The Baby Boom and the Typical American Family

    Following the second World War, the United States was seeking a period of peace.  Fortunately, they got what they wanted, as the 1950's brought peace and prosperity.  Soldiers returned home from war, and immediately looked to marry.  Newlywed men and women moved into the suburbs, or the suburban area surrounding a city, and began to form families.

    This influx of couples were having children had a considerable effect on the birth rate at that time.  For this reason, it is said that during the 1950's, there was a 'baby boom'.  A baby boom is a period marked by significant increase in birth rate.  Between 1944 and 1961, 65 million children were born in the United States.  In addition, the average age of marriage dropped 2 years, from age 22 to age 20, and couples were eager to have children as soon as they married.

    These young families tended to follow a similar path in terms of the family structure.  Now in the suburbs, kids would often have opportunities to engage in learning music and playing sports after their school day was over.  So, the mothers were responsible for staying home and taking care of the children, while the fathers would work and earn money to support the family.

The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy and his wife rode in a motorcade. In the car with them was the governor of Texas, John Connally and his wife. As they were driving down the streets of Dallas, people cheered and waved at them, all hoping to shake the president's hand. All of a sudden, gunshots rang out. Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin, was waiting on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. As the motorcade was driving by, Oswald fired three shots. Two of them hit President Kennedy in the head and neck. One hit Governor Connally, who survived.
A few hours after being rushed to the hospital, Kennedy was pronounced dead.

 Oswald was taken to jail by Dallas police, but when they were moving him to a different location, he was shot and killed by a man named Jack Ruby. Now that he was dead, it was harder to find out if he had acted alone, or planned the assassination in a group.

Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States. While he was president, he created a special commission to investigate the assassination. The leader of this commission was Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. At the end of the investigation, the committee had found no evidence that Oswald had acted with others, so they said that he acted alone. However, we may never know the full story of the assassination because Oswald cannot speak for himself.

The Cold War at Home: Affecting Everyday Life

             During the Cold War, the increasing fear of nuclear attack drove the United States to stock up their nuclear arsenal and develop new technologies to help prepare for such an event. These included the early development of ICBM's, submarine launched nuclear weapons, satellites, spaceships, and defense systems. 

             These projects didn't magically materialize, and thousands of Americans were involved in one of the most technologically progressive eras that eventually sent a man to the moon, albeit all part of a nuclear standoff and arms race. My uncle was one of these people, and his experiences during this time allow for a glimpse into the lives of the people during this time. 

             The Cold War era men and women grew up during war. In 1943, when WWII was at a peak, my uncle was a senior at Fairfax High School in LA and part of the Junior Civilian Air Patrol. Everyone was either joining the army or getting enlisted. He tried to join the Navy Flight Program but was not the required 5'5" to see over the fighter cockpits; he tried doing the Army Air Corps but was fifteen pounds below the 125 lbs mark to qualify. The Navy started the Eddy program around this time for radar defense, so instead he studied for tests to join the program and was inducted into the Navy where he worked as an Aviation Electronics Technician. The nation's focus on this new radar technology and pressure to educate the young people at the time about this tech is indicative of the push for STEM education at the time and in the coming years. 

             His long work with radar and defense systems led to a career as part of the Missile Defense Alarm System early warning program and RAND cooperation that became increasingly important during the Cold War and arms race. For years he worked on the systems, performing even the final validations on the MIDAS software before satellites were placed into orbit. These satellites were part of a larger initiative to try and alert the US if the Soviets attempted any sort of launch using heat mapping. Because geocentric orbit used today was not yet feasible at the time, a collection of a dozen satellites would be sent into polar orbit for this USAF program, each one over the Soviet Union for a brief time. These Agena space vehicles could not utilize the previous canister collection method where actual data and pictures were intercepted in midair, so instead relied on radio transmissions that sent locations of launches. 

             All of the planning and research being done at this time was completely classified. It took decades for some of these programs to become declassified where they could be talked about. Each day he would pass through clearance and go deep underground to work on these projects without any contact with the outside world, and then return to the surface and not speak about any of it. This does not mean nuclear attacks weren't on the minds of everyone during the time: they really did fear nuclear missiles coming down from the sky each day. For the people that were doing the work like my uncle's, they did believe that they were helping ensure a nuclear standoff that was backed on the idea of the enemy knowing of an attack and retaliating. They did believe they were saving their country, but also protecting the world from nuclear destruction. His level of dedication to US defense was a testament to the trustworthiness, loyalty, and hard work capable of an immigrant. 

Helped with the systems in things like this Atlas-Agena, and saw these launches first hand. 

Shifting: Suburbs and Sunbelt (Adrienne Mitchel)

           After World War II, there were two major population shifts — from cities to suburbs, and from the north to the Sunbelt.

          Returning veterans, with the aid of the GI Bill to assist with home loans at low interest rates, were ready to buy homes and start families. The suburbs were the perfect location for these new families to settle down, as men could commute to work in the nearby cities while children could safely play in the suburban neighborhood. From 1950 to 1956, the number of Americans living in suburban communities increased by 46%.

Besides this shift from cities to suburbs, Americans were also migrating from the north to the warmer-weathered south, also known as the Sunbelt. Attracted by low labor costs, manufacturers and other businesses began locating to the Sunbelt. Attracted by the sunny beaches and places like Disneyland, families also began locating to the Sunbelt. Not all Sunbelt states grew at the same rate — the Big Three (California, Texas, Florida) increased by over 13 million people from 1950 to 2000, the Booming Four (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Georgia) increased heavily, the Steady Four (Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina) increased at a similar rate as the rest of America, and the Lagging Four (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama) increased at half the rate as America overall. From 1950 to 1960, California's population, one of the Big Three, grew from 10.6 million to over 15.7 million people (50% increase). This large population shift to the Sunbelt was facilitated by two main factors — the creation of massive water projects in the arid Southwest and the creation of air conditioners for the homes. These inventions allowed for water conservation and temperature regulation, which increased the standard of living.    

Both sides of my family moved from the Northeast to southern California during this time period, attracted by the booming businesses and sunny weather. Looking at migration patterns today, we see a large influx of intellectuals locating into northern California to find work in the Silicon Valley. By analyzing migration patterns throughout history, we can learn interesting trends that give insight into the values present during the time period. What other migration trends do we see today?

Motorist Society: Impact of Franchises (Adrienne Mitchel)

    Cars are an essential part of our everyday lives. We drive them to school, to work, to restaurants, to anywhere we want to go. But cars haven’t always been such an essential part of our lives. It wasn’t until after World War II that America transformed into a motorist society. Although there were many factors that prompted this change, franchises like McDonald’s, Holiday Inn, and General Motors all played a role in the creation of a motorist society.

    Soon after brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened a drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California in 1940, they realized that their business could be more profitable if they streamlined every aspect of it. In order to accomplish this task, they cut down their menu to just hamburgers, replaced waiters with a self-service order counter, and substituted paper wrappers and cups for plates and glasses. In 1954, a man named Ray Kroc persuaded the McDonald brothers to hire him as a franchising agent. Kroc’s franchise restaurants were highly successful, as the casual nature of the food chain was the perfect place for families with young children. The rise of McDonald's perfectly paired with the rise of automobiles. Both complemented each other — McDonald’s needed people to drive to their locations, and automobile manufacturers needed desirable locations for people to drive to.  

    A similar relationship occurred between automobiles and motel chains. When Kemmon Wilson took his family on a road trip to Washington, D.C. in 1951, he struggled with finding a good place for his family to sleep overnight in. This trip inspired Wilson to start the Holiday Inn chain. Hotel chains like the Holiday Inn complemented America’s highway systems, as tired drivers could easily merge off the highway and spend the night at a quality, inexpensive motel before heading back out on the highway again.

    Another company that contributed to the motorist society was General Motors. This is perhaps the most obvious company to aid in America’s dependence on automobiles, since General Motors was the biggest and best-known manufacturing company. In 1955, General Motors became the first U.S. corporation to earn over $1 billion a year. They managed to turn such a profit by changing the style of and introducing new features to their automobiles each year, making consumers feel the need to continuously buy new vehicles.  

    Today we not only see McDonald's, Holiday Inn, and General Motors everywhere, we also see the effect they have on society. What other franchises have impacted our everyday lives? Where can we see this impact today?

Fear of Nuclear War

During the Cold War, Americans were in fear that they would be bombed by the Soviets. Russia finally built a successful nuclear bomb. Bomb safety was taught in schools to young children. The mascot was Bert the Turtle, and he told the children to duck and cover their necks. This is similar to what we are told now as children to protect from earthquakes. Even when walking down the street if a bomb is dropped you need to drop and cover your neck. Of course, this would not protect you from a nuclear bomb. This was most likely released to calm people down and make them feel safer. During the hysteria, many Americans built bomb shelters in their homes. All of this was caused because the Americans were scared the Russians would bomb them. However, the same fear was happening on Russia's side. Russia feared that any second the Americans would bomb them. Both countries were in an arms race. America believed that Russia was way ahead of them in the number of bombs and plains. In reality, the gap was way bigger than what the Americans thought, and it was in their favor. 

McCarthyism

    Following World War II, relations between America and the Soviet Union were extremely tense.  An overwhelming sense of distrust from either side to the other caused for many issues on both home fronts.  Particularly, in the United States, many Americans quickly grew a distrust for Communism, as their government had ingrained it in their minds that Communism was a horrible thing.

    Senator Joseph McCarthy was among the leading Americans who deeply hated Communism and what it offered.  He became so well known for this opinion, there was a term coined off of his name: McCarthyism. 

    Supporters described the term, "McCarthyism is Americanism with its sleeved rolled"  McCarthyism was a practice of making subversive accusations towards Americans of either being Communist or of having sympathy for Communist people.  Millions were affected by McCarthyism, whether they were questioned, accused, or were accusing each other.  Many accused their neighbors and friends because the best way to appear to hate Communism is to accuse others of liking it.  It often felt like an "accuse or be accused" scenario for many.  The intense distrust during this time worsened the quality of live for many.