Episodes Nearest to December 25, 1956: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. I Was Not Saved to Run
    date December 25, 1956map Jefferson, Alabamatags alabama, Violence, Race Relations, African American, Civil Rights

    It was Christmas 1956.  Taking the place of presents and songs, Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and family woke up to the sound of sixteen dynamites exploding from underneath their home.  By looking at photographs of the damage, you would think everything within ten feet of the home was dead.  However, Shuttlesworth and his family reemerge unharmed.  Shuttlesworth being a religious man gave God...

  2. The Eisenhower Doctrine
    date January 5, 1957map Dist Columbia, District of Columbiatags Cold War, Eisenhower, USSR

    By the time of his ascendance to the Presidency, Eisenhower was a man hardened by the difficulty of sending millions to war yet softened by their victorious return home. By 1957, just a teenager’s birth away from the end of the world’s largest and grandest war, the Suez Crisis prompted a reaction against communism.

    Eisenhower explained how “Russia’s rulers have long sought to dominate...

  3. The Self-Integration Of Pembroke State College
    date July 3, 1956map Robeson, North Carolinatags Education, Race-Relations, integration/segregation, lumbee indians, Pembroke State College

    In the summer of 1956, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP) had “a record enrollment of 124 in its summer session,” wrote a journalist for The Robesonian.  The reason for this record breaking enrollment was clear: more white students were taking advantage of the university’s summer sessions.  UNCP, then known as Pembroke State College (PSC), started admitting whites...

  4. Dancing to the Jailhouse Rock: The Last of Elvis the Pelvis
    date 1957map Shelby, Tennesseetags Elvis Presley, Jailhouse Rock

    By 1957, Elvis Presley was already a star, when Jailhouse Rock, his third movie appeared. The movie’s plot was a loose allegory of Presley’s own life. The main character, Vince Everett, played by Elvis, was a construction worker sent to jail where he learned to sing and play guitar from his cell mate, a former country musician. Upon being released from prison Vince begins a career as a pop musician....

  5. Planning Interstate 280
    date August 15, 1957map Santa Clara, Californiatags Interstate 280, construction, freeway, highway

    Peninsula residents of the Bay Area were fuming as the construction of Interstate 280 was planned to run through the heart of Los Altos. E.O. Huttlinger, citizen of 33 years and realtor of Los Altos, was a prominent figure in the protest of the highway proposal. In August of 1957, E.O. Huttlinger addressed his concerns of 11 years to the Division of Highways in San Francisco through a four-page...

  6. Black Family Challenges Racial Barriers in Suburb
    date August, 1957 to 1957map Bucks, Pennsylvaniatags Civil Rights, African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    On August 13, 1957, Daisy and Bill Myers moved their family to a well-developed suburb in Levittown, Pennsylvania.  They were just like every other eager newcomer to arrive in Levittown, except that they were black.  As news of this Levittown “first” quickly spread, so did the curiosity.  Drivers continuously circled the house in their automobiles, trying to catch a glimpse of the first African...

  7. Whites Riot in Response to Arrival of First African American Family in Levittown, PA
    date August, 1957 to 1957map Bucks, Pennsylvaniatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Crime/Violence

    Upon driving up to their new home at 43 Deepgreen Lane, Daisy Myers was filled with doubt, recalling that she repeatedly asked herself, “what would be the extent of our ostracism? Would we be able to sleep comfortably?” as she studied the four law officers standing on the lawn of her address in the Dogwood Hollow Section of Levittown. These questions regarding the neighborhood reaction to the...

  8. Bo Diddley Records "I'm a Man"
    date October 22, 1955map Cook, Illinoistags African-Americans, music, Rock and Roll

    The lyrics “The way I make love to ‘em, they can’t resist. I’m a man, spell M-A-N,”-sung with bravado and sexual intrigue not only broke the monotonous, soothing tones of the likes of Bing Crosby and Jonny Mathis, paving the way for a new exciting sound later dubbed “Rock and Roll,” but also being sung by a black man, became even more potent with respect to black acknowledgement in...

  9. The Start of a New Era
    date January, 1955 to 1955map Orange, Floridatags Florida, Tourism

    Winter Park is a suburban city located on the outskirts of Orlando in Orange County, Florida. It has a current population of 27,852 residents and is home to Rollins, College, Full Sail University, and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. Its areas range from open parks to residential areas to even street side shopping all along Park Avenue. It is in this eclectic town that just approximately...

  10. Canadian Involvement in NORAD.
    date December 12, 1958map Canada, Outside UStags Canada, NORAD, USA, Nuclear

    The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was a joint partnership agreement between Canada and the United States over the defense of North America from Soviet long range bombers. Cooperation between the United States and Canada was vital to the success of NORAD, however. In a letter to the assistant Secretary of Defense for international security affairs, John M. Leddy expressed his concerns...

  11. Barbie: The Female's Icon
    date January 1, 1959map New York, New Yorktags Barbie, Toys, Feminism, Femininity, Second Wave Feminism

    The eyes of little girls widened everywhere, as they witnessed the TV debut of a beloved toy.  Finally, there was a doll that resembled a “grown up girl” and not a baby.  Already an icon of beauty by the time of her TV commercial, Mattel's marketing emphasized the dolls mature face and figure that had made her famous:  “Barbie is small and so petite, her clothes and figure look so neat.[1]”...

  12. Management in the Home - Scientific Reasoning for Domestic Pursuits
    date September 8, 1954map Franklin, Ohiotags Women, 1950s

    Dr. Elaine Knowles Weaver of Ohio State University urges women to “analyze their tasks” in this article posted in the New York Time, 1954. The book cited by Dr. Weaver is “Management in the Home”, a joint effort by three female university professors that seeks to apply scientific, deductive reasoning to everyday household tasks. For the women of this book, logical reasoning is not just preferred...

  13. Levittown Real Estate Boards' Discriminatory Housing Practices Revealed
    date August 7, 1954map Suffolk, New York, Nassau, New York, Bucks, Pennsylvaniatags Race-Relations, African-Americans

    In an article published in the Saturday Evening Post in August of 1954 journalist Craig Thompson exposed the “problem of Negro exclusion,” commenting on the discriminatory practices employed by Levitt and the preventive covenants established by the local real estate boards within his suburban communities. As the father of modern suburbia, it seemed that with his prepackaged communities,...

  14. “Fairmont’s Special Classes Help Handicapped Children”
    date January 14, 1960map Robeson, North Carolinatags Special education, Children, Education

    Most people only think of classes being extended to students who have some form of disability. In 1960, however, when these special education classes were just starting out, they served more purposes then simply serving the disabled. In 1960, schools in Fairmont, North Carolina started to provide classes for children with special educational needs, said The Robesonian. The curriculum in...

  15. Religious Recognition for Greeks in the U.S.
    date August 24, 1953map Jefferson, Alabamatags Greeks, Religion

    In 1953, Greeks in the U.S. wanted to have their Greek Orthodox faith recognized. The Greek Orthodox Youth of America, GOYA, a Greek organization, made attempts and held drives to have their religion be included in the major faiths of the U.S. At the time, only the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths were recognized as faiths in the U.S. The chairman of GOYA gathered with other members of the...

  16. Desegregating Schools
    date May 16, 1960map Orleans, Louisianatags New Orleans, Desegregation

    The article "U.S. Court Orders New Orleans To Start Pupil Integration in Fall: Outlines Grade-a-Year Plan After Board's Refusal to Present Own Proposal INTEGRATION SET IN NEW ORLEANS was written by Claude Sittons and published on the New York Times on May 17, 1960. The article states thaton May 16, 1960 Federal District Judge J. Skelly Wright set September as the deadline for New Orleans...

  17. "Why They Become Communists" By Elizabeth Janeway
    date June 14, 1953map New York, New Yorktags Red Scare, Cold War

    What was the seductive and driving force of communism? An article published in the New York Times on June 14, 1953 sought to answer this question. Elizabeth Janeway’s “Why They Become Communists: Americans seeking an effective answer to communism’s internal danger must first be aware of its influence,” was the entire title of the article and resolved to serve as an indicator as to why and...

  18. Teenage School bus Drivers, Black and White, Crash on South Carolina Highway
    date January 20, 1953map Clarendon, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Desegregation, Transportation, Segregation, Supreme Court, Children, Public Schools, Black History, Black Schools, South Carolina, Buses

    “W.H. Ridgeway, the 16-year-old driver of the white bus, sobbed in his hospital bed and told his mother over and over how sorry he was the wreck had happened”

    The Columbia State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper, reported this pitiful scene on January 21st, 1953, under the front-page headline, “Clarendon School Bus Crash Kills 2”. The State ran no pictures of the crash, but the...

  19. Bus Driver, Age 18, Killed in Head-On Collision At Work
    date January 20, 1953map Clarendon, South Carolinatags Clarendon County, workplace safety, highway safety, Buses, African-Americans, South Carolina

    The certificate kept by the Clarendon Memorial Hospital records the death of Willie Lemon, an 18-year-old bus driver involved in a head-on collision on the highway near Jordan, South Carolina, on January 20, 1953. Vital information is recorded on Lemon. He was occupied as a school bus driver. He is listed as an unmarried, colored male from Manning, South Carolina, with no social security number.

    His...

  20. "US Declared Able to Wage Cold War"
    date November 10, 1952map New York, New Yorktags Cold War, Red Scare

    How ready was the United States ready for the Cold War? On November 10, 1952, an article was printed in the New York Times.  Its purpose was to cover a dinner forum at the New School for Social Research at 66 West Twelfth Street, Manhattan, New York to discuss the need for the continuance of the newly coined “Cold War,” as well as the economic and social ramifications of the war that would...

  21. Pratt Street Riot Claims Four Soldiers
    date April 19, 1961map Baltimore, Marylandtags Riot, Pratt Street, Sixth Massachusetts

    Just a week after the attack on Fort Sumter, tempers flared in Baltimore, Maryland.  Secessionist and southern sympathizers in Baltimore orchestrated a riot against Union soldiers while they traveled through the city on their way to Washington D.C, that left four soldiers and twelve civilians dead.  As stated in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, “A clash between pro-South civilians...

  22. Wernher Von Braun Advises the Vice-President on the Space Program
    date April 29, 1961map Madison, Alabamatags Science/Technology, Cold War

                Wernher Von Braun stated in his letter to United States Vice President Lyndon Johnson, “we have an excellent chance of beating the Soviets to the first landing of a crew on the moon.” The letter discussed the strategic direction the United States should take to surpass of the Soviet Union in the space race. With the Cold War raging between the U.S. and the Soviet Union,...

  23. Bob Dylan Chooses a Name
    date 1961map Richmond, New Yorktags Bob Dlyan, Dylan

    Born Bobby Zimmerman, Bob Dylan escaped a life in small town Minnesota and eventually arrived in Greenwich Village, New York in 1961.   Andrew Muchin, author of the article “Dylan’s Jewish Pilgrimage,” argues that Dylan’s arrival in New York gave him the chance to “reinvent himself as the musical heir to folk troubadour Woody Guthrie.” Zimmerman’s choice of names, given the prominence...

  24. Stained-Glass Sally: The Memorializing of Captain Sally Tompkins
    date September 10, 1961map Henrico, Virginiatags Reconstruction, Civil War, Women, Medicine/Health

    With the Angel of Mercy to guide and guard her, Captain Sally Tompkins gazes into the congregation of Saint James Episcopal Church located in Richmond, Virginia.  This stained-glass window was installed on September 10, 1961 to honor Captain Tompkins for her extraordinary service to the Confederacy during the Civil War.  The window features Captain Tompkins dressed in a conservative purple dress...

  25. Advancements In the Women's Rights Movement
    date October 29, 1951map Worcester, Massachusettstags Women, Women's Rights, suffrage

    Over one thousand women gathered in Worchester, Massachusetts, for a Women's Rights Convention in October 1851. "Wit, humor, truth, poetry, absurdity, and misdemeanor madness, were all component parts of the proceedings and speeches," wrote a journalist for the Daily Alabama Journal. Among the speakers were E. Oakes Smith, Abby Kelly Foster, and Lucretia Mott. The journalist observed...