Miami Research Project
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 of 27 Miami Research Project TABLE OF CONTENTS Project Specifications ................................................................................................. 2 Timeline of US Events in 1959 ..................................................................................2 US Economy in 1959 ................................................................................................. 6 Look and Feel of Miami in the 1950’s .......................................................................6 Noteworthy Miami News from 1959 .......................................................................11 People of Interest .....................................................................................................12 Areas of Interest .......................................................................................................19 Potential Jobs for Characters ...................................................................................25 Reading List and Citations .......................................................................................26 Photo of Miami’s Aztec Hotel from 1950s Unlimited, licensed under Creative Commons. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 2 of 27 Project Specifications Summary: find general information about the US in 1959 as well as specific information about Miami in the 1950’s. Create a 1959 timeline of US events and a brief summary of the US economy in 1959. Discover the look and feel of Miami in the 1950’s and find Miami news events from 1959. Include Miami areas of interest and figures of interest in the 1950’s. Find possible job descriptions for three Miami characters in the 1950’s: a young female entertainer, a young male Hispanic athlete, and a shady business owner. Research time: 20 hours. Timeline of US Events in 1959 After suffering a major setback, mobster Meyer Lansky Jan. 01, 1959 returns to Miami. Mar. 09, 1959 The Barbie Doll debuts at an international toy fair. Mar. 11, 1959 A Raisin in the Sun opens on Broadway. The Dalai Lama flees Tibet and is granted asylum in Mar. 17, 1959 India. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill allowing Mar. 18, 1959 Hawaii to become a state. Mar. 31, 1959 Busch Gardens opens in Tampa, FL. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 3 of 27 Apr. 06, 1959 31st Academy Awards Ceremony held. Apr. 09, 1959 NASA selects the first astronauts (The Mercury Seven). Sonny Liston keeps his climb among challengers in the Apr. 15, 1959 Heavyweight division by knocking out Cleveland Williams in the third round, at Miami Beach. Second International Radio Programming Seminar and Pop Music Disk Jockey convention is held in Miami at May 28-31, the Americana Hotel. It becomes notorious for Booze, 1959 Broads & Bribes. Here’s a DVD that includes reminisces about the event. The U.S.S. George Washington, the first submarine to Jun. 09, 1959 carry ballistic missiles, is launched. Tornado slams into Miami. 77 injuries but no deaths Jun. 17, 1959 recorded. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 4 of 27 Spree killer Charles Starkweather is executed. His story Jun. 25, 1959 became the inspiration for several movies. Jul. 04, 1959 The 49-star flag (the 49th state was Alaska) debuts. Charles Ovnand and Dale R. Buis become the first Jul. 08, 1959 Americans killed in action in Vietnam. Jul. 15, 1959 A strike is called against U.S. Steel. V.P. Richard Nixon and USSR Premiere Nikita Jul. 24, 1959 Khrushchev have a “kitchen debate” at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 5 of 27 Explorer 6 is launched from the Atlantic Missile Ranch in Aug. 07, 1959 Cape Canaveral. Aug. 21, 1959 Hawaii becomes the 50th state. Congress of Racial Equality activists practice nonviolent Sept. 05-25, action at Miami lunch counters. “The management at 1959 Grant’s Department Store chose to close rather than serve African Americans.” Kerry Kennedy, the seventh of Robert F. Kennedy’s 11 Sept. 08, 1959 children, is born. Oct. 02, 1959 Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone premieres on CBS. The Clutter Family of Holcolmb, KS is murdered. Nov. 15, 1959 Truman Capote will memorialize the event in his book In Cold Blood. J.C. King, Chief of the Western Hemisphere Division of the CIA, advocated that "thorough consideration" be Dec. 11, 1959 given to the "elimination" of Fidel Castro. Over 600 CIA assassination attempts would follow. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 6 of 27 The Justice League of America was introduced by DC Dec. 29, 1959 comics. US Economy in 1959 - The unemployment rate in the US: 5.3%. - Yearly Inflation Rate: 1.7%. How Much things cost in 1959 • Average Cost of new house $10,900. • Average Yearly Wages $5,016. • Cost of a gallon of Gas 25 cents. • Average Cost of a Ford car $2,132-$3,979. • Loaf of Bread 20 cents. • Postage stamp 4 cents. Look and Feel of Miami in the 1950’s Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 7 of 27 1957 Video Tour of Miami Beach: beach life, shopping centers, hotels, sports, wildlife, fishing, water shows and other entertainment. Video interviews with people who lived in Miami during the Fabulous Fifties: opening of the Fontainebleau Hotel, showgirls, nightclubbing, Jerry Lewis, café society, illegal gambling, Frank Sinatra, movie theaters, shopping, cabanas, parties, restaurants, bands, dancing. Color video of a drive through Miami in the 1950’s: cars, highways, streets, waterfront. Music only, no narration. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 8 of 27 Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 9 of 27 Short clip of Miami greyhound racing in 1948: track footage. Documentary on Dania Jai-alai: history of the game, betting, rules and equipment, slow motion replay, famous players. Note: the playing facility in the video below was about 10 miles north of Miami Beach, but there was another one in Miami. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 10 of 27 Florida commercials from the 1950’s: beach life, water skiing, snorkeling, parrots, alligator wrestling, dolphins shows, swimming, hotels, resorts, diving, water ballet. No audio. Aerial view of Miami Beach in 1959 Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 11 of 27 How Miami came to be called “Magic City”. “Post-World War II Miami was hardly the subtropical paradise—the Magic City— it promoted itself to be for one and all.” (Maingot, location 1424, par. 1) Tourism and Crime In 1950, 20 million tourists visited Florida, with Miami and Miami Beach being the preferred destinations (Maingot, location 1584, par. 2). Segregation and the Black Community “Historically, residential segregation was the rule in South Florida, even in the tourist industry. As Gary R. Mormino describes Florida tourism, it was riddled with discrimination and not just against blacks. Signs reading variously ‘Restricted Clientele,’ ‘Gentiles Only,’ ‘Exclusive,’ ‘For Whites Only,’ or ‘No Mexicans Allowed’ littered the tourism landscape. In 1953 one in five Miami Beach hotels barred Jews and all barred blacks. Further north, in places such as Pensacola and St. Augustine, terms such as ‘pickaninnies,’ ‘care-free darkies,’ and ‘mammies’ were common. As Mormino notes, ‘Along rural highways and city streets, middle class Blacks felt the sting of humiliation from routinely denied restrooms and accommodations’” (Maingot, location 1319, par. 1). Noteworthy Miami News from 1959 • Miami becomes the first city in Florida to integrate its schools. ● First Miami Publix supermarket opens. ● Palm Island’s ritzy nightclub “Latin Quarter” burns. Owned at one time by producer Lou Walters (Barbara Walters’ father), the venue drew entertainers like Sammy Davis, Jr. and Sophie Tucker, and Milton Berle. • 1959 Miami Marlins minor league baseball team. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 12 of 27 • 1959 Miami Hurricanes college football team. • 1959 Florida Gators college football team. • 1959 Grand Jury reports for the spring and fall terms. • 18-year-old Nancy Rae Purvis is crowned Miss Florida • Miami wrestler Judy Grable appears on What’s My Line? Her signature move was “the Kangaroo Flip”. People of Interest Robert King High. Mayor of Miami from 1955-1967. A progressive Democrat. He promised honest government and limited campaign contributions to $250. Spoke Spanish and had a reputation for tackling corruption. Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 13 of 27 Brief video of Robert King High in 1964 debate. “Mayor High went after illegal gambling, insurance fraud, and exorbitant electrical and telephone rates, and successfully collected back taxes from the omnipotent Jacksonville-based East Coast Railway” (Maingot, location 1542, par. 1). “High died at age 43 while in his fifth term as Mayor of Miami. His legacy included a more honest city government, a racially integrated City Commission, and the bringing to Miami of the National Football League (NFL) franchise team, the Dolphins” (location 1557, par. 2). Meyer Lanksy Meyer Lansky became the most important gangster to head south and settle in the Greater Miami area. In 1929 he moved to an ornate Spanish-style home on Biscayne Bay, where, it was rumored, he threw a party on February 13, 1929, the night before the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Lansky was the first to recognize that the Greater Miami area would become a lucrative center for casino and off- track gambling and that La Cosa Nostra could invest its illicit profits in the hotels, Miami Research Project StoryAuthority.com 14 of 27 real estate, and nightclubs of the growing local economy (Chepesiuk, location 981, par. 1). Following the Kefauver