PPT
Google Cultural Institute

Google Cultural Institute: Favorite Technologies of the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Photographic essay recalls some of the best technological advances of the 1950s in cooking, personal hygiene, radio, laundry, television, transportation, and more.
Website
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Anti Communism in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An essay tracing the anti-Communist hysteria beginning in earnest at the end of World War II that resulted in Truman's federal Loyalty Security program and ending with McCarthyism in the 1950s.
Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

Calisphere: Social Reform 1950s 1970s: Everyday Life From Postwar to Protest

For Students 9th - 10th
Original photographs show everyday life in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Website
American Chemical Society

The Pharmaceutical Century: The 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
This extensive review of the advances in medical research and technology in the 1950s credits the Cold War and Cold War thinking with promoting scientific research and government funding of that research, including medical issues. Find...
Website
Wessels Living History Farm

Living History Farm: Farming & Rural Life in the 1950s & 60s

For Students 9th - 10th
During the 1950s and 1960s, farmers had serious challenges but those who stayed made pretty good money due to agricultural advancements.
Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: 1950s 1970s: The Civil Rights Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore California's support of the Civil Rights Movement through primary source photos and documents from the 1950s.
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...
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...
Lesson Plan
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: The Role of Women in the 1950s

For Teachers 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Use this lesson plan to explore the roles of women in the 1950s. After working men's jobs during World War II, women went back into the home when the men returned. Examine how well this worked out.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Women in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the myths and realities of women's lives during the 1950s.
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.
Graphic
University of Georgia

University of Georgia: Changes in u.s. Agriculture From the 1950's to 1990's

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides information in chart form comparing U.S. agriculture of the 1950's to agriculture of the 1990's.
Website
George Mason University

Gmu: History and Collections: Women in the u.s. Military 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about why the military had such a hard time recruiting women to serve in the 1950s. Find out about the unequal treatment afforded female members of the military.
Website
Other

Southwestern Academy: The 1950s: The Search for Consensus and Conformity [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
Website
Wessels Living History Farm

Living History Farm: Television During the 1950s and 60s

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Popular Culture and Mass Media in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
In the 1950s, financial prosperity allowed young Americans to participate in a shared culture of rock and roll music, movies, and television.
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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Raleigh Charter High School

Mrs. Newmark's Page: The Cold War and the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
This quiz will test your knowledge of the Cold War and the 1950s.
Article
Other

Paleofuture: The History of the Future: 42 Amazing High Tech Predictions From the 1950s and '60S

For Students 9th - 10th
It's the 21st century, but sometimes it feels like our futuristic dreams are stuck in the 1950s and 60s. And there's actually a good reason for that. The period between 1958 and 1963 might be described as a Golden Age of American...
Primary
US National Archives

Eisenhower Presidential Library: Women in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Find links to primary sources in the Eisenhower Presidential Library that refer to women who were in federal service or political office during the Eisenhower administration.
Website
Glenbow Museum

Glenbow Museum: Calgary in the 1950's

For Students 3rd - 5th
Jack de Lorme was a photographer for the Calgary Sun in the 1950s. His photographs form the basis for this exhibit which explores the city of Calgary at that time. It is designed for Grades 3 to 6. This was a critical time in Calgary's...
Handout
Digital History

Digital History: Anti Communism During the Early 1950's

For Students 9th - 10th
In February 1950, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy had charged that the Department of State knowingly harbored Communists. Hearings on McCarthy's accusations were held under the chairmanship of Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland. The...
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...
Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: 1950s 1970s: The Free Speech Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore these primary resources to learn about the free speech movement, particularly in California, determine who the leaders were, where the center of activity was, and what the message was that students were trying to convey.

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