Marilyn Monroe

Born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926, actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe had a very difficult childhood. She never knew her father and when she was very young her mother Gladys was committed to an insane asylum after developing psychiatric problems and attempting to smother Monroe in her crib with a pillow. Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and orphanages where she was sexually assaulted and claimed that she was raped at age 11.

Monroe's only way out of the foster care program was marriage, so at 16 she dropped out of high school and married her boyfriend Jimmy Dougherty. Since her new spouse was in the merchant marine, he was eventually sent to the South Pacific. During his absence, Monroe got a job at a munitions factory in Van Nuys, California, where she was discovered by a photographer. When her husband came home in 1946, Monroe had a successful career as a model and had adopted the name Marilyn Monroe and dyed her hair blonde in preparation for an acting career as her dream was to become a star like Jean Harlow and Lana Turner.

As Monroe focused more on her career, her husband became resentful and unsupportive and they divorced in lat 1946, the same year Monroe signed her first movie contract. Monroe's acting career did not take off until the 50s when her parts in All About Eve and The Asphalt Jungle impressed audiences and critics and gained her a lot of attention. Her first hit as the star of a film was the musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953 which led to many more roles in light comedic films. That same year she was the centerfold in the first edition of Playboy which expanded her image as a sex symbol. She soon was wed to Joe DiMaggio in 1954, but they divorced after 9 months due to his abuse.

While Monroe was loved by audiences and was an international star, she had immeasurable insecurities about her acting abilities and suffered from chronic pre-performance anxiety that made her physically ill and was the cause of her habitual tardiness on film sets. Her absences were so extreme that it frequently upset her co-stars and crew. These insecurities caused her to move to New York in 1956 to pursue deeper roles than a bubbly dumb blonde. She starred in Bus Stop and The Prince and the Showgirl, and both were successful but in the latter Monroe's erratic behavior due to her anxiety and problems in her personal life resulted in very tense relations with her co-stars and crew. She returned to her old genre of movies in 1959 and won a Golden Globe award for her role in Some Like It Hot for "Best Actress in Comedy".

In 1962 Monroe was fired from Something's Got to Give because of her excessive absence from the set which she claimed were due to an illness. At this point, both Monroe's career and personal life were in turmoil as she had recently divorced her third husband Arthur Miller. On May 19, 1962 Monroe gave her final performance with her now famous tribute to JFK at his birthday celebration singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President". Four months later on August 5, Monroe died in her home in Los Angeles at age 36. Her d
eath was officially ruled a drug overdose, but there are many conspiracies that she was murdered.

She was buried in a "Cadillac casket" in her favorite Emilio Pucci dress. Hugh Hefner bought the crypt next to her and her ex husband Joe DiMaggio had red roses delivered to her crypt for the next 20 years. Her films grossed more than 200 million dollars during her career and she is still known as one of the most popular icons and sex symbols.


Sources:
http://www.biography.com/people/marilyn-monroe-9412123#famed-career
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/10/marilyn200810

Birmingham Campaign 1963

In early 1963, the Birmingham Campaign was organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring national attention to the extreme cultural and legal segregation and violent racism in Birmingham, Alabama. The movement was led by many civil rights activist including Martin Luther King Junior and was one of nonviolent direct action. During the protest, there were many highly publicized confrontations between young black students and white authorities and the national attention eventually caused the municipal government to change the city's segregation and discrimination laws.

A KKK stronghold, Birmingham was described by Martin Luther King Junior as America's worst city for racism as in years leading up to the riots African Americans were castrated by the KKK, bookstores were pressured to ban a book containing pictures of black and white rabbits, and black music was in the process of being banned from radio stations. Even local businessmen believed that the extreme racism held the city back, but there was too much danger for them to voice their opinions.

The first protest in Birmingham was a boycott meant to pressure businesses to end segregation in public facilities, restaurants, schools and stores and open employment to all races. The SCLC agreed to assist the civil rights activists in Birmingham when the local business and government leaders resisted the boycott. Birmingham activist Shuttlesworth joined with Wyatt Tee Walker and Martin Luther King Junior of the SCLC to create Project C, a series of marches and sit-ins intended to lead ot mass arrests in order to gain national attention.

In other campaigns such as Albany, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by King had many problems resulting in little success. The Birmingham campaign, however, was better planned and there was national attention due to the rash and violent actions of the chief of police Bull Connor, a firm supporter of segregation who believed that even low key protests were a threat to his "rule" of the city. Connor set police dogs on the protesters immediately resulting in national attention on Birmingham.

After Connor's initial violent actions on the peaceful protesters, he arrested King for ignoring an injunction denying his right to march and protest and placed him in solitary confinement and barred him from access to a lawyer. Later JFK intervened for his release, but during his time in jail, King begrudgingly used students to continue the campaign in Birmingham as many adults still remained distanced from the protest. 500 young protesters were arrested and jailed as photographs and videos of students being subjected to high pressure hoses and police dogs by Connor's men were shown throughout the country. King was later given both praise and criticism for putting children in harms way for the sake of the Civil Rights Movement.

The Birmingham campaign utilized the media to draw the world's attention to the segregation in the South and the terrible treatment of the black Americans there. It was a model of nonviolent direct action protest and it gave Martin Luther King Junior his reputation while getting Bull Connor kicked out of a job and forcing desegregation in Birmingham. These protests also paved the way for the 1964 Civil Rights Act which prohibited racial discrimination in employment and public services across the country.


Sources:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-civil-rights-movement-in-america-1945-to-1968/birmingham-1963/
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/birmingham-campaign-1963

A Look into Family Life in the 1950s

A Typical 1950s Family

Life in the 1950s revolved around family. The word "family" also had a specific definition to go with it. It consisted of a mom, a dad, and at least one child. Because of social pressure and the nation's overall upward trend, people were expected to get married whether they truly desired it or not. Early twenties were the prime age for men and women to find a lifelong partner. Divorce rates were extremely low because it carried a stigma and couples preferred to stay married even if they faced a certain level of unhappiness. A woman also had economic incentives to be married because reality was crafted in a way that they were at their most stable lives economically, when they had an employed husband. Men married because their families, neighbors, and bosses expected them to have a wife and kids.

Apart from the Baby Boom, a housing boom was a huge part of the 1950s upward trend. Prefabricated houses flaunted previously-unseen features in regular homes that were in the price range for many families. Heating in homes were done mostly by coal in the 1950s before utility gas became the primary heating source in the 1960s. Unfortunately, complete plumbing consisting of hot/cold water, shower, and a flush toilet only existed in about half these houses.

Prefab Homes in the 1950s

At dinnertime, all members of the family would sit together and eat. It was the mother's responsibility to By the end of the decade, most families had a TV in their living room, so they would watch a show together while having dinner. Unlike our lives today, there was only one TV in the entire house and one home phone. Therefore, children were more attached to their parents than they are today. The 1950s were also the days when children could stay late at a friend's house nearby and walk home without being thrust into danger. Common places for older kids to hang out after school were soda shops and casual diners.

Compared to 2017, family life was very different back in the 1950s. Gender roles that restricted both men and women have drastically changed and the definition of "family" has become more flexible. A traditional makeup of a mom, a dad, and a child is not the only structure we see today. Children and especially teenagers have much more freedom in the Silicon Valley as a lot of us have cars and an increased range of mobility in our neighborhoods.

Source:
http://fiftiesweb.com/pop/info-family/

Elvis Presley: 10 Interesting Facts About the King of Rock n' Roll

Elvis Presley was an international heartthrob icon for rock n' roll throughout the 1950s. While he is known mostly for his swinging hips and deep voice, there is much more to this rock star than most people know. Here are some facts about the "King":

1. Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi during the Great Depression.

Elvis' location of birth.
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Elvis_Presley_house_in_Tupelo_3.jpg

Born on January 8, 1935, he was born in a two-bedroom house right in the middle of the American Great Depression. His middle name was originally Aron, but it was later changed to Aaron.

2. He was actually born as a twin. 

The current grave site of Elvis, his mother and father, and his brother Jesse.
Source: http://papiblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Screen-shot-2011-07-15-at-10.18.41-PM.png

Unfortunately, his identical twin brother, Jesse Garon was a stillborn.

3. Elvis wanted a rifle when he was 11. His mother got him a guitar instead.

Elvis at 11 years old.
Source: http://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/images/68.gif

In fact, he got so good that he was offered to play on a local radio station at 12. He was too shy and backed out.

4. Elvis never performed outside of North America.

Source: http://i.imgur.com/0JGPDb4.jpg

According to Elvis' official biographical website Graceland.com, Elvis only had 5 concerts outside of the US, all of which were from a three-day tour in Canada. It was rumored that he never went on international tours due to the fact that his manager, Tom Parker, was an illegal immigrant from Holland and didn't want to leave the country in fear of being deported.

5. He was cast in 33 successful movies. 

Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/83/1a/8d/831a8de86f75d179401a4634f17c515c.jpg

His filmography career includes the movies Viva Las Vegas, Girls! Girls! Girls!, and Frankie and Johnny.

6. Elvis was a controversial figure when it came to race.

Source: http://theroundplaceinthemiddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/elvis3.jpg

African American newspaper The Memphis World reported that Presley "cracked Memphis's segregation laws" by attending the local amusement park on what was designated as its "colored night". Due to anti-black prejudice, many white adults did not like him. It was also rumored that Elvis said at one point, "The only thing Negroes can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes." He later denied this rumor.

7. Elvis served in the army while he was famous.

Elvis in the army
Source: http://theroundplaceinthemiddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/elvis3.jpg

He also inspired the musical Bye Bye Birdie, where famous heartthrob Conrad Birdie was drafted into the military.

8. Globally, Elvis sold over one billion records.

Source: https://www.graceland.com/!userfiles/Biography/Achievements_RecordSales500x332.jpg

At the time, this was more than any other artist. He also earned gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards from American sales alone.

9.  Elvis recorded over 600 songs, but didn't write any of them.

Source: http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/images/LeiberStoller.jpg

Notable songwriters were Aaron Schroeder, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller. But still, how disappointing.

10. He was distantly related to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jimmy Carter.

Source: http://weeklyview.net/wp-content/themes/eastsidevoice/timthumb/timthumb.php?src=http://weeklyview.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/LincolnPresleyweb.jpg&w=300&&zc=1

According to ACX.com,  "Genealogists discovered that the great-great-grandfather of our 16th President, Abe Lincoln, was Isaiah Harrison, an ancestor to Elvis. The 39th President, Jimmy Carter is a 6th cousin, once removed from Elvis."

While Elvis' fame quickly faded out with the rise of bands such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones, he kicked off a movement in the music industry that is still prevalent today: rock n' roll. Without him, music would not be where it is today.

Sources

https://www.graceland.com/elvis/biography.aspx

http://askheatherjarvis.com/blog/25-fun-facts-about-elvis-presley-the-king-of-rock-roll

https://www.graceland.com/elvis/biography/quickfacts.aspx

http://www.history.com/news/7-fascinating-facts-about-elvis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley

http://www.axs.com/elvis-presley-5-things-you-didn-t-know-about-elvis-presley-44076

http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/elvis-songwriters.html

The Ni'ihau Incident

December 7, 1941, a day that has forever lived in infamy for the American people. The day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. For those on the island of Ni'ihau, it holds a different significance, the day that Airman 1st Class Shigenori Nishikaichi crash-landed his plane onto the island.

The island of Ni'ihau is the westernmost and smallest of all the Hawaiian islands. It has been owned by the Robinsons, a wealthy white family, since 1864. At the time of the incident, there were 136 inhabitants on the island, with the majority being native Hawaiians. The owner at the time was Aylmer Robinson, although he did not live on the island he would make weekly visits by boat. The island was only accessible with permission from Robinson, making it extremely secluded. There were only 3 non-Hawaiians on the island: Ishimatsu Shintani (a Japanese immigrant) and first generation Americans Yoshio and Irene Harada.

Japanese intelligence had told the pilots to land on the island in case their planes were damaged, as they believed the island to be uninhabited. At the time that Shigenori crashed, Hawila Kaleohano, a native Hawaiian, was standing only 19 feet from the plane. Hawila, also known as Howard, was the most educated man on the island and was able to recognize that the plane was Japanese. Having read newspapers brought by Mr. Robinson, he knew that relations between the U.S. and Japan were poor. He quickly took the pilots papers and gun while he was still unconscious. When the pilot came to they sent for Yoshio Harada to translate, it was during their conversation that the pilot disclosed to Harada that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Yoshio chose not to disclose this information to the native Hawaiians.

That night they celebrated the arrival of the pilot, throwing a party and dancing to their battery operated radio. It was then that the Hawaiians learned of the attack. They immediately put the pilot under guard and decided to wait for the island's owner, Robinson, who was meant to come the following day. As a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor, all boat traffic between the islands had been stopped by the military. The people on the island had no way of knowing this due to their isolation and were uneasy when Robinson did not come the following day.

The Haradas managed to convince everyone into letting the pilot stay with them, under the watch of 5 guards, giving them ample opportunities to talk to Shigenori. The papers that Kaleohano had taken became the center of all the chaos that was to follow. The pilot had been told by his superiors to never let the papers fall into American hands. On December 12, Shintani (the only other Japanese inhabitant on the island) approached Kaleohano with 200, offering to buy the papers, but was turned down. While this happened, Yoshio and the pilot attacked the lone guardsman, while Irene played music to cover up the sounds from the struggle. They put the guard in a shed, took a shotgun and the pilot's pistol now armed they continued on to Kaleohano's house.

Kaleohano was in the outhouse when the attackers arrived, now with a 16-year-old hostage. When they could not find Kaleohano, they turned their attention to the nearby plane. It was here that they attempted to contact Japanese submarines. Seeing his opportunity, Kaleohano left the outhouse to go warn the other islanders and grab the pilot's papers before it was too late. At 12:30 a.m. Kaleohano and 5 other islanders began paddling to the island of Kauai'i where Robinson lived. After their failed attempt at contacting the Japanese, Yoshio and the pilot torched the plane and Kaleohano's house.

The morning of Saturday, December 13, Yoshio and the pilot captured Ben and Ella Kanahele. They ordered Ben to find Kaleohano, keeping Ella as their hostage. Knowing that Kaleohano had already left for Kaui'i, he made a show of looking for him. When he returned empty handed his captors realized what had happened. They began threatening him saying that if Kaleohano was not found then the pilot would kill everyone on the island. Ben, seeing the fatigue of his captors, took advantage of the pilot handing the shotgun to Yoshio to jump on the pilot. Ella leapt on the pilot and was able to subdue him until pulled off by Yoshio, the pilot then shot Ben three times: in the groin, stomach, and leg. Ben then picked up the pilot and threw him against a stone wall, Ella bashed his head in, and finally Ben slit his throat. Yoshio then turned the shotgun on himself, committing suicide.

Ben was taken to the Waimea Hospital on Kaui'i to recover. He was given the Medal of Merit and the Purple Heart.

Sources:
1. http://www.hawaiireporter.com/niihau-incident-benehakaka-ben-kanahele-wwii-medal-for-merit-purple-heart-1891-1962/123

Operation Paperclip

With the invention of the V-2 missile by Nazi Germany in World War II, it became clear that the world was headed in a new and unexplored direction in warfare and exploration. During the war, Nazi Germany became the nation at the forefront of rocket technology, and many of the world's most brilliant minds were working for the German government. Towards the end of the war, it became clear to the United States that these scientists were not to be lost to the Soviet Union in the post-war world.

Operation Paperclip was a secret operation to bring German scientists and engineers to the United States. In 1943, following the Battle of Stalingrad and the failure of Operation Barbarossa, Germany began to recall scientists from the front lines, and to begin preparing for a longer war by developing new weapons and production methods. During this recall, the Osenberg List was formed, consisting of the names of these scientists. The list was found in a toilet in 1945, and handed over to the Americans. The original plan was to interview only rocket scientists and attempt to persuade them to come to the US. Following a telegram that described the effort as "important for [the] Pacific war", "Operation Overcast" was launched, which was later to be renamed "Operation Paperclip".

Operation Paperclip was formally approved in 1946 by President Truman, and continued until as late as 1959. As one might guess, it was not without its controversy. Most scientists brought as part of the operation were members of the Nazi party, but a few were specially investigated for their more active involvement. Arthur Rudolph, a key rocket engineer, was investigated for war crimes in 1984 and agreed to leave the United States and renounce his citizenship in order to not be prosecuted. Hubertus Strughold, who was considered the "Father of Space Medicine" for his work on the physical and psychological effects of spaceflight on humans, was the subject of three investigations by the US government, and following his death it was confirmed that he was involved in human experimentation in Dachau.

Perhaps the most famous engineer brought to the US by Operation Paperclip was Wernher von Braun. Von Braun is credited as the inventor of the V-2 rocket and was one of the most prominent figures in early spaceflight. Following his move to the United States, he worked as a rocket scientists for NASA, helping design the first American rockets to go into space. He also served as the chief architect of the Saturn V rocket, which launched the Apollo missions.
Sources:
http://www.operationpaperclip.info/
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-58-no-3/operation-paperclip-the-secret-intelligence-program-to-bring-nazi-scientists-to-america.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/operation-paperclip
http://www.biography.com/people/wernher-von-braun-9224912

Vintage Recipes of the 1950s

Due to the increase in emphasis of traditional values in the 1950s, people living in the common suburbs were very sociable with their neighbors and had a lot of dinner parties.  People would often bring over dishes when they happened, and the 50s saw the creation of a lot of strange dishes.

One ingredient that was commonly used in these dishes was gelatin.  This was due primarily to three reasons.

1. Status – Gelatin requires refrigeration to set, and refrigeration was expensive still at the time.  By making gelatin dishes, people were able to show off their wealth to their neighbors.
2. Social norms – People at the time accepted that this was normal, for so many cookbooks featured gelatin in their dishes.
3. Efficiency – Gelatin was a very clean, economical food to make, making it desirable to cook and bring to others.

The traditional values of the time was seen throughout daily life, including the food of the time.  Do we see this reflection of modern values in our food today?

Sources:
http://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/why-were-there-so-many-gelatin-based-dishes-50s-and-60s
http://www.bonappetit.com/restaurants-travel/article/weird-food-trends-through-the-decades

the space race

Post-Cold War, the USSR and US emerged as the world's top two nations that were full of very knowledgeable and powerful scientists and engineers who were able to come up with clever innovations. The USSR and US were fighting, and they wanted to be able to attack the other country by setting off Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) weapons overseas and using satellites in space to spy on each other. However, they became so competitive with each other that it made both teams become "bad sports" in a way when trying to outfight each other for developing improved technologies, which led them to trying to come up with better strategies for eventually winning the Space Race.

The Russians seemed to be the leading nation for the start and majority of the Race. They fired Sputnik I, which was the first satellite that was successfully sent into space. It was a 184 pound, 60 cm metal sphere that carried a radio transmitter and went into orbit about 550 miles upward, where it was able to rotate around Earth every 1.5 hour at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour. Later on, the Russians became the first to launch a living organism, a female dog named Laika, into space, where she lived there for a week. Countries then realized that if a dog could survive in space, then any animal can survive. This leads the countries to take initiative to achieve the next challenge - sending people to do space exploration. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a Russian astronaut, is sent off into space, therefore successfully proving the hypothesis on how people can go to space. The US is falling behind the Race and experiences difficulty in being able to keep up and advance from the USSR's current achievements.

The ultimate challenge for both nations then becomes for being able to get an expedition to visit the moon. The USSR developed the Luna 1 spacecraft; although it accidentally strayed off its intended route to travel and make a stop at the moon, this was still an important milestone for the Soviets and technology, as they were able to design something that could orbit past Earth and around the sun. The US then realized that there were better alternative paths that their engineers could work on in order to advance past the Soviets, ideally accomplishing something that the USSR had never done before.

However, the Cuban Missile Crisis, which occurred a few years later, set an obstacle for the US. The Russians were "cheating" in the Race, for they were hiding weapons that were scattered throughout Cuba  so they could attack the nearby US. However because America also had weapons very close to Russia, they realized how destructive it would be if one nation used the weapons, and if the other used them to get revenge -possibly destroying the world. To prevent war, the US moved their weapons away, and this led a period of inactivity.

Weeks later, the intense Race began again, and although America started to gain more momentum to be able to catch up to Russia, they were still not ahead of the game. However, this all changed on July 20, 1969, where finally, the unimaginable had been done: the US has been the first to get people, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, to land on the Moon. From this, both sides realized that because the US had achieved their goal, there was nothing left to compete over. Russia was congratulatory of the US, but many believe that Russia was actually angry at the US for winning the Race, which has continued to create tension between the two countries. Nevertheless, the Space Race ultimately brought upon several new technological advancements in the field of space exploration.

The Little Rock Nine

September 4th, 1957. Nine historic figures, surrounded by hecklers and shouting, walk the streets of Little Rock, Arkansas.  

Shortly after the famous Brown v. Board of Education trial banned segregation from American schools, the town of Little Rock became the first to allow black Americans into a local white high school. Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Kalmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals soon became known as the Little Rock Nine.

The Little Rock Nine
Source: http://kearsleyeclipse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/little-rock-nine.jpg

However, this small group of teenagers suffered massive roadblocks with their then-controversial academic careers. At the time, Arkansas' governor Orval Faubus was a verbal segregationist. On the Little Rock Nine's first day at Little Rock Central High School, Faubus ordered armed federal and nearby Army troops to surround the school and keep the group from entering. Faubus justified his decision with the argument that the entrance of the Little Rock Nine would incite violence, and thus it would be safer for everyone to keep them out. Soon after, President Dwight D. Eisenhower persuaded the governor to remove the troops, and instead sent his own National Guardsmen to escort the students to school. Governor Faubus was officially stripped of his power to segregate Arkansas' schools.

The Little Rock Nine gets escorted to school by National Guardsmen
Source: https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/01_055946691.jpg?quality=85&w=832

Additionally, these new students struggled to adjust to school as their peers abused them racially and physically throughout the year. Specific examples of abuse included beating, kicking, heckling, and burning an African-American effigy in nearby lot. Patillo recalls getting acid thrown in her face, Ray was pushed down a flight of stairs, and Brown was expelled from the school for retaliating against the attacks. The racism even got to a point where Faubus held a vote regarding integration and shut down all of Little Rock's high schools for a year to prevent more black American students from entering the system.

Students heckle a girl from the Little Rock Nine as she walks to school
Source: http://hotelworkers.org/images/uploads/eckford_large.jpeg

Despite the violence they had to endure, the Little Rock Nine represented a major turning point in US history. They were the first black Americans people to attend a white school. Their education in a desegregated school helped spark motivation in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Because of them, people across the nation fought harder against similar injustices they had to suffer through.

The Little Rock Nine went on to have successful careers. Green became assistant secretary of the federal Department of Labor under President Jimmy Carter. Brown served as a deputy assistant secretary for work force diversity int he Department of the Interior under President Bill Clinton. Others went on to have amazing careers in journalism, accounting, social work, and psychology.

The Little Rock Nine as of 2008
Source: https://www.blacktie-colorado.com/captured_events_pictures//1d19f579869cd949e7b676d623e909c6.jpg

Sources: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration
https://newsone.com/2034005/little-rock-nine-facts/

Hidden Figures and civil rights

Hidden Figures is a new film that has been nominated for three academy awards including best picture, best actress in a supporting role, and best adapted screenplay. I'm sure some of you have already seen the film or have put it on your list of movies to see. The main characters in the film are all real women, and their stories are quite amazing.

The civil rights movement coincided in many ways with the space race in the beginning and the film shines a light on this rising tension between the two issues. Katherine Johnson was one of the first African American women to help NASA with calculations. And this crucial milestone also helped de-segregrate bathrooms at NASA.

I don't want to spoil the film so I will not play out each scene, but the overall message and story of the film is quite powerful. The space race was something all Americans thought about and cared for in this time period, and even though civil rights and segregation was also a huge issue, many Americans chose the space race over this. In the film time after time the space race starts to break the segregation (at NASA).

There were many women like Kathrine Johnson that have paved the way for civil and social rights; it is important now to remember them and cherish their memories like we do other historical figures. Hidden Figures is very much the title of the film; each of these women were a figure and a mark in civil rights history and yet they were still Hidden.

Trump's Repeat of "Law and Order"

President Nixon's disapproval of how Chief Justice Earl Warren was running his court. After the case of Miranda v. Arizona, Nixon argued that the Supreme Court was defending criminals and that he could bring order and stability. His goal was to appeal to the "forgotten Americans" and gain the white middle-class voters' support in the election.

Today, experts argue that Trump's campaign attempted to do the same thing. The opening night of the Republican National Convention's theme was "Make Our Country Safe Again." While crime in 1968 was through the roof, it's at a historic low today. But despite this, Trump aspired to play to the unrest surrounding social and cultural change. He talks about issues such as taxes, Islamic terrorism, and diversification of America, all of which worry a certain group of the American population.

Trump has said that he does not hope to unify the American people, just as Nixon did, but rather gather enough middle-class support that feels anxiety about the current situation in America. Whether they're worried about police brutality, attacks on the police, or a variety of different issues, Trump hopes to offer a shift in leadership and opportunity for change.



Like Nixon, Trump rode this support to the Presidency and followed up on his claims. While Nixon's foreign policy attempted to end the War in Vietnam, Trump followed through with his Muslim ban and order to construct a wall on the border of Mexico.

Sources:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/donald-trump-law-and-order-richard-nixon-crime-race-214066
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-richard-nixon-rnc_us_578cda12e4b0fa896c3f2b2e
https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/thelife/apolitician/thepresident/

The Space Age

On October 4, 1957 the world's first artificial satellite was launched bringing the Soviet Union into the space age. Many Americans were shocked upon finding out about Sputnik 1, which stands for satellite in Russian, as they had hoped that the US would be the first to successfully launch a satellite. This thinking led to many Americans feeling that the military was technologically behind. With the dislike of communist ever growing the simple sight of their satellite over American soil felt like they were in constant danger making the tensions of the cold war worse. With Sputnik 1 many americans felt that the Soviet Union could potentially fire their missiles anywhere in the US at any major city

As a result of the successful launch of Sputnik the arms race was intensified as the US attempted to catch up and surpass the soviet union but launches ended in failure. The Soviet Union would quickly go on to launch two more satellites, one carrying the dog now famously known as Laika. Their success of their first satellite allowed for Khrushchev to boast about the soviet unions' technological superiority and about their huge amount of missiles. The fear of the US being behind in both technology and weapons lead to sending the spy plane over Russia to find out their amount of missiles. In 1958, 4 months after the launch of Sputnik 1, the US was successful in launching the Explorer 1 satellite which was responded with another satellite being launched by the soviets.

Source: Sputnik

The Beat Generation

     The Beat Generation was a cultural and literary movement that happened in the 1950s. It started out as a group of friends in Columbia University who shared similar ideas, and later evolved into a movement. The Beats were never large in terms of numbers, however, their works reflected the society at the time, and influenced the nation. 

     The Beat Generation was a response to the change in the postwar age. As the society became more materialistic, people questioned the consumer culture. People saw capitalism as destructive to the human spirit and contributive toward social inequality. Another part of the movement was dissatisfaction toward the older generation, who saw discussions of sexuality as unhealthy. They challenged the clean formalism of the earlier writers, and embraced a bold, straightforward, and expressive style of writing. 

   

     The core group of the Beats were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, and William S. Burroughs, who met in Columbia University. Many of their works became milestones in American literature, which are still studied today. For example, when Allen Ginsberg published Howl in 1956, people have never read anything like it. The poem explored the underside of America, including drugs and prostitution. Foul language and slang were used throughout his poem.

     The Beat Generation caused a great impact in American literature. Their works were criticized as inappropriate and attention-seeking. However, they were an important part of literary history. They redefined censorship and challenged the mainstream. In addition, they brought up important issues to the nation's consciousness, such as environmentalism. 

Mexican Americans during WWII

The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 is one of the most significant events in the history of the U.S.  It represented the beginning in American involvement in WWWII. There were many different perspectives like those of the Americans, Japanese, Blacks, and others when Pearl Harbor was attacked. One of those perspectives came from Mexican Americans. 

Of course, everyone knew that the attack on Pearl Harbor was the start to a war. However, there were two sides to the perspectives of Mexican Americans. The first perspective was from those who opposed being American and fighting for America. When some Mexican Americans heard what had happened at Pear Harbor their first reaction was to oppose fighting in a war for a country that was not their own. Some even thought about going back to their homeland or being deported on purpose, with the intend of not being drafted to the war. The reason why so many Mexicans refused to fight in WWII was because at this time, there was still a lot of discrimination going on. Mexicans were looked down upon and were discriminated. This led many of them to hold a grudge towards American and led them to a mentality of 'why fight for a country that does not treat me like one of its own?' 

The other perspectives were form those who believed that at their roots they were Mexican but they also held the American culture close to heart. While some Mexican Americans opposed to fight for America during WWII others took it as an opportunity to show the Americans that they themselves were just as American at heart. Many took it as a way to demonstrate their patriotism in hopes of finally ending the discrimination against Mexicans. Many Mexicans went to war and in honor of those soldiers, a song called "soldado razo" became very popular in describing how Mexicans felt during this time period. 

Laika - First Animal in Orbit

Between 1948 and 1951, both the Americans and the Soviet Union attempted to send animals into space, but they never reached orbit and many of them perished. The US sent a monkey, Albert II, up 83 miles into space, but after surviving the flight he died on impact. In 1950, the US also sent a mouse to study its behavior with weightlessness, but that also died. Finally, the US sent an anesthetized monkey, Yorick, up to space with 11 mice. Yorick survived the flight but died after the landing still inside the space capsule, and 9 mice survived. 

6 years after these tests, Sputnik II launched into orbit. It carried a dog originally named Kudryvaka, called Laika by the American people. Though Laika didn't survive, she greatly scared the United States given the superiority of the current Soviet space program. After launching the first Sputnik into orbit before the Americans could launch something, and effectively beginning the space race, Americans began fearing the power of the Soviets. They were worried that if the Soviets could send animals up into space, eventually they could send bombs to be dropped on basically any city in the United States. 

One source of controversy was the fact that no preparations were made to attempt to bring Laika back alive. Originally, no news was spread to the world of the outcome of Laika, and people were curious whether she would be returning. The National Canine Defence League and England's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals began to make their voices heard and call out the Soviet space program for their use of animals in testing. Eight days after Laika officially died, the Soviets confirmed her death. Laika's cause of death was a mystery for a long time, and not until 2002 was it confirmed that Laika died before 7 hours had passed due to heat and stressed.

Sources:

http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/what-was-the-first-animal-in-space

http://www.ecolinc.vic.edu.au/sites/default/files/pages/Lesson_7_Ethics_of_Animal_Research_Teracher_Notes.pdf

Suburbs in the 1950s

In the 1950s, American average household income rose, and technology such as automobiles and and infrastructure such as the highway allowed for easier transportation and increased efficiency. There was a rise of suburbs, which are neighborhoods that are on the outskirts of cities. The most noticeable character of suburbs is its conformity. The houses in these neighborhoods almost look exactly the same. In a postwar period where people sought for tranquility and peace, it is not hard to understand the demand for a life in the suburbs, where people were on the same grounds as their neighbors, and where people could focus on their families.

Several factors lead to the rise of suburbs. After the war, the automobile industry boomed once again, lead by Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. The Interstate Highway Act authorized the construction of thousands of miles of roads that made living further from work easier. There was also the appeal of living beyond the noise, pollution, overcrowding, and disease.

The most prominent propellers of suburb construction was the Levitt family, who built the Levittown. They experienced a new way to built communities by using the division of labor. A house construction was divided into exactly 27 steps, like a manufacturing process, therefore, 27 different teams of workers were involved. The workers were specialized in their own "step".

The Levitts' houses were affordable and futuristic, with stoves and television sets included. The streets were also designed to minimize noise. There were sets of rules for the homeowners that made the entire neighborhood presentable, for example, "do not hang laundry outside homes."

Although the suburban development was a key part of the makeup of the modern settlement and a representation of the increasing standard of living of Americans, it was also criticized for several reasons. For example, the idea of conformity might be limiting personal expression. Race was another problem, as African Americans were excluded in many places. As suburbs continue to grow, a new definition of the American life began to form.



Sources:
http://www.ushistory.org/us/53b.asp
http://ushistoryscene.com/article/levittown/

Analyzing the Baby Boom

Analyzing the Baby Boom

Following the end of World War II, a population explosion occurred that gave rise to the “Baby Boomer” generation.   Characterized by the period from 1946-1964, an average of about four million babies were born each year, and if you compare this figure to 1945 in which 2.8 million babies were born, you can see how this generation got its name.  76 million baby boomers were born in total, and at that time, they constituted an incredible 40% of the United States population.  Just to put this in perspective, every 8 seconds a baby boomer will reach the age of 55.  

There are many reasons that account for this sudden growth, and one of them is that the adults must have wanted to settle down after experiencing the hardships of the Great Depression and the second World War.  This desire went hand in hand with the growth of suburbs, and couples were able to raise a family in cheap, prefabricated houses.  As for the soldiers that did not have much money to begin new lives, the GI Bill helped pay their mortgages and it provided educational opportunities so that they would be able to earn a respectable salary in the future.  At that time, consumerism was in full swing due to America’s massive industrial production and the advent of the credit card, and couples must have sensed a bright and prosperous future ahead of them.  Thus, they would have been more willing to have children since they knew they could care for them.

An effect of the baby boom impacted women in a major way.  Having to raise children, they were confined in their suburban homes, and this created dissatisfaction with an unfulfilling life.  In 1963, a housewife named Betty Friedan would make these feelings public in her book “The Feminine Mystique,” and she would go on to spark the modern feminist movement.

Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/baby-boomers
http://www.bbhq.com/bomrstat.htm

Secretaries in the 1950s

As we have talked about in class, although women had a major role in the workforce during World War II, many of them were laid off once men had come back from fighting to take back their jobs.  Of those who continued to work, one of the most common jobs women had was as a secretary.  However, this job was less about contributing to the workforce and more about looking nice.  Much of the time, secretaries had menial work and served as something to make their bosses look better.

Secretaries also had to keep up with certain rules, mainly about their physical appearance and presence.  Some of the rules of upkeep included maintaining good posture, smiling constantly, and being well-dressed, while behavioral requirements included keeping a nice voice, not talking about oneself too much, and never expecting a promotion.  These rules perpetuated the idea that women were meant to be subordinate to men and only could maintain a low level of work.

It is quite ironic that, while the US was fighting for freedom and democracy in the war, the freedom and rights of the people back at home were still minimal for certain groups.  As seen in the "double V" idea and the later Civil Rights Movement, people were not willing to have American remain a segregated and discriminatory country.  Additional to the protests against racism, gender equality also became a concept that people fought for.  Seeing women's freedom reverse after the war, it is easy to see the logic: if women were able to work during the war, what was stopping them from doing so now and pursuing other rights?

Thankfully, so far into the future from the 1950s, we have made large strides in women's rights and equality in the workplace, and sexism is barely an issue in the workplace today.

Right? :/

Sources:
https://www.littlethings.com/rules-for-being-secretary/
https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2013/04/22/flashback-secretaries-of-the-1950s-and-1960s-do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-be-one/

U-2: The American Spyplane

The Space Race was a spaceflight supremacy competition between USA and USSR during the Cold War. Post WWII tensions between the two countries especially heightened when the Soviets successfully launched Sputnik, the first ever satellite to orbit the Earth. Immediately, the fear that America had now fallen behind in the Space Race began to consume the entire country and its population, including federal officials. Feeling threatened of their international status as a leader, America decided to send spy planes over to the USSR. Unfortunately, we all came to learn that it was perhaps the worst decision that the United States made during the Space Race.

On May 1, 1960, the American spy plane, U-2, and its pilot, Gary Powers, was shot down when it entered Soviet airspace. Although it was a spy plane, this particular flight was not intended for spying on the Soviets. Gary Powers had simply taken off from a base in Pakistan to get to another base in Norway and a mere 2,900 miles of his planned flight path was to transgress over Soviet airspace. The United States believed that taking this trajectory was practical because U-2 was an unprecedented high-altitude plane that flew at 70,000 feet. So naturally, officials believed that it would fly high enough to go undetected by the Soviet ground radars. Sadly, this was not true at all.

(Francis) Gary Powers

Luckily, the instant his plane was shot down, the emergency parachute safely landed Powers onto Soviet ground. Unluckily, he was now held in the country for interrogation. With the plane and the pilot both intact, USSR now had concrete proof that United States had actually been spying on them. But in response to this open accusation, American officials lied and responded that Powers was knocked unconscious because of oxygen depletion inside the aircraft and had unintentionally drifted over to  Soviet airspace. The new Soviet leader, Khrushchev, demanded a sincere apology but he did not get anything close to one. President Eisenhower himself was committed to the spy-plane program and took great interest in it on a personal level as well.

Gary Powers was tried and convicted of spying. He was sentenced to three years in prison and hard labor but by another fate of luck, he was saved in 1962. The tables now turned and America discovered a Soviet spy, Rudolph Abel, in the country. They agreed to exchange these prisoners and return them to their respective homes. This incident made it impossible for Eisenhower and Khrushchev to peacefully cooperate again. Instead, Khrushchev patiently waited for John F. Kennedy to be inaugurated as the new president elected in November of 1960.

Sources:

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/u2-incident

Impact of TV during the 1950s

Impact of TV during the 1950s

In the 1940s, there were only 3 networks: NBC, CBS, and ABC.  Fast forward to today and there are many, many more.    Clearly the television has made tremendous gains in popularity, but what accounts for it?  Why is TV so important?  In this blog, we will take a look at the effects television had on life during the 1950s.  

In the 1952 election, television played a critical role in American politics.  After vice-president hopeful Richard Nixon was accused of corruption and of receiving gifts from supporters, through the medium of television, he faced the American public eye to eye and denied the allegations. However, he did concede that he intended to keep one gift that he had received:  a dog named Checkers.  Now known as the Checkers speech, Nixon used television to appeal to the viewers’ emotions, winning them over.  Nixon went from “zero to hero,” so to speak, and he would eventually become vice-president and his running mate, Eisenhower, would become president.

Television also played an important role in promoting religion during this time period.  Known as “televangelists,” members of the church would go on air to to deliver messages to members of their faith.  One famous televangelist orator was Bishop Fulton Sheen, and he used the medium of television to demonstrate that faith was not outdated and that it can be hip and with the times.  Televangelists were important in building bases of support for their religion.  

Of course, any mention of television would be incomplete without having the word “advertisements” pop up into the conversation.  Indeed, the 1950s saw another way advertisements could appear before consumers’ eyes.  And while we may be disappointed that the presence of advertisements in on-screen entertainment hasn’t changed up until today, we should be thankful that the products companies were selling has (see the above 1950s advertisement and you will understand).

Televangelism

TV and politics