Curated OER
National Park Service: Eisenhower National Historic Site: Presidency
Learn about the ways in which Eisenhower's presidency and personality mirrored the country as a whole during the years he was president (1952-1960). Includes many artifacts of the era, such as campaign paraphernalia and articles of...
PBS
Pbs: Picture Power
An overview of early television and its impact on American society. Also, two interviews with people who remember watching their first TV!
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: America Rocks and Rolls
Read a brief history of rock and roll and its roots. See why this form of music shook the establishment and shattered the idea of conformity.
Digital History
Digital History: Simple Justice
Follow the civil rights quest for integrated schools from the beginning in 1849 through the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education and the struggle that ensued for decades following in the most reluctant...
Other
Columbus Museum of Art: Curator's View: Norman Rockwell's "Soda Jerk"
See the painting 'Soda Jerk' by American commercial artist of the mid-20th-century, Norman Rockwell, in this Curator's View series description of the piece from the Columbua Museum of Art.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Period 8: 1945 1980
This Khan Academy resource provides a table of contents with notes for several sections of AP US History: Period 8: 1945-1980.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Understanding Television
A course from MIT on the cultural history of television. Includes readings, assignments, exams, and videos of lectures.
George Washington University
Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project: House Un American Activities Committee
A description of the genesis of the House Un-American Activities Committee and the bullying inquisition of those the committee accused of having Communist leanings.
Digital History
Digital History: The Youth Revolt
"Right on, man." Find what led to the nationwide rebellion of the Baby Boomer generation.
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.
Digital History
Digital History: The New Woman
Although women rejoiced in gaining the right to vote in 1920, the women's movement stalled during this time. Read about the problems within the movement and opposition from outside the movement.
University of Pennsylvania
The American 50s: Mc Carran Act or Internal Security Act of 1950
Although brief, this article explains the McCarran Act and how it intertwined with the House Un-American Activities Committee in its anti-Communist hysteria.
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College: Mc Carthy's Downfall
As part of a larger site about Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism, this page relates his ultimate downfall brought about by his bullying style and false accusations.
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Negro Holocaust: Lynching and Race Riots
A lesson unit with good background information for young scholars. Details the history of lynching and race riots in America and the treatment of African-Americans from 1880 to 1950.
The Best Notes
The Best Notes: The Assistant by Bernard Malamud
This is an online study guide/notes for the novel The Assistant by Bernard Malamud including author information, literary elements, chapter-by-chapter summaries/notes, study questions, and analysis.
PBS
The Sixties: The Years That Shaped a Generation
Companion Web site to the PBS series. Provides an overview of the pivotal events, culture, and politics of the Sixties. Links to lesson plans and related material for a more in-depth study.
PBS
Pbs: Commanding Heights: Nigeria, an Overview
Brief timeline of Nigerian history in the twentieth century, from the PBS series "Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy." Includes timeline entries related to independence, which was achieved in 1960.
Other
Jewish Women's Archive: Ethel Rosenberg
A biographical account of the life of accused spies, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of espionage, sentenced, and executed in spite of intense public pressure in response to the widespread belief that they were innocent.
Other
The Vinyl Tourist: Mambo Mania
This is an article on the 50s dance sensation, the mambo. This gives the history of the dance and description of it, but towards the end they discuss "Mambo Mania" or the heyday in the 50s.
Other
Amistad Digital Resource: Pop Culture
General overview of African American pop-culture in the mid 20th-century highlighting music, art, theater, and sports.
Other
Behind the Scenes: The Mc Carran Internal Security Act
Read about the origins and impact of the McCarran Internal Security Act which President Harry Truman called "the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press and assembly, since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798." Find out how a fear of...
Other
Appleton Public Library: Joseph Mc Carthy
Information on the life and work of Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957).
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: Mc Carthyism
Read about the dangers of paranoia when exercised by people of power. The witch-hunting of the McCarthy era made rash and false accusations against supposed Communist sympathizers that affected many lives.
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