1950's+America

= __Social Life and Civil Rights__ = Every thing was separate including drinking fountains, bathrooms, schools, seating on busses, etc. In the 1800's there was slavery. We passed a law the said you could not do such a thing, but even after that the blacks were not treated fairly. . During 1954, schools started to be both black and white. The schools used to be "separate, but equal" (see //Plessy Vs. Ferguson & Separate but equal// for more information) although that was not the case. The schools for the african americans often didn't have the same books, and all the supplies needed. In the southern states, they spent, on average, ten times more money on white schools then they did on black schools. In 1954 this changed; those schools that had segregated children, had to bring them together. Just because they were in school together didn't mean everything was fair.

**__Eisenhower and Civil Rights__**
The president understood that African Americans were increasingly dissatisfied during the 1950s, but he did not appreciate the depth of their impatience with Jim Crow. He spent more time playing golf with white Southern businessmen than investigating the grievances of blacks.

In a telling incident while he was serving as president of Columbia University in the late 1940s, Eisenhower learned of plans to award an honorary degree to Ralph Bunche, the distinguished African American diplomat. Ike did not object to the award, but he thought that the other guests would be uncomfortable if Bunche and his wife joined them for the dinner that would follow the ceremony. The idea of sitting at a table beside a black person was foreign to Eisenhower.

Eisenhower's blindness to racial intolerance led him to seek compromise and delay when bold action was called for. When the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling //Brown v. Board//, outlawing school desegregation, Eisenhower failed to publicly endorse the decision. In fact, in private, he thought the ruling was a mistake and wished the Court had upheld the "separate but equal" doctrine of segregation. He felt that if the government forced racial integration, it would harden the hearts and minds of Southern whites and actually hurt the prospects of blacks.

He made no efforts to enforce the ruling until 1957, when Governor Orville Faubus of Arkansas called out the state's National Guard soldiers to prevent black students from attending Central High School in Little Rock. Eisenhower lectured Faubus, but took no immediate action. The governor defied him. Television stations around the world broadcast images of angry mobs of white people taunting the nine black children who attempted to enter the school. Finally, at the request of the mayor of Little Rock, Eisenhower sent federal troops to bring the situation under control and allow the school to be integrated.

Supporters of Ike's civil rights record point out that during the same month as the Little Rock crisis, Eisenhower signed into law the first civil rights bill since Radical Reconstruction, a mild piece of legislation aimed at guaranteeing blacks the right to vote. But amendments added in Congress made the new law almost impossible to enforce. Meaningful federal action on civil rights would not occur until the 1950s, when Ike was no longer president. Eisenhower's failure to take decisive action and to provide moral leadership on issues of race and racism did not serve the country well.

= __ Entertainment __ = In the fifties if you had a television, you would be the neatest kid on the block. Even though at the beginning they only had a few shows, anything would be fun, in 1956 some scientists did a study on how much kids ages 10-16 watched television. The results showed that a average kid watched six hours of television a day which was equal to how long they went to school everyday. One of the popular shows for teenagers was American Bandstand. Dick Clark, the star of the show, got more than fifty thousand fan letters a week. They thought watching this show was more important than doing their homework, which of course, most parents were not very happy about that. Teenagers loved American Bandstand. Some of the popular television shows are listed below:

I Love Lucy The Honeymooners The Families of the Fifties || **Drama** Dragnet The Twilight Zone Superman Private Everywhere || **Kids** Howdy Doody Time Lassie Walt Disney Mickey Mouse Club || In 1952 movies became more than just movies. In the month of November the first 3-D movie, __Bwana Devil__, was able to be seen. At first people were amused by this optical illusion, but the fad did not last very long at all.
 * **Comedy**

In 1956 rock and roll became known to parents as bad, unhealthy, basically not right. Ed Sullivan, a host of a weekly television show said Elvis's music was unfit for a family audience. Younger people did not agree. They thought the music was new and stylish and a great way to be different.

= **__Economics__** = American industry expanded to meet peacetime needs. Americans began buying goods not available during the war, which created corporate expansion and jobs. In the 1950's industry was expanding to meet the economical needs after World War 2.

= __World Issues__ = The world had largely recovered from World War II and the Cold War. Clashes between communism and capitalism dominated the decade, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. The conflicts included the Korean War in the beginnings of the decade. The Korean and Cold War started and ended during this decade.

__ Korean War and The Cold War __ The Cold War was the name of a military conflict with no actual warring. Beginning after World War II, it was a time of diplomatic struggles and mutual suspicion between the United States and a group of nations led by the Soviet Union. The United States, being a democracy, was at odds with the communist ideals of China and the Soviet Union. The fear of Communism was very powerful in the United States. In Congress there was a series of highly publicized inquiries into pro-Communist activity. The best-known investigator was Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, who was known for his strong stance on anticommunism. McCarthy first attracted attention in February 1950, with the charge that the Department of State had been infiltrated by Communists. Although his accusation was never substantiated, during the next several years he repeatedly accused various high-ranking officials of "subversive" activities. Many movie actors and actresses were also thought to be communists at that time.A by-product of the Cold War was the Korean War. When Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, President Truman sent the American military into action. The Korean War ended three bloody years later in a truce that left the border between North and south Korea intact, the infamous 38th parallel. The U.S. suffered 157,530 casualties and South Korea sustained over 1.3 million casualties. Estimated Communist casualties were 2 million.



= __Politics__ = The presidents that were in office in this decade are Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman. During and immediately after Eisenhower's presidency, his critics painted him as a great general but a bumbling politician. People criticized the way he handles segregation. In later years, many came to understand that his political skills were more formidable than they seemed. During his run for president in 1952, Eisenhower adopted the slogan "I Like Ike." The phrase not only had a nice ring to it, it was true. Americans overwhelmingly did like Ike. He was a personable, down-to-earth, honest man with an infectious grin. He had been a great athlete—a knee injury ruined his promising football career while he was still at West Point. As an older man, he seemed like a pretty ordinary guy: he played golf and bridge, watched television, and read Western novels. Many presidents, of course, have found that popularity is a tremendous asset in the White House. It aids a president when he wants to pass legislation and makes his political enemies think twice before attacking him. Eisenhower was one of the most popular presidents of the twentieth century.

= __Technology__ = There were some new technologies in the fifties. Television was one of them. In 1950 Paper Mate made it's first leak free ball point pen. The first copy machine was made 1950 also. In 1954 Bell Telephone labs produce solar battery. In 1954 you could get a yard of contact paper for only 59 cents. Polypropylene was invented in 1954. In 1955 Jonas Salk invented a polio vaccine which was given to more than seven million American students. In 1956 a solar powered wrist watch was invented. This decade was the one of the started of the space race between America and Russia with the launch of Spuntik I and II. A surprise came in 1957; A 184 pound satellite was launched by the Russians. They named it Sputnik 1. The space race begins 4 months later the United States launch a smaller satellite. America was mad that they weren't the top, and began working to beat Russia. This was a time where the knowledge of space jumped up with discoveries like that of the Van Allen Belt.

Space wasn't the only thing starting to really be discovered, computers were coming out in the beginning of the 1950's, although they were many times larger then what we have today. It was the start of the technology that we have today.

During this time, America started to develop the hydrogen bomb. They tested it on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and sailors on ships could see the explosion from 50 miles away. The bomb was a thousand times stronger then the Hiroshima bomb, and the flying radio-active debris showered a Japanese fishing boats, killing multiple on the boat.

Cars were manufactured greatly in this era. The Chevrolet Corvette becomes the first car to have a all-fiberglass body in 1953.

There were many new toys that took of immediacy. One of them were Legos, that are still one of the most popular toys around. Another other toys were Silly Putty and Hula Hoops. Matchbox cars were also make at this time.



= __Sports__ = Baseball was a huge sport during the 1950's as it was one of the few sports devopoled and broadcasted. Some of the big players in the news included Bobbie Thomson's home run that won the World Series for the Dodgers against the Giants, Willie Mays's "Catch" that won the game for the Giants against the Cleveland Indians, and Don Larson's perfect game where he pitched a perfect game, letting no one score on the team the Giants were against again for the World Series, the Dodgers.

Boxign was starting to be more well seen, as it was on television three days a week. Football was also starting to be more popular, and Sunday night football became a tradition for many families with tv's after a game won only by a last minute field goal by the Colts to beat the Giants.

One baseball player was called Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in professional baseball.



__**Fifties Fashion**__
The fashion industry boomed in the fifties. Fads were popular in every walk of life, and fashion was no exception. The "A" look, "H" look and the "Y" look were fashion terms used by the French fashion designer Dior. The smaller the waist, the fuller the skirt, the better the look. In this popular dress style of the fifties, the figure-molding bodice stands in sharp contrast to the wide skirt which is supported by a stiff petticoat. Shorts might be very short. Polka dots and the color pink seemed to be everywhere. For woman, hair was typically cut short. Many permed their hair into a "poodle" style, setting it close to the scalp in curly ringlets. Others sported the "Italian look," a short-cropped boyish cut. For men, hair was either very short, as in the flattop or crew-cut look, or it was long. For the duck tail look, the hair was dampened, oiled, and swept back to a duck tail. The grey flannel suit was a big hit in the fifties. Most men still wore hats to work. For kids, the choices were even greater. Chinos, tan cotton trousers, varsity letter sweaters were big. And in shoes, loafers, or "sneaks" were a must. Blue jeans once the uniform of a farm boy, became the uniform of the both the "hip" and the "hood". Black leather was in for rebels. Glasses were pretty square. If you wore them, you might hear cries of "four eyes" or "nerd" (unless you were wearing that letter sweater).



= __Music__ = Rock and Roll was very popular in the 1950's, it was a mix of Southern blues and gospel music. Elvis was a popular singer, as was Marilyn Monroe. In the First World, Rock 'n' Roll, Pop music, Swing music, R&B, Blues, Country music and rockability dominated and defined the decade's music. Some popular sons included Gee by Crows and Sixty Minute Man by Dominoes.

**__Fun Facts on Marilyn Monroe__**
Marilyn Monroe was also known for her acting skills. She could start crying when she was told to. She starred in these movies, these are only the ones between 1950-1960: 1950 - A ticket to tomahawk 1950 - The fireball 1950 - The asphalt jungle 1950 - All about Eve 1951 - Love nest 1951 - Let's make it legal 1951 - Home town story 1951 - As young as I feel 1952 - O. Henry's full house 1952 - Monkey Business 1952 - Clash by night 1952 - We're not married! 1952 - Don't bother to knock 1953 - Niagara 1953 - Gentlemen prefer blondes 1953 - How to marry a millionaire 1954 - River of no return 1954 - There's no business like show business 1955 - The seven year itch 1956 - Bus stop 1957 - The prince and the showgirl 1959 - Some like it hot

__Top Site for Most of the Information:__http://intranet.dalton.org/ms/8th/students/decades99/Muffins1950/Pages/index.html http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/elmer/infoCentral/frameset/decade/1950.htm Our Century 1950-1960 (Book)