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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Betty Ford: One Day at a Time

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students view a video about Betty Ford and how her candid admission of her own battles with addiction has enabled others to face their own addictions. She has done the same for breast cancer, since she was First Lady of the US.
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Federal Holidays

For Teachers 3rd
Students learn the history and why each Federal holiday is celebrated. Students identify how the celebration of each holiday ties the nation together.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils study Eleanor Roosevelt's spirit, personal style, and humanitarian efforts. They investigate their own community for volunteer organizations dedicated to helping others.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Monetary Mania

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Young scholars participate in an online quiz program that reviews economic concepts and vocabulary. They apply concepts learned through the International Money Fund Center.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paul Robeson: The Renaissance Man

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research the life of athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, and political activist, Paul Robeson. They answer the question, "Which was most important to American culture -Robeson's work as a scholar, a performer, an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss the election of 1960. They examine the political styles of important leaders, the issue of money, and the issue of fair play in American politics. Students explore the lives of Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
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Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Women in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Looks at what life was like for women in 1950s America. Examines the tension between the expectations of conformity and domesticity and an emerging discontent as many women chose to continue working after World War II. Meanwhile, African...
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Website
US Department of State

America.gov: Edward R. Murrow [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Highlights the life and career of broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow. Examines his "This is London" reports during World War 11, the Senator McCarthy anti-Communist campaign in the 1950s, his critical treatment of migrant workers, and...
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Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Anticommunism in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Looks at the paranoia of the 1950s when Americans lived in fear of communism. The House Committee on Un-American Activities created blacklists of people working in Hollywood, McCarthyism flourished, and the Rosenberg couple were tried...
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Article
PBS

Pbs American Experience: Mrs. America: Women's Roles in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the role of women in the 1950's. American society was geared toward the family and marriage and children were part of the national agenda.
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Article
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Changing America" by Barbara Radner

For Students 4th - 6th
This is an informational article about how Martin Luther King Jr. worked toward changing America in the 1950s and 1960s. It includes a short bio of Dr. King and a reading purpose: As you read, take notes on the problems that African...
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Website
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Poverty in America [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover the numbers behind poverty in America in the 1950s. Read about those who were in poverty, where they lived, and find out if things have improved over the decades. [pdf]
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Activity
SparkNotes

Spark Notes: Social Trends of the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Spark Notes gives a brief overview of the 1950s from consumerism and conformity to poverty to youthful rebellion. A good review of this important decade in American history.
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Article
Other

The Suburbanization of America: Patio Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
This site offers a discussion on middle class suburban life in the 1950's and 1960's which has been dubbed the Patio Culture.
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Article
Digital History

Digital History: Postwar America: 1945 1960, the Containment Policy

For Students 9th - 10th
Digital History discusses the Containment Policy of the 1950s. Includes information on the Marshall Plan, the fate of Germany, the Berlin blockade, and NATO.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: City and Suburb: Chicago and Park Forest, Illinois 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Exhibition highlights the differences between city and suburbia living. Visit Park Forest, Illinois, a new suburb of Chicago, where every day is moving day. A station wagon and moving boxes sit in front of a new house and the new kids on...
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: 1950s 1970s: Struggles for Social Justice

For Students 9th - 10th
The protests of the 1960s and 70s are highlighted in original photographs. The informational text and overview discuss what groups were fighting for social justice, what the issues were and how these groups made their voices heard.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The 1950s: Happy Days

For Students 5th - 8th
A brief look at American life and politics in the 1950s with an increase in consumerism and fear of the Soviet Union.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Themes: Pete's Postcard

For Students 9th - 10th
Journey through America's past with Pete as he hitchhikes across the country while viewing the postcards written to his then fiance Dot that highlight his adventures on the road.
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Activity
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Chicago, the Transit Metropolis

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the role of public transportation in Chicago, from the 1890s through the 1950s.
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Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Red Scare America

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the events that took place during the McCarthy Era and actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Ordinary Americans feared being identified as a Communist sympathizer and libraries removed books from their shelves...
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Website
British Library

British Library: 20th Century Works: The Bell Jar

For Students 9th - 10th
Sylvia Plath's only published novel, "The Bell Jar, " explores mental illness and the pressure of social expectations on women in 1950s America. Read an overview and view additional resources such as articles, collection items, and...
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Website
University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania: The Literature & Culture of the American 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a very large collection of web resources for a study of American culture during the fifties. Some links no longer work.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: America Rocks and Rolls

For Students 5th - 8th
Read a brief history of rock and roll and its roots. See why this form of music shook the establishment and shattered the idea of conformity.

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