The 1950s: Postwar Changes in Society and Education

1. The 1950s: Postwar Changesin Society and Education Chapter 3 Bonnie Pazin ILEAD 5

2. Overview • Facts & Timeline • Television • Suburbia • Interstates • The Eisenhower Administration • National Defense Education Act • The Atomic Age & Cold War • Civil Defense in Education

3. Facts of the 1950s • Population: 151,684,000 (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census) • Unemployed:  3,288,000 • Life expectancy:   Women 71.1,  men  65.6 • Car Sales:  6,665,800 • Average Salary:  $2,992 • Labor Force male/female: 5/2 • Cost of a loaf of bread:  $0.14 • Bomb shelter plans, like the government pamphlet You Can Survive, become widely available

4. Terms of the 1950s • Heightened cold war • Red scare/espionage • decade of “quiet conformism” • Atomic age and the bomb shelter • Space race • Suburbia • Interstate Highways • Juvenile Delinquents • Maladjusted Youth • Affluent America • McCarthyism • Progressivism • Rock and Roll • Beat Generation

5. Events & Technology Timeline • 1950 - President  Harry Truman  ( 'til 1952) approves production of the hydrogen bomb and Sends air force and navy to Korea in June. • 1951 - Transcontinental television begins with a speech by Pres. Truman.  • Dwight D. Eisenhower  is president  from 1953 until 1961 • 1952 - The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 is signed, removing racial and ethnic barriers to becoming a U.S. citizen.  • 1953 -  Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are electrocuted for their part in W.W.II espionage.  • 1953 - Fighting ends in Korea.  • 1954 -  U. S. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins televised hearings into alleged Communists in the army.  • 1954 - Racial segregation is ruled unconstitutional in public schools by the U.S. Supreme Court.  • 1955 -  Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama.  • 1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge making the new AFL-CIO an organization with 15 million members.  • 1955  Dr. Jonas Salk  developed a vaccine for  polio • 1956 - The Federal Highway Act is signed, marking the beginning of work on the interstate highway system. • 1958 - Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, successfully orbits the earth.  • December 10, 1958 - The first domestic jet-airline passenger service is begun by National Airlines between New York City and Miami.  • 1959 - Alaska and Hawaii become the forty-ninth and fiftieth states. 

6. A Legal End to Desegregation • Until 1954, an official policy of " separate but equal " opportunities for blacks -- determined to be the correct method to insure that all children in America received an adequate and equal education in public schools • In 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren and other members of the Supreme Court wrote in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas • separate facilities for blacks did not make those facilities equal according to the Constitution • Integration was begun across the nation • In 1956,  Autherine J.Lucy successfully enrolled in the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. • In 1957, Elizabeth Eckford was the first black teenager to enter then all-white Little Rock Central High School , Little Rock, Arkansas. • Although integration took place quietly in most towns, the conflict at Central High School in Little Rock was the first of many confrontations in Arkansas which showed that public opinion on this issue was divided.

7. Good Economic Times • GNP increased from $285 billion in 1950 to $501 billion in 1960 • Manufacturing’s income increased from $76 billion in 1950 to $126 billion in 1960 • Service sector more than doubled from $22 billion in 1950 to $44.5 billion in 1960 • Unemployment rate at a low 4% • Inflation rate less than 2% annually

8. Developments in Science & Technology • Dr. Jonas Salk develops Polio Vaccine (1955) • Development of the computer • UNIVAC – The world's first commercial computer began use on June 14, 1951.  • UNIVAC weighed eight tons • Fortran programming language developed by IBM • The advent of television

9. The advent of television • 1950 – 3.9 million homes with a television • 1960 – 46 million homes with a television • TV news coverage of major events were a more dramatic than the newspaper • Created a framework of popular culture and values – the “Dick and Jane” perspective on how Americans should live

10. Changes in Pop Culture • “Rock and Roll” • Elvis Presley • Jerry Lee Lewis • “Beat Generation” • Writers like Jack Kerouac • First all color TV show • Howdy Doody 1955

11. Beginnings of Juvenile Deliquency • H.G. Good in A History of Education • When student given free use of car, school marks go down • Much confusion and disorder of unruly pupils – teachers resign • Schools accused of breeding deliquency – what can they do to prevent it? • Studies and scales created to predict probable delinquency

12. Rising Birth Rate • Generation of “Baby Boomers” • Population rose from 152 million in 1950 to 181 million in 1960 • Led to the resettlement of Americans to outlying areas of big cities

13. Growth of Suburbia • White middle class ethnic group moving to suburbs • New economic affluence • Changes in home building and ownership • Could build relatively inexpensive tract homes – move from apartments to single family homes • Ex. Levittown, NY and PA – William Levitt often called the “Henry Ford of Housing” • Interstates make commuting possible

14. Interstate in 1958 Interstates and a highly mobile society • Suburbia facilitated by Eisenhower’s large federal subsidies for interstate highway construction • 1956 National Defense Highway Act provides for building 41,000 of freeways • Interstates reduced isolation by geography • Made commuting possible and began the idea of “rush hour traffic”

15. Educational Pattern until 1950s • Large cities – large urban school district with elementary and secondary under jurisdiction of a single board and superintendent of schools • At end of WWII, large urban schools seen as strongest sectors of American public education • Facilities • Richness of curriculum • Size of administrative and teaching personnel • Rural areas often had single school, one room districts

16. Demographic and Educational Shift in the 1950s • As suburbs develop, large cities found with declining urban tax base and declining of schools • Changing demographics in urban areas • Black and hispanic ethnic groups moving towards inner cities • Inner city population would generate new needs for education (not addressed until the 60’s) • Rural schools being consolidated into larger, more efficient, modern districts

17. Demographic and Educational Shift in the 1950s • Metropolitan areas – rings of suburbs around cities • Each suburb had its own • local municipal government • Elementary and secondary school districts • “Bedroom communities” • Largely-male workforce commuted to work each day • Women returned to homemakers

18. Demographic and Educational Shift in the 1950s • Young families producing school age children • Need for teachers and new schools grew • In 1950 – 24.3 million elementary students grew to 35.5 million in 1960

19. Surburban School Growth • “Brick and Mortar period” of school construction • Eisenhower administration supported federal aid to school construction • Was reluctant to do so • Generally followed Republican ideology of local control

20. Teacher Shortage • H.G. Good, in his book History of Education, wrote of a teacher shortage that became prevalent after WWII • Shortage made greater by the increase in children (also a shortage of classrooms) • Summer workshops for talented students were being created • Television introduced into schools to help with shortage – could place hundreds of students with a few teachers’ aids and teachers could be in classrooms

21. Television in the Classroom • Television was thought to save teachers’ time and classroom space • Telecasts fixed the students’ attention • Telecasts were by experts in field who had time to perfect lessons • Television could not be a replacement for labs and hands-on learning • Control of curriculum was limited by the course of study • Prepare class for film, present the telecast, conduct exercises for their comprehension

22. Dwight D. Eisenhower • Succeeded Truman • Republican Nominee • Defeated Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and again in 1956 • President from 1953-1961 • Popular war hero • Distinguished career as allied supreme commander in WWII • President of Columbia University • Commander of NATO

23. “I Like Ike” Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower was a moderate, middle of the road Republican • As Cold War between US and USSR escalated, Eisenhower was a “commanding, reassuring father figure” as the US lived with the threat of nuclear war

24. The Time of the Eisenhower Administration • US generally economically prosperous and affluent; growing middle class • Eisenhower did not attempt to reverse major trends of New Deal • Had two premises to his foreign policy • Avoiding the catastrophe of nuclear war • Maintaining national security through nuclear deterrence

25. Interest in Federal Aid to Education • Focused on unequal educational opportunity • Disparities between North & South, urban & rural • Inequalities between black and white segregated scools • Inadequate physical plants • Teacher shortages • Outdated curriculum

26. Eisenhower on Education • Truman, his predecessor, believed that the federal government had a role in advancing education • Eisenhower believed education should be handled at state and local level • Did not believe federal government had large role in education

27. Eisenhower on Education • Despite his reluctance he was drawn into education issues • Establishment of Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1953) • Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional (1954) • Little Rock, Arkansas desegregation controversy • Enactment of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA – 1957)

28. SPUTNIK • October 4, 1957 • Soviets launch successfully a space satellite • that orbited the earth • Generated international, widespread criticism of American education especially in math, science and technology • Seen as a decline in academic rigor allowing USSR to “take the lead in the space race” • By concentrating more rigorously on math & science in US schools, Americans could reclaim the lead

29. National Defense Education Act • 1957 -- National Defense Education Act (NDEA) • Gave assistance to • Science & Technology • Math • Foreign language instruction • Guidance • Based on premise that federal government had an interest in these areas related to national defense • Eisenhower stated that it would strengthen our schools and advance our national security

30. National Defense Education Act • Over $100 million annually sent to aid public education • Led to curricular developments • New Math • New Chemistry, New Physics • Increase in Foreign Language Study • Technology education studies • Teachers institutes were created • Brought classroom teachers to colleges & universities over the summer to work with innovators in their fields

31. Is American education doing its job? • Critic Rudolph Flesch in his book Why Johnny Can't Read, claimed that the American educational system was not doing its job.  • Other voices in the movement to revamp American schools were • Arthur Bestor- Educational Wastelands • Albert Lynd- Quackery in the Public Schools • Robert Hutchins - The Conflict in Education • Admiral Hyman Rickover- Education and Freedom

32. Atomic Age • In the aftermath of dropping of atomic bombs in the 1940s, US and Soviet Union raced to create a super bomb – hydrogen bomb • US detonated a hydrogen bomb in 1952 • Nine months later Soviets followed • Throughout the cold war, the race escalated to potential for global holocaust

33. The War of the Future • WWII demonstrated that war in the future would involve civilians as well as military • National security and military preparedness needed to be accompanied by civilian defense • Schools began instituting civil defense programs due to new methods of attack

34. Civil Defense • Truman stated “Education is our first line of defense. In the conflict of principal and policy which divides the world today, America’s hope, our hope, the hope of the world is education.” • Truman created the Federal Civil Defense Administration (1951) • Encourage and coordinate nation’s civil preparedness

35. Civil Defense • Civil defense educators began with broad goals and moved towards specific emergency procedures such as an atomic attack • FCDA mobilized state and local agencies for the cause • Produced educational materials about civil defense • Much of education in general developed and promoted civil defense including state departments of education, US Office of Education, schools of education • Most state departments of education prepared civil defense strategies and materials for use in schools • Teachers were considered key people in civil defense

36. Civil Defense – Curriculum and Instruction • US Atomic Energy Commission developed workshops and institutes for teachers • Schools of education developed programs • Information about atomic energy infused into curriculum as units in existing science and social studies in high schools • Elementary students even incorporated atomic energy into their readings • Example – a 2nd grade essay on “good atoms”

37. Civil Defense Education • Strongly precautionary stance about its powers of mass destruction • Units on communism were also developed at same time by state departments of education • Impacted safety education, atomic bomb drills, changes in school architecture as well as through formal curriculum

38. “Duck and Cover” • Civil Defense Education included inservice for teachers and classroom materials • Films incorporated such as “Duck and Cover” • Bert the Turtle ducks and covers during an atomic attack • Followed by children ducking and covering during an attack • Duck and Cover was included in the National Film Registry in the Library of Congress in 2004

39. Civil Defense in Schools • Clara P. McMahon, Elementary School Journal • Advised teachers that schools must adjust curriculum to incorporate qualities of students needed in an emergency • Listed 9 desired skills including • Acting without panic • Administering simple first aid • Thinking critically, problem solving • Working well with others • Recognizing and obeying air raid signals

40. Civil Defense in Schools • Communities formed district-wide committees involving parents • School districts sent letters home with students • Parents were advised to discuss issues with their children

41. National PTA • National Parent-Teacher Association in 1951 advised members to develop positive mental health programs • Alleviate children’s anxieties • Parents and teachers urged to be calm

42. School Preparedness Procedures • Many schools implemented procedures and actual bomb drills • Smooth implementation was delegated to building principals • Detroit public schools issued a directive, “Protection of School Children in the New Emergency: Preliminary Guide for Immediate Action with 10 steps for principals • Detroit considered a high-profile target city due to auto industry and took serious precautions

43. Bomb Drills • Large target cities were the first to begin atomic air raid drills • New York • LA • Chicago • Detroit • Milwaukee • Fort Worth • San Francisco • Philadelphia

44. 3 Types of Drills • No advanced warning • Advanced warning • Dispersal

45. No Advanced Warning • Duck and cover drills were most common • Pupils fell to the floor, crawled under desks and assumed the “atomic head clutch position” • Backs to windows, faces between knees, hands clasped on back of neck, ears covered with arms and eyes closed • Duck and Cover film and others used in class

46. Advanced Warning • Assumed you had time to get to shelter in basement, hallways or others believed to be able to withstand a bomb blast • Principal sounded alarm • Students lined up and moved to designated areas; sitting up against walls

47. Dispersal Drills • Enough warning time to get home from school • Conducted at end of school day • Least common drill • Done mostly in big cities like New York • Provided little control over students’ movement and were not built-in to the standard civil defense education

48. ID Tags • Modeled after GI dog tags and given to students • New York City had biggest program

49. To be a child in the 1950s • Threat of nuclear war important piece of their formative part of childhood and school experiences • Bomb drills remain vivid memories – both the drills and the anxiety associated with them • Children had no escape due to television • Psychology experts uncertain about effects of civil defense programs on children

50. School Architecture • Growth of suburbia led to new schools being built • Now served dual purpose • Be functional for education • Provide maximum shelter from nuclear attack • Large banks of windows that maximized light and ventilation were eliminated for fear of glass in attack • New designs featured more solid walls and bomb curtains in some places • Architects felt it would shield from natural disasters also • Schools could then be used as shelter for larger population if necessary