the fabulous fifties

Post-War America

Period after WWII when the U.S. experienced economic growth, rising wealth, and social change

Economic Boom

Rapid growth of the U.S. economy in the 1950s, with national income nearly doubling

G.I. Bill

Law that gave returning soldiers money for college, housing, and business, helping grow the middle class

Middle Class

Large group of Americans with stable income and ability to afford homes and goods

Consumer Culture

A way of life focused on buying goods like TVs, cars, and entertainment

Diner’s Club

First credit card used for purchases, starting modern consumer spending habits

McDonald’s

Fast food chain founded in the 1950s that expanded nationwide

Disneyland

Theme park opened in 1955 representing new entertainment and family culture

Television

Popular household technology that shaped culture and spread ideas

Transistor Radio

Portable radio that made music more accessible, especially to teens

Baby Boom

Large increase in births from 1946–1964 after WWII

Suburbs

Residential areas outside cities where many middle-class families moved

Levittowns

Mass-produced suburban neighborhoods with affordable, similar houses

Interstate Highway System

Network of highways that improved travel, supported suburbs, and had military purposes

Sunbelt

Warmer regions in the South and West that saw population growth

Red Scare

Fear of communism spreading in the U.S. during the Cold War

HUAC

Government committee that investigated suspected communists

McCarthyism

Campaign led by Joseph McCarthy accusing people of being communists without strong evidence

Hollywood Ten

Film industry members blacklisted for refusing to testify about communism

Rosenbergs

Couple executed for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union

Military-Industrial Complex

Alliance between military and defense industries that Eisenhower warned about

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Idea that nuclear war would destroy all sides involved

Rock and Roll

New energetic music style combining rhythm and blues with country influences

Beat Generation

Group of writers who rejected conformity and criticized materialism

“Rock Around the Clock”

Early rock song that helped popularize the genre

The Catcher in the Rye

Novel about teenage rebellion and alienation

Invisible Man

Novel about the struggles of being Black in America

The Old Man and the Sea

Novel by Ernest Hemingway about perseverance

Television Family Ideal

Image of the “perfect” nuclear family shown on TV

Religious Revival

Increase in church attendance and religious influence in society

Jim Crow Laws

Laws enforcing racial segregation in the South

De Facto Segregation

Segregation that exists in practice but not by law, especially in the North

Brown v. Board of Education

Supreme Court case that ended school segregation

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP lawyer who argued Brown v. Board of Education

Emmett Till

Black teenager whose murder shocked the nation and fueled civil rights activism

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Protest against segregated buses led by African Americans

Rosa Parks

Woman whose arrest for refusing to give up her seat sparked the boycott

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights leader who promoted nonviolent protest

Little Rock Nine

Nine Black students who integrated a white high school with federal protection

NAACP

Organization that fought for civil rights through legal action

SNCC

Student group that organized protests like sit-ins

Greensboro Sit-ins

Student protests against segregated lunch counters

John F. Kennedy

President elected in 1960 who represented a new political era

Richard Nixon

Opponent of JFK in the 1960 election

Fidel Castro

Cuban leader who allied with the Soviet Union

Berlin Wall

Barrier built in 1961 dividing East and West Berlin

The Beatles

British band that influenced American music in the 1960s