1. GFTD: What you need: The positives of the 1950s 1950s Commercials The negatives of the 1950s  Don’t be different, just conform. HW: On Haiku – read short article and write summary in discussion Your 1950s chart from last class Pencil/Pen April 1, 2014

2. What were the positives of the 1950s? Prosperity Technology Freedom of mobility People strove for comfort and conformity depicted in “Father Knows Best”

3. Shows called “sitcoms" like The Honeymooners, Lassie, Leave it to Beaver and I Love Lucy were popular. How to Achieve the American Dream: Mass Media Images of Americans

4. How to Achieve the American Dream: 1950s style The GI Bill helped people achieve the AD….  Purpose:  Gave veterans affordable access to college education. More education = higher salary  Gave low-interest mortgages so more people could buy homes.

5. One developer, William Levitt had the idea to build a community of homes. How to Achieve the American Dream: 1950s style

6. He took 1,200 acres of potato farmland… How to Achieve the American Dream: 1950s style

7. And built communities in Long Island and Pennsylvania. (The picture to the right is of the concrete slabs for the floors of the homes. The picture above is an aerial view.) How to Achieve the American Dream: 1950s style

8. Each house was identical. The area included shopping centers, pools, parks and more. Levittown became a white middle class dream… How to Achieve the American Dream: 1950s style

9. Were the positives of the 50’s really that good? Not exactly…. Some believed that suburbia had no “soul”  Racially restrictive – Let’s read an example! Conforming to the “norm”  Where does the pressure come from?  Mass Media  The Government  Suburbs  People Government was growing dangerously powerful  Witch hunts for communists and others who did not fit “American” mold The biggest negative: stereotypes, discrimination, racism  America was still segregated and people were still treated as second class citizens based upon the color of their skin or gender

10. Limitations to the American Dream: Women Stereotyped as housewife (cook, clean, take care of kids) Successful woman had feminine hairdo, delicate dress, tended to hearth and home Society wanted women to strive to be the “happy homemaker”

12. Limitations to the American Dream: Women Tremendous societal pressure to get married. People got married younger than before (right after high school) Stereotype: women go to college to get “M.R.S.” degree  Reinforced stereotype that husband more important than a college degree. http://thephdpimpernel.files.wordpress.com/2013 /02/marvel-comics-retro-love-comic-panel- spinster-aged.jpg

13. Limitations to the American Dream: Women Being single in American society was unacceptable  Labeled an “Old Maid” or “Spinster” Single and pregnant was totally unacceptable.  Shunned from society  Often sent to homes for wayward girls

14. Recap Time! Why is it hard for women in the 1950s to achieve the American Dream?  Turn to your table partner and discuss it.  Be ready to report out.

15. Limitations to the American Dream: Minorities Minorities shut out from the emerging American Dream  Return from WWII and found that they still did not have full rights compared to white citizens  Little political power for minorities or legal rights  Poverty rates for African Americans double that of whites. http://northbysouth.kenyon.edu/1998 /edu/segregated.jpg

16. Limits to the American Dream: Minorities  Schools segregated  Long-standing racial prejudices and laws limit economic advancement and quality of life http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_j im_crow.htm

17. Example of restrictions on African Americans: We’ll read a primary document to see what it was like in the 1950s.

18. Invisible Man: Novel from 1952 Written by Ralph Ellison Focuses on American indifference to struggles of African Americans He wrote, “I am an invisible man. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me….” http://www.biography.com/imported/imag es/Biography/Images/Profiles/E/Ralph- Ellison-9286702-1-402.jpg

19. What happens next? Something amazing.  Individuals and groups of people start to mobilize and act for change. These people, who heroically stand up for what is right, are part of the civil rights movement What is the civil rights movement:  Social movement in the U.S. with the goal of ending racial segregation and discrimination against black Americans and to enforce constitutional voting rights.