The Decade of the 1950s in American History
The Decade of the 1950s in American History
The 1950's were an important decade full of historic events and changes in technology. Important historic and cultural events such as the approval of the hydrogen bomb and transcontinental television in 1950, the signing of the Immigration and Naturalization Act in 1952, the end of fighting in Korea in 1953, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a public bus in 1955, and Alaska and Hawaii becoming states in 1959 were some of the most vital.
Part of the 1950's boom in consumerism included housing. People could afford single family dwellings and suburbia was born. A small suburban community called Levittown was built by William Levitt for returning servicemen and their families. An influence of Frank Lloyd Wright is seen in the popular Ranch style house . Designers like Bauhaus , who helped create the International style , influenced Ludwig Mies van der Rohe , Philip Johnson , Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen . Louis Kahn , architect of the Salk Institute, was a noted architect during this period.
America had just begun her recovery from World War II, when suddenly the Korean Conflict developed. The USSR became a major enemy in the Cold War. Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to know that Communists had infiltrated the United States government at the highest levels. Americans were feeling a sense of national anxiety. Was America the greatest country in the world? Was life in America the best it had ever been? As the decade passed, literature reflected the conflict of self-satisfaction with 50's Happy Days and cultural self-doubt about conformity and the true worth of American values.
During the fifties, American education underwent dramatic and world shattering changes. Until 1954, an official policy of "separate but equal " educational opportunities for blacks had been determined to be the correct method to insure that all children in America received an adequate and equal education in the 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 that separate facilities for blacks did not make those facilities equal according to the Constitution. Integration was begun across the nation.
Fifties clothing was conservative. Men wore gray flannel suits and women wore dresses with pinched in waists and high heels. French fashion designers...