Morehead State University
Fighting and Feuding in the 19th Century Press: A Frame Analysis of the Rowan County War
Institution
Morehead State University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Janet Rice McCoy
Abstract
Using Goffman’s theory of framing, this textual analysis examines a series of articles featured in The New York Times regarding the Martin-Tolliver feud or Rowan County War as it is also known. This conflict gained attention in the national media for Eastern Kentucky in general, and for Rowan County in particular, when twenty-two people were killed over a three-year period. This clash stemmed from lingering animosity from the Civil War and ended on June 22, 1887. This study examines how the national media reported the events that occurred during this turbulent period. Frame analysis is used to determine whether or not the articles portrayed the inhabitants of Eastern Kentucky in ways that may have contributed to the stereotypes of the region relating to gender, race, and class. This study is especially important since portrayals of Rowan County in the press helped persuade missionaries Frank Button and his mother Phoebe to establish a church and school in Morehead as emissaries of the Kentucky Christian Church Board.
Fighting and Feuding in the 19th Century Press: A Frame Analysis of the Rowan County War
Using Goffman’s theory of framing, this textual analysis examines a series of articles featured in The New York Times regarding the Martin-Tolliver feud or Rowan County War as it is also known. This conflict gained attention in the national media for Eastern Kentucky in general, and for Rowan County in particular, when twenty-two people were killed over a three-year period. This clash stemmed from lingering animosity from the Civil War and ended on June 22, 1887. This study examines how the national media reported the events that occurred during this turbulent period. Frame analysis is used to determine whether or not the articles portrayed the inhabitants of Eastern Kentucky in ways that may have contributed to the stereotypes of the region relating to gender, race, and class. This study is especially important since portrayals of Rowan County in the press helped persuade missionaries Frank Button and his mother Phoebe to establish a church and school in Morehead as emissaries of the Kentucky Christian Church Board.