16: 1950s Early Cold War

16: 1950s Early Cold War

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Scan of Soviet Textbook - English. 1960 г. (фрагменты и djvu-книга)
Scan of Soviet Textbook - English. 1960 г. (фрагменты и djvu-книга)
This is why teaching in the 21st Century absolutely rocks. Simple US History II or World Studies Cold War or Middle School Civics lesson plan. Review this scan of a Soviet children's book teaching English. Read through the sections written and in English and identify the manner in which this textbook reinforce's Soviet values. It would be easy to find the American counterpart
Scan of Soviet Textbook - English. 1960 г. (фрагменты и djvu-книга)
Nonprofit NFL Seeks Super Bowl Volunteers, Again : NPR
Nonprofit NFL Seeks Super Bowl Volunteers, Again : NPR
Teachers who find themselves leading instruction to anything within a mile of "economic systems" or using the terms "capitalism", 'communism", or "laissez faire" should think about using this information as an example. Think of the degree to which the city of Minneapolis and state of Minnesota would be contributing to the private profit of a private business (NFL) which already benefits from the federal government's classification of them as a non-profit organization. - You can tie it us easily with the question - "Would you work for the NFL for free?"
Nonprofit NFL Seeks Super Bowl Volunteers, Again : NPR
The Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, but Germany is still divided - The Washington Post
The Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, but Germany is still divided - The Washington Post
Cold War lessons can use this as a source to dig into the differences between east and west as they are seen in their most stark contrast, in Berlin. This also shows the power of modern data analysis and how history today is fundamentally different than history twenty years ago.
The Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, but Germany is still divided - The Washington Post
The Cold War - John Gaddis
The Cold War - John Gaddis
John Gaddis is the James McPherson of the Cold War; this book should be required reading for every US History teacher
The Cold War - John Gaddis
CIA Memo - Berlin 1961
CIA Memo - Berlin 1961
This CIA Memo explains the refugee problem facing East Germany in 1961 that prompted, in part, the building of the Berlin Wall. The language is clear and straightforward and adaptable to the classroom or a DBQ. The fact that it is an actual "secret" memo made available through the Freedom of Information Act should intrigue students as well.
CIA Memo - Berlin 1961
Joseph Breen to Harold Melnicker (RKO) , July 27, 1947.
Joseph Breen to Harold Melnicker (RKO) , July 27, 1947.
Anyone who doubts the power of private censorship in the United States should look at this letter from Joseph Breen of the Production Code Administration to the producer of a film for RKO. It provides a detailed list of changes to be made to the script in order for the film to meet the standards of the Production Code Administration.
Joseph Breen to Harold Melnicker (RKO) , July 27, 1947.
Novikov telegram - September 1946
Novikov telegram - September 1946
This is the Soviet response to George Kennan's 8,000 word telegram. Teachers looking for DBQ material or provocative material for early Cold War lessons may find something worthwhile here
Novikov telegram - September 1946
National Security Council Directive on Office of Special Projects
National Security Council Directive on Office of Special Projects
June 1948 Document which defines "covert operations" in times of peace and grants the NSC authority to engage in them. Perhaps students could be shown just the list of actions in a "do now" response and asked if they think that these are the actions of the United States or the USSR. Perhaps they can serve as fodder to an "ends and means" debate
National Security Council Directive on Office of Special Projects
Mao Tse-tung Speech At The Supreme State Conference - Sept 1958 - "The Chinese have a noose around American necks"
Mao Tse-tung Speech At The Supreme State Conference - Sept 1958 - "The Chinese have a noose around American necks"
Does the overseas involvement of the United States give other nations the ability to dictate American foreign policy? Mao Tse-Tung finds an excellent metaphor in a noose, held by the Chinese people (and Arab as well) in which they can tighten at will. This is a perfect document to launch a foreign policy discussion.
Mao Tse-tung Speech At The Supreme State Conference - Sept 1958 - "The Chinese have a noose around American necks"
How a Hellish Road Trip Revolutionized American Highways - Smithsonian Magazine
How a Hellish Road Trip Revolutionized American Highways - Smithsonian Magazine
This is just one of those small tidbit facts that's good for teachers to know to share with students to flesh out the story of the interstate highway system. It tells of a young Eisenhower in a military convoy trying to get from one coast to the other in 1919, impressing him with the need for an interstate highway system
How a Hellish Road Trip Revolutionized American Highways - Smithsonian Magazine
Flash-Matic
Flash-Matic
If you want to show students what the magic of remote control looked like in in 1956 - this is it. "With just a flash of light - you can change the channel !!"
Flash-Matic
Dwight Eisenhower: The Peace President Who Refused to Use the Atomic Bomb
Dwight Eisenhower: The Peace President Who Refused to Use the Atomic Bomb
Although we often have students debate Truman's use of the bomb - how many teachers would be comfortable asking students to answer the question - Why didn't Eisenhower? If for nothing else, the Eisenhower quote is sworth considering in a lesson
Dwight Eisenhower: The Peace President Who Refused to Use the Atomic Bomb
George Kennan's "Long Telegram"
George Kennan's "Long Telegram"
Of course the long telegram is too long to use for routine class instruction, but segments of it are great for DBQs, "Do Now" intro quotes, or general reaction.
George Kennan's "Long Telegram"
The Historic Midcentury Modernist Motels of the New Jersey Coast
The Historic Midcentury Modernist Motels of the New Jersey Coast
New Jersey students have already had some experience with the culture of the 1950s through the architecture of these motels at the shore. What lessons can help them shape that historical understanding?
The Historic Midcentury Modernist Motels of the New Jersey Coast
In the Classroom: The Cuban Missile Crisis
In the Classroom: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Five short video excerpts from the classroom show a primary document lesson in action. Students were presented with five options to respond to the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba and had to choose one. The videos include an interview with the teacher and excerpts from the class itself.
In the Classroom: The Cuban Missile Crisis
It Had to Happen - The Firing of MacArthur
It Had to Happen - The Firing of MacArthur
During the first “hot” skirmish of the Cold War, a larger battle brewed between a U.S. President and his General. This lesson will ask students to investigate if MacArthur’s firing during the Korean War was necessary or not and why. This is a primary source lesson in which students "do" history.
It Had to Happen - The Firing of MacArthur
Righting a wrong: NC to pay victims of forced sterilization | Al Jazeera America
Righting a wrong: NC to pay victims of forced sterilization | Al Jazeera America
When we focus on the "conformity" narrative, or the Cold War, or any of the other narrative of the 1950s, we miss events like this, which are central to people's lives. In investigating the proper role of government in society - this can be explored as well
Righting a wrong: NC to pay victims of forced sterilization | Al Jazeera America
Histocrats in the Classroom: Connecting the Dots
Histocrats in the Classroom: Connecting the Dots
Check out this quick and easy, active-learning, ten minute exercise to show students what it is like to exist in a society in which traditional conceptions of trust have disappeared.
Histocrats in the Classroom: Connecting the Dots
Give Yourself the Green Light : General Motors
Give Yourself the Green Light : General Motors
When teachers tell students about the interstate highway act under Eisenhower, do they ever mention the support from the auto industry. This General Motors film shows it clearly
Give Yourself the Green Light : General Motors
Our History and Timeline | McDonald's
Our History and Timeline | McDonald's
Historical thinking lesson/project outside of the box. Have students fact-check this page. They'll be using historical thinking research and thinking skills digging into something they they are familiar with, and at the same time realize the truth is quite different than how it is portrayed.
Our History and Timeline | McDonald's
A cookbook published by American women during the Berlin Blockade.
A cookbook published by American women during the Berlin Blockade.
This Slate article describes a cookbook put together by American women who stayed in West Berlin during the Soviet blockade. The article includes a link to the entire cookbook which provides insight into elements of the blockade not often exposed in history classes. Not many students are taught that there were Americans in the city during the blockade, but this primary source document can be analyzed for evidence of how these women saw their role in history.
A cookbook published by American women during the Berlin Blockade.
LIFE Magazine from the 1950s
LIFE Magazine from the 1950s
One of the most popular magazines of the 20th century, Life Magazine, known for its large format, it had a circulation of more than 1 million. It can give insight into the culture of the 1950s
LIFE Magazine from the 1950s
Margaret Chase Smith - Declaration of Conscience speech in Senate 1950
Margaret Chase Smith - Declaration of Conscience speech in Senate 1950

Four page speech that should be read by students exploring McCarthism. The speech should be the focus of the lesson that shows how she made the speech and how McCarthy, Nixon and others smeared her as a result of it. It clearly echoes divisions in today's political system.

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Speeches_Smith_Declaration.htm

Margaret Chase Smith - Declaration of Conscience speech in Senate 1950
20th Century Statistics from the Census Bureau
20th Century Statistics from the Census Bureau
Did a greater percentage of US households have televisions or telephones in the 1950s? - The answer may surprise you, and your students. Why not have students act as historians and comb through this data. Find a statistic or development that they find interesting or hard to believe - and investigate it.
20th Century Statistics from the Census Bureau
National Review's Mission Statement | National Review
National Review's Mission Statement | National Review
William Buckley's National Review was a foundation of the modern conservative movement and reading it's mission statement upsets the taught narrative canon of American History because the conformity it complains of is directed at conformity to liberal values, not conservative values. It reveals a more complex, yet more authentic vision of America in the 1950s. The "credenda" list items can serve for DBQ material
National Review's Mission Statement | National Review