Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Social Reform 1950s 1970s: Watts Rebellion
Primary source photographs portray the issues and history surrounding the Watts Riots of California, and how the community came together.
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.
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.
Other
Costume Gallery: 20th Century Fashion: Women Fashions: 1950s
Explore women's fashions in the 1950s. Note: Some external links may not work.
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.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Anticommunism in the 1950s
Learn about the Rosenberg trial, HUAC, and Joseph McCarthy.
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.
Success Link
Success Link: Witches' Brew: Mixing the 1950s and 1690s in a Crucible
Use this lesson plan as an introduction to a study of the play, The Crucible,to help students discover the link between the supposed topic of the play and the political situation in the United States when the play was written.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Contemporary Drama: Act I: An American Dream
This is an introduction to Act I of "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry which focuses on "how the social, educational, and political climate of the 1950s affected African Americans' quest for 'The American Dream.'" It features...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Post War Prosperity and Cold War Fears 1945 1960: The American Dream
Looks at the policies of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, both at home and abroad. Also examines changing gender roles in the 1950s, and the impact of suburbanization on America.
Curated OER
History Matters: Leon Sverdlove on the Taft Hartley Act
It's interesting to read about the anti-union sentiment that led to the Taft-Hartley Act after World War II, but even more amazing to see how that sentiment was tied to the anti-communist witch hunts of the time. Read the comments of the...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Discontent and Transformation
This lesson plan focuses on the discontent of housewives in the 1950's and the Southern Bell lawsuit for discrimination of women in the workplace. It includes a PDF lesson plan and two video clips.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: American Lit: Postmodernism: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
This lesson focuses on the Southern Gothic short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor which is set in the South in the 1950's and reflects the changes brought about by the court case Brown vs. Board of Education to...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Contemporary Literature: Contemporary Drama
This introduction to contemporary drama focuses on the elements or characteristics of drama and the theme of the American Dream. It features the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, which is set in the 1950s.
TES Global
Tes: West Side Story (1961) Film Guide
[Free Registration/Login Required] This is a film guide for the film West Side Story (1961), the musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which is set in 1950s New York and incorporates themes around street crime,...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Prosperity and Cold War Fears 1945 60: Popular Culture and Mass Media
Examines the impact that rock and roll music, movies and the invention of television had on America in the 1950s.
Museum of Modern Art
Mo Ma: Abstract Expressionist New York
Blockbuster exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art underscores the relationship between New York City and the explosion of creative activity among the artists who lived there in the postwar period. Learn why New York became the center of...
Other
Constructing the Past: Shaping the American Women
This article from a history periodical looks at advertising aimed at women in the 1950s. After refuting conclusions made in a study in the 1970s that claimed that women in the 1950s were little more than domestic workers in their home,...
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.
Other
Fifties Web
Explore popular culture of the 1950s and 1960s. Learn about the cars, tv shows, music, fashion, pop history, slang, and celebrities of those eras.
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...
Other
Fifties Boulevard: Material Culture of the 50s
A repository of images of 1950s culture. Includes fashion, types of food, cars, home interiors, toys, and comics.
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