Episodes Nearest to January 1, 1959: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. 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]”...

  2. 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...

  3. “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...

  4. 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...

  5. 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...

  6. 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...

  7. 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...

  8. 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....

  9. 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...

  10. 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...

  11. 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...

  12. 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,...

  13. 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...

  14. 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...

  15. 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...

  16. 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...

  17. Winter Park Amtrak Station
    date 1962map Orange, Floridatags Winter Park, Florida, Amtrak

    The Winter Park train station has existed almost as long as Rollins College has. Students have traveled in and out of Winter Park on trains that stop at the station. Before flying became popular, the train was the only practical way to go home or to travel anywhere. In this article, Rollins College attempted to use the train as a strategy to attract alumni to Winter Park for the 100th...

  18. Kennedy Hears from a Worried Soviet Premier
    date October 26, 1962 to October 27, 1962map Dist Columbia, District of Columbiatags War, Foreign Politics, Diplomacy/International

    Between 6:00 and 9:00 PM on the night of Friday October 26, 1962, the tenth day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the members of President John F. Kennedy’s Executive Committee of the National Security (ExCom) received sections of a long, emotional private message from Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev.  Khrushchev revealed the underlying logic of the Cuban Missile Crisis when he wrote, “I...

  19. 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...

  20. Understanding A Letter From Birmingham Jail
    date April 16, 1963map Jefferson, Alabamatags letter, Birmingham, Alabama

    After being arrested in downtown Birmingham on a Good Friday, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous letter, “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” responding to the criticism demonstrated by eight prominent white clergy man. This letter has been found important through out history because it expresses King’s feelings toward the unjust events and it is an example of a well-written...

  21. 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...

  22. 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,...

  23. August Willich: No Ordinary General
    date September 1, 1963map Walker, Georgiatags August Willich, 32nd Indiana Regiment, The Battle of Chickamauga

    All men may be created equal but they are remembered differently. In contrast to Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, August Willich was not a celebrity of the Civil War.  He was a Prussian political refugee and an aristocrat with an unapologetic communistic political leaning. Willch’s communistic nature generated his pre-war nickname, “Reddest of the Red.” Yet, his tremendous contributions...

  24. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 and its Deinstitutionalizing Effect on Saint Elizabeth's Hospital
    date October 31, 1963map Dist Columbia, District of Columbiatags Medicine, Hospital, Space, Health, Government, Law

    Due to a growing need for mental health services, Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital was built by the United States Congress as a result of the Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation Act of 1852. The Institution opened in Washington, DC in 1855 as the “Government Hospital for the Insane”. A prominent leader in the mental health field, Dorthea Dix, lobbied for the construction of the facility and founded...

  25. From Agriculture to Technology
    date January 1, 1964map Alameda, Californiatags nursery, Technology, Agriculture, Fremont, Silicon Valley

    In late 1964, the California Nursery Company was getting ready to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary. The Vallejo Adobe had been moved onto the grounds of the nursery and was restored to be used as a meeting room. There were big plans to expand, and construction was beginning on a new section of the nursery. The California Nursery Company was one of the most successful and well-known...