Google Cultural Institute
Google Cultural Institute: Favorite Technologies of the 1950s
Photographic essay recalls some of the best technological advances of the 1950s in cooking, personal hygiene, radio, laundry, television, transportation, and more.
Wessels Living History Farm
Living History Farm: Farming & Rural Life in the 1950s & 60s
During the 1950s and 1960s, farmers had serious challenges but those who stayed made pretty good money due to agricultural advancements.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Consensus and Change
Brief illustration of the changes in U.S. domestic and foreign policy that occurred following WWII.
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.
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.
Other
Southwestern Academy: The 1950s: The Search for Consensus and Conformity [Pdf]
A good review of the culture of the 1950s including a look at big business at the time, the affluent society, and the beginnings of youthful rebellion.
Other
Amistad Digital Resource: Pop Culture
General overview of African American pop-culture in the mid 20th-century highlighting music, art, theater, and sports.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: A Biography of America: The Fifties 1945 1960
World War II ends with the legacy of its final moment: the atomic bomb. After reading comprehensive background material, interactive feature lets you decide if President Truman was correct in his decision to drop atomic bombs on...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Voices Against Conformity
The decade of the 1950s was kown for conformity. There was an undercurrent of rebellion, especially among younger Americans. Read about the Beat Generation, alternative literature, rebellion in art, and treatment of those who were not...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Land of Television
The advent of increased television programming helped create a national popular culture. Read about the many kinds of television programs offered in the 1950s.
Wessels Living History Farm
Living History Farm: Television During the 1950s and 60s
Read a history of television in the 1950s and 1960s to see how it became such a cultural icon. Find out about the many genres of television that were broadcast during that time.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: The Great Society
A quick comprehension check over the "Great Society" of the 1950s.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Popular Culture and Mass Media in the 1950s
In the 1950s, financial prosperity allowed young Americans to participate in a shared culture of rock and roll music, movies, and television.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Pictures of 1950's Culture
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart is an activity examining pictures of 1950's life and culture. Students are to examine different advertisements of the 1950's, movie posters and pictures. Students will record observations...
ClassFlow
Class Flow: 1950s vs. 1920s
[Free Registration/Login Required] This is an interactive Venn Diagram activity that allows students to compare and contrast the era of the 1950s with the era of the 1920s.