Transient Bodies and the Whiteness of Memory: The “Nature” of Permanence in Big Sur, CA, 1862 - 1937
Degree Year
2010
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History
Advisor(s)
Pablo Mitchell
Keywords
Big Sur, California, Tourism, Environment, Race, Highway 1
Abstract
This thesis explores the development of Big Sur, California from the Homestead Act in 1862 until the opening of the Carmel-San Simeon Highway in 1937. I trace Big Sur's economy from one based on the extraction of natural resources to one based on tourism. Throughout this era, the existence of a racialized division of labor has remained a part of Big Sur's economies. The presence and histories of labor and race along the Big Sur coast has often been hidden beneath the more prominent histories of the original homesteading families and of the region's landscape and environment. This work seeks to present an early history of the region as a part of understanding the current presence of tourism along the Big Sur coast.
Repository Citation
Bartels, Rusty, "Transient Bodies and the Whiteness of Memory: The “Nature” of Permanence in Big Sur, CA, 1862 - 1937" (2010). Honors Papers. 374.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors/374
