Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
Extensive collection of resources and exhibits at official presidential library
19: 1970s Malaise
President Gerald Ford Speech - Pardoning Richard Nixon
Short descriptive article, text and audio of announcement
Kent May 4 Center - Kent State Massacre
The Living Room Candidate - Commercials - 1976 Election Carter vs. Ford
The site includes a searchable database of television commercials and features commentary, historical background, election results, and navigation organized by year, type of ad, and issue
The Trial of Patty (Patricia) Hearst (1976)
Comprehensive collection of articles, artifacts and documents from the "Famous Trials" site at the University of Missouri - Kansas City
Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus
from Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"
The Clinton Presidency and the Crisis of Democracy
from Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"
Hard Hat Riots
Look at Vietnam War protest from the perspective of those who did not oppose the war. Seeds of the liberal conservative divide of the 00s found in 1970.
From Center for New History and Media at George Mason
"Original Godspell Cast on The Today Show" - YouTube
A slice of the seventies counter-culture crossover into popular culture. The original cast of the Broadway musical Godspell appear on a minstream morning program. If we take just this example to understand the 70s is it accurate? Does this mean we overstate the flappers of the 20s?
Searching for the ’70s: The Documerica project at the National Archives (PHOTOS).
Pictures from EPA project to document America in the 1970s.
The Decade Nobody Knows
The first chapter of THE SEVENTIES - The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics. By Bruce J. Schulman.
Bruce Davidson - Subway Photos
Much like Jacob Riis's "How the Other Half Lives", Bruce Davidson's "Subway" exposes environments most people are unfamiliar with. This series of photographs taken of the NYC subway of the 1980s shows a world that few who live in New York would recognize.
WashingtonPost.com: Nixon Forces Firing of Cox; Richardson, Ruckelshaus Quit
Instead of trying to teach Watergate by lecturing the story of the break-in, the plumbers, CREEP, etc. - why not just give students this newspaper article and have them generate questions. If they can't generate a healthy list of questions from this article, no amount of story telling and lecture is going to help them.
George Packer on Rick Perlstein’s “The Invisible Bridge”
Gerald R. Ford: Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union.
What is going on in a country when the presidents says "I must say to you that the state of the Union is not good"?
I must say to you that the state of the Union is not good
Now, I want to speak very bluntly. I've got bad news, and I don't expect much, if any, applause.
The Great Textbook Wars - American RadioWorks
Would students believe that elementary schools were bombed because of a controversy over textbooks?
Stevie Wonder - You Haven't Done Nothin' - YouTube
After Stevie Wonder left Motown records and Berry Gordy gave him the free reign he had given Marvin Gaye, his string of pop and soul hits had strong political messages. None was quite as direct as this direct attack on Richard Nixon. Play this to give students a funky start to your seventies class, but remember to project the lyrics so they can see how clear this message really is. Hold the trivia that it's the Jackson 5 (including Michael) in the background.
Cold War Museum - Chile 1973
Have your students used ColdWar.org? This article, written by a high school student and published by the site suggests that the US might have played a role in the 1973 coup in Chile. Yet the CIA not only admits its role in the removal of Allende from power, it provides all of the details. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol47no3/article03.html
CIA Machinations in Chile in 1970 — Central Intelligence Agency
This article from the CIA itself shows the manner in which released documents involving American actions in Chile in 1973 are used to write history again. At first brush it was through the denial of any role, than a popular conception (perhaps) of a major role in which American actions overseas contradicted foundational principles of democracy at home. This article tries to find a path between the two
Sarasota Herald-Tribune - July 16, 1974 - onair suicide
Students can get a first-hand look at 70s malaise in one issue of a Florida newspaper in 1974. Right alongside the front page story of revelations of President Nixon's role in the break-in to Pentagon Papers figure, Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office, is the story of a local news reporter who committed suicide, live on the air. Some americans seeing such news on a daily basis grew more and more despondent about the future of their country. Give this to students and ask them to find a connection between the two front page stories - would they see it that way?
Archie meets the Meathead - YouTube
For a three minute reflection of the political divide of the early 1970s, show from the 10 to 13 minute mark of this All in the Family episode. Easy for a quick Do Now reflection or additional material for a discussion
The Greatest Play In Baseball - Rick Monday Saves U.S. Flag - YouTube
Four minute video from the baseball game in which outfielder Rick Monday of the Chicago Cubs stops a man and his son from burning an American flag on the field in the middle of the game. The video also includes interviews with Monday and other players of this event that demonstrates the illustrates the decisiveness of the 1970s. This event occurred the months before the Bicentennial.
Boston Bombings to protest Busing June 1976
A month before the celebration of the Bicentennial, June 1976, there were a series of bombings in Boston, including one at tourist attraction landmarks like Plymouth Rock and the gift shop next to the Tea Party ship replicas. Both of these were claimed as resistance to desegrations
Oliver Sipple - Wikipedia, - First he saves a president's life, then his homosexuality is made public
Oliver Sipple saved Gerald Ford's life by deflecting the would-be assassin's arm just as the gun was aimed at Ford. Sipple was an ex-marine and Vietnam War vet whose life experience after this 1974 event was shaped by the manner in which his homosexuality was made public by his heroism.
1970s America from Docs Teach and the National Archives
The National Archives is the ground zero of primary source documents. be sure to check out the "activities" as well.
1970s Discussion and Culture | Teaching United States History
A quick read for teachers that references significant themes of the 1970s through the lens of some of the popular media of the time.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978)
Yes, employers could lawfully fire a woman for becoming pregnant before 1978. Students should be exposed to every stage of the fight for women's rights - legislation like this belongs alongside Seneca Falls and the 20th Amendment
Kathrine Switzer on the Marathon Moment That ‘Changed Millions of Women’s Lives’ - Marathon - Boston.com
Women were not officially permitted to run the Boston Marathon until 1972. Kathrine Switzer was able to register for the race, get a number and start running without incident because she registered, got a number and just started running. This story and the iconic photograph of her getting attacked while running the race can impress upon students to lack of advances in the women's rights movement into the 1970s. Be sure to read her story to find out more details, like how much she got support from men running the race. http://kathrineswitzer.com/about-kathrine/1967-boston-marathon-the-real-story/
The Battle of the Sexes - King vs. Riggs
The story of the Billy Jean King's tennis victory over Bobby Riggs in 1973 helps students understand the nature of women's rights in sports in the early 70s, though it is just as much a milemarker in the history of sports and the media. This Gilderlehrman article references Rigg's earlier victory over Court, which places the match in proper context.
'A Necessary Spectacle': 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 - The New York Times
Oftentimes, a book review places a historical event in context for student better than anything a textbook could do. This brief review of a book focusing on the iconic "Battle of the Sexes" match between Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs is a sure-fire hit for a homework assignment or spark for class discussion. Teachers trying to teach connections of history are much better off using something students can relate with, like current women sports stars, than with something from the 19th century