1950s Mini Research Project (Rooney)

Background Research on The Crucible and the 1950's

1.McCarthyism/The Red Hunt

PBS
History Channel
National Archives: Telegram from McCarthy to Truman (primary source). This National Archives site has a good overview of what McCarthyism was as well as a primary source telegram that McCarthy sent to President Truman in 1950 about the government "harboring a nest of Communists and Communist sympathizers."

2.The Cold War

History Channel: Cold War History (This site on the Cold War has a TON of information--for example, click on one of the people under "Cold War Leaders and Events" and you'll see articles, videos, etc.)
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library: Cold War
Britannica: Cold War
BBC: Cold War History
Wilson Center: this timeline of the Cold War has links to primary source documents from that time
NPR: Living in the Atomic Age
IPL: Cold War (This page provides links to lots of sites about the Cold War. The IPL was an excellent online library of web links maintained by librarians. Unfortunately it is no longer maintained, so some links may be broken).
RAF: Cold War (The Royal Air Force (Great Britain's air force) museum created this exhibit on the Cold War. Try clicking on "Countries" or "Biographies.")
Cold War International History Project: From the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.
The goal of this project is to "[support] the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War."

3. The Salem Witch Hunts

4.Mass Hysteria (include connections to today)

The Guardian: This article discusses theories about why mass hysteria occurs as well as present-day examples of it
British Psychological Society

5.TV Shows/Game Shows

Britannica: History of television in the United States
Living History Farm: a page from a farm museum in Nebraska that deals with 1950s T.V.
U.S. History.org: The Land of Television (this is the website of the Independence Hall museum in PA)
PBS American Experience: The Quiz Show Scandal

6.Most Popular Music/Musicians of the 50's (include music example in presentation!)

Rolling Stone: "The 50's, A Decade of Music That Changed the World"
This farm museum site has a focus on country music and rural music of the 1950's
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

7.Politics: Truman and Eisenhower

8.The Economy

9.Movie Stars of the 1950's

10.Brown vs. Board of Education

Chicago-Kent College of Law: This site gives a good quick overview of important American court cases
U.S. Courts: This lesson plan for a re-enactment of Brown v. Board gives a good overview not only of the case, but of other related cases like Plessy v. Ferguson that relate to it
PBS: Landmark Cases, Brown v. Board
History Channel: Brown v. Board
Our Documents: a government primary source document site
The Atlantic magazine: How Brown changed America, and ways in which we have NOT changed
Same topic--the legacy of Brown v Board-- from the Washington Post

11.American Culture

12.Art/Artists

13.Diners, Bowling Alleys, Trailer Parks

14.Historical Dictionary of the 1950's/Slang/Idiomatic Phrases

15.The Sputnik Legacy

NASA: Sputnik
NASA: Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age
History Channel, This Day in History: Sputnik
History Channel, The Space Race
USA Today
Soviet Space Program: From the Royal Air Force website (Great Britain's air force)

16.American Religion

Religion in Colonial America (Facing History and Ourselves)
PBS "God in America" timeline about religion in America (see also links on the right)
Religion in America (this site from Ashland University has a lot of primary source documents)
Smithsonian article, religious tolerance in America (this article challenges the idea that America has always remained true to the principle of religious tolerance)
National Humanities Center

17.American Dramatic History

18.Witchcraft History

RESOURCES FOR CLASSES