Date of Award
June 2020
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Advisor(s)
Kendall R. Phillips
Keywords
Americanization, Citizenship, Delinquency, Industriousness, New York Catholic Protectory
Subject Categories
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
In recent years, rhetorical scholars have been increasingly interested in questions of borders and citizenship. Scholars such as J. David Cisneros, Karma Chávez, Lisa Flores, and D. Robert DeChaine have tended to contemporary struggles at the southern U.S. border, while others, such as Jeffrey Bennett and Robert Asen, have articulated theories of citizenship that are tied to notions of belonging. To complement this ongoing work in the field, there is a need for additional historic work that seeks to understand the underpinnings of contemporary debates. In this thesis, I argue that the New York Catholic Protectory, in its mission to shepherd thousands of Catholic immigrant youth into white American identity, emphasized an articulation of citizenship built around the negative term “delinquency” and the positive term “industriousness.” By analyzing archival documents such as letters and the Protectory’s annual reports to the New York State legislature, I demonstrate the ways in which the discourses of delinquency and industriousness secured a powerful foothold in shared conceptions of citizenship that persists to the present day. This historical understanding of the development of these norms of citizenship can be seen as part of an ongoing collective project to unravel contested categories of race, identity, citizenship, and belonging, with hopes of increased understanding that can be applied to contemporary crises.
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Hann, Lucas Joshua, "“Saved to Citizenship”: The Rhetoric of Delinquency and Industriousness in the New York Catholic Protectory, 1902-1911" (2020). Theses - ALL. 437.
https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/437
