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WELCOME TO THE FABULOUS FIFTIES! Sarah
Parlier John
Neubaum Jo
Ann Simkins National History Project We are using the theme Civilization, Cultural Diffusion, and Innovation and the Historical Habits of Mind to travel through the Fifties. Our First-Order document is a promotional photograph from the 1950s television show, Father Knows Best. This image depicts a representation of the ideal American family. While the perception of the 1950s is one of a time of conformity and stability, society more accurately underwent dramatic shifts. The tensions of the Cold War, punctuated by the Korean conflict, the escalation of the Civil Rights movement, the spread of suburbia, the relationship with the automobile, and the changing face of entertainment signified events and issues ignored by sanitized television programming of the era. We hope that students and teachers find this website helpful as they study the 1950s through the use of First-/Second-/ and Third-Order documents. All six areas of interest (Cold War, Korea, Civil Rights, Suburbia, Entertainment, and Car Culture) can be viewed as separate units or in conjunction with the others. It is our hope that all viewers will keep the Father Knows Best image in mind as they analyze the other documents. We have provided visitors with links to Primary Source Analysis Guides that can be used to analyze any of the documents on the website. These guides were created by Professor Frederick D. Drake at Illinois State University. We hope that these documents provide insight, raise questions, and further your research of this fascinating and significant time in our nation's history. Have fun in the Fifties! A teacher can approach this in one of two ways. One strategy is to use the Father Knows Best as the First-Order document. A teacher then selects one Second-Order document from each of the areas of interest (Cold War, Korea, Civil Rights, Suburbia, Entertainment, and Car Culture). These Second-Order documents challenge or corroborate the central idea in the First-Order document. The remaining documents become Third-Order documents that students might find in their own research. A second strategy is to discuss the First-Order document, Father Knows Best, with students and then discuss all of the documents within the area of interest, Cold War. Each of these documents would serve as Second-Order documents to challenge or corroborate the First-Order document. After these discussions, the teacher divides students into five groups (Korea, Civil Rights, Suburbia, Entertainment, and Car Culture). Within their assigned area of interest, students will find Third-Order documents that challenge or corroborate the First-Order document. Of the possible Third-Order documents provided, students will choose one that is most essential to become their First-Order document. Additional potential Third-Order documents and ideas for documents have also been provided. Click here to view the list. |
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