in Mid-Coast Maine” provides an enlightening account of the eugenics movement’s impact on the diverse Malaga Island in Maine. I truly hope that you, dear reader, enjoy reading these works as much as I have. James Blair Historical Review: Volume 10 Issue 2, Spring 2021 3 This issue would never have been able to come to fruition without the diligence of all involved. I would like to extend my congratulations to our wonderful authors and thank you all for the privilege of publishing your works and new horizons. To our Editorial Board: Italia, Gracie, Grace, Sophia, Riley, and Cecilia, I owe the success of the journal. I cannot thank and appreciate you all enough for supporting the journal with me throughout this entire process. I admire all of your drive and hard work, and it has truly been an honor to call you my team. Additionally, the work of our peer reviewers is vital for the academic standards of our journal, and my gratitude toward you all is without bounds. I would also like to thank Professor Christopher Grasso for his valuable leadership and advice. Finally, a special thanks to William and Mary’s Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History as well as the College’s Media Council for their organizational and financial support which is indispensable to the success of the journal. I am exceedingly grateful to have the opportunity to be at the helm of the JBHR. Having been on the journal for two years now, it is truly a highlight of my life, and I will forever cherish my contribution in bringing new, important history to the eyes of the world. With that, I present to you the James Blair Historical Review’s Fall 2021 edition. Many thanks, Xavier Storey, JBHR Editor-in-Chief 2021-2022 James Blair Historical Review: Volume 10 Issue 2, Spring 2021 4 James Blair Historical Review Staff Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief ~ Xavier Storey Managing Editor ~ Grace Tramack Submissions Editor ~ Gracie Patten Publicity and Business Manager ~ Sophia Moustaid Layout Editor ~ Italia Gorski Assistant Submissions Editor ~ Riley Neubauer Assistant Layout Editor ~ Cecilia Weaver Faculty Advisor ~ Dr. Christopher Grasso Peer Reviewers Isaac Bluestein Ella Colbert Robert Coleman Maddie Cross-Kaplan Jack Gillespie Maggie Herndon Vivian Hoang Xincheng Hou Aoife Hufford Mary Kardos Julia Leney Charlotte Lucas Sigi Macias Abbey Matusek Riley Neubauer Megan O'Connor Ian Stapleton Samantha Strauss Cecilia Weaver Cover Photo "The Castello Plan. New Amsterdam in 1660." John Wolcott Adams/Museum of the City of New York.29.100.709 James Blair Historical Review: Volume 10 Issue 2, Spring 2021 8 Table of Contents Classroom Walls: State Education and the Nazi Past in the German Democratic Republic Greyson Hoye 9 Peasantry or Proletariat?: Bolivia’s Cocalero Movement of the 1980s Rachel Horowitz 37 'Being Sick in Body, But of Good and Perfect Memory’ Jewish Wills of Early New York: Meaning, Connection and Legacy Claudia Caplan Wolff 57 Assassination of an Island: An Environmental History of the Eugenics Movement in Mid-Coast Maine Winslow MacDonald 82 James Blair Historical Review: Volume 10 Issue 2, Spring 2021 5 About the Author Greyson Hoye is a recent graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, where he completed majors in Global Studies, History, and German, with a minor in French. His research has focused primarily on topics related to the Second World War and the Holocaust, as well as post-communist European integration, and his work has been featured in the Yale Review of International Studies and the University of Alabama’s Crimson Historical Review. In the fall of 2021, he began graduate studies in Data Analytics at Boston . University, through which he intends to develop additional skills in computer programming and data analysis that will enhance his future work in international affairs. Rachel Horowitz is a senior in the College at Georgetown University, double majoring in History and Government and minoring in Spanish. Rachel is interested in the investigation of human rights abuses and the roots of democratic backsliding, and she aspires to pursue these interests in the government or nonprofit sector. Rachel is currently a team member on a research project examining the impact of institutions of electoral governance on presidential . elections across Latin America. She would like to thank Professor Langer for the guidance and encouragement that he provided to the following paper. James Blair Historical Review: Volume 10 Issue 2, Spring 2021 6 After a long and successful career in advertising as a copywriter and creative director, Claudia Caplan Wolff is currently a senior at Columbia University with a double major in History and American Studies. Her primary research interests include mid-20 th century literature and culture, and the history of racial integration in the United States, particularly as it relates to sports in general and baseball in particular. After graduation, she plans to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing, Non-Fiction and use that focus to write books and essays on subjects that take advantage of her undergraduate focus on 20 th century history. Originally from Virginia and raised visiting local battlefields and digging up minie balls in his grandparents’ backyard, Winslow’s passion for history was inculcated by proximity to the American Civil War. Now a senior at Columbia University in New York, he has sought to analyze potent and relevant American soci (...truncated)