Chapter 26: Prosperity and Anxiety: The 1950s

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court decision stating that "separate but equal" schools for white and black students were unconstitutional and that school districts across America must desegregate with "all deliberate speed"; controversy over enforcement of this decision was to last for more than a decade

Montgomery bus boycott (1955)

Effort by blacks in Montgomery, Alabama, to have the local bus company end discriminatory seating and hiring policies

Baby boom

From 1947 to 1962 Americans married and had children at a record pace; the "high point" of the baby boom was 1957

The Feminine Mystique

Book written by Betty Friedan describing the frustration felt by suburban women in the 1950s; this book was a landmark for feminists of the 1960s and 1970s

James Dean

Young actor whose character in the film Rebel Without a Cause inspired many rebellious young people of the 1950s

Beat Generation

Literary movement of the 1950s; writers of this movement rejected the materialistic American culture of the decade

1944

GI Bill enacted

1947

Taft-Hartley Act enacted Jackie Robinson first plays for Brooklyn Dodgers

1948

Truman elected president in stunning upset Truman orders desegregation of armed forces

1950

Diners Club credit card offered

1951

Publication of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

1952

Dwight D. Eisenhower elected president

1953

Defense budget at $47 billion Alan Freed begins to play rock ‘n roll on the radio in Cleveland, Ohio

1954

Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision

1955

First McDonalds opens Rebel Without a Cause released Bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama

1956

Interstate Highway Act enacted Majority of U.S. workers hold whitecollar jobs Howl by Allen Ginsberg first read

1957

Baby boom peaks Publication of On the Road by Jack Kerouac Resistance to school integration in Little Rock, Arkansas

1960

Three-quarters of all American homes have a TV set

Diner's Club

Restaurants benefited from _________ cards in 1950.

1944 GI Bill

Building increased to accommodate the urgent demand for additional residences. Returning veterans received low-interest mortgage loans under the ____________, which boosted building.

William Levitt

His initial Levittown development eased the housing problem.

He built Levittowns using wartime prefabrication methods.

The houses in these swiftly built subdivisions originally appeared comparable, yet they were well crafted and affordable.

Taft-Hartley Act

Union officials had to publicly swear that they were not Communists under this law, which prohibited union members from contributing to federal elections.

Thomas Dewey

Most political analysts predicted that __________, the Republican governor of New York who had defeated Franklin Roosevelt in 1944, would defeat Truman in the 1948 presidential election. Roosevelt's popularity was never Truman's.

Jim Crow

African-American veterans were disappointed that ___________ laws persisted in the South and progress against discrimination was delayed.

Thurgood Marshall

___________ represented Brown's claim for the NAACP. He became the Supreme Court's first African-American justice.

Earl Warren

The new chief justice, ___________, appointed by President Eisenhower, was committed to fight racial inequity. He carefully worked with his other judges and fashioned a unanimous judgment that declared "separate but equal" illegal.

Warren Court

The "________" was noted for its liberal views and "judicial activism," ruling on difficult matters like school prayer and criminal rights.

Rosa Parks

A Montgomery NAACP employee, was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man. Civil rights activists organized the Montgomery bus boycott. Black people walked or carpooled instead of using public buses.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

A major win for civil rights. ____________________., the boycotters' spokesperson, became a civil rights leader.

The Organization Man

In 1956, William H. Whyte's ____________ examined suburbia conservatism. But it gave kids a lot of security. In the suburbs, women drove their children to scout meetings, sports practices, and PTA meetings.

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

The novel and film ______________ depicted men in unfulfilling corporate positions.

girl-next-door

Doris Day's "________" look made her a popular movie actress of the decade.

National Organization for Women (NOW)

In 1966, Friedan founded the ________________.

The Feminine Mystique

In 1963's _______________, Betty Friedan spoke for housewives who were fed up.

Beat Generation

A loosely linked collection of authors, poets, and painters who opposed the norms and morals of a materialistic America living in the shadow of the atomic bomb is known as the __________.

On the Road

Jack Kerouac's 1957 book __________, about two friends' cross-country adventure, was the most influential Beat work.

Howl (1955)

Written by Allen Ginsberg criticizes contemporary society's corrupting impact on humans.

Beatnik

While few young people actively engaged in the Beat movement, many adopted a "___________" aesthetic, wearing black turtleneck sweaters, dark eyeglasses, and berets and listening to experimental poetry at coffeehouses.

Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger's 1951 book _________ depicts Holden Caulfield's estrangement from middle-class American norms.

devil's music

Rock 'n' roll's unbridled rhythms and pounding shocked many adults, who called it "__________."

Good Golly Miss Molly

Little Richard's "_________________" didn't teach kids to "manage their emotions."

Elvis Presley

White rock artists were inspired by African-American music and performance methods, especially ___________, who pleased youthful audiences but horrified many older people with his sexually charged TV performances.