Curated OER
Betty Ford: One Day at a Time
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.
Curated OER
Federal Holidays
Students learn the history and why each Federal holiday is celebrated. Students identify how the celebration of each holiday ties the nation together.
Curated OER
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
Pupils study Eleanor Roosevelt's spirit, personal style, and humanitarian efforts. They investigate their own community for volunteer organizations dedicated to helping others.
Curated OER
Monetary Mania
Young scholars participate in an online quiz program that reviews economic concepts and vocabulary. They apply concepts learned through the International Money Fund Center.
Curated OER
Paul Robeson: The Renaissance Man
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...
Curated OER
Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy
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.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Women in the 1950s
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...
US Department of State
America.gov: Edward R. Murrow [Pdf]
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...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Anticommunism in the 1950s
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...
PBS
Pbs American Experience: Mrs. America: Women's Roles in the 1950s
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.
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Changing America" by Barbara Radner
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...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Poverty in America [Pdf]
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]
SparkNotes
Spark Notes: Social Trends of the 1950s
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.
Other
The Suburbanization of America: Patio Culture
This site offers a discussion on middle class suburban life in the 1950's and 1960's which has been dubbed the Patio Culture.
Digital History
Digital History: Postwar America: 1945 1960, the Containment Policy
Digital History discusses the Containment Policy of the 1950s. Includes information on the Marshall Plan, the fate of Germany, the Berlin blockade, and NATO.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: City and Suburb: Chicago and Park Forest, Illinois 1950s
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...
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: 1950s 1970s: Struggles for Social Justice
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.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The 1950s: Happy Days
A brief look at American life and politics in the 1950s with an increase in consumerism and fear of the Soviet Union.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Themes: Pete's Postcard
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.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Chicago, the Transit Metropolis
Explore the role of public transportation in Chicago, from the 1890s through the 1950s.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Red Scare America
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...
British Library
British Library: 20th Century Works: The Bell Jar
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...
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania: The Literature & Culture of the American 1950s
This site provides a very large collection of web resources for a study of American culture during the fifties. Some links no longer work.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: America Rocks and Rolls
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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