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MACOMB COUNTY’S PLACE FOR DISCOVERY The Sixties: A Decade that Defined a Generation Teacher Resources February 28 – May 16, 2009 T H E A L B E R T L . L ORENZO Cultural Center A T M A CO M B C O mm UNI T Y C OLLEGE Exhibit Introduction Throughout the exhbton The Sixties: A Decade That Defined a Generation at the Lorenzo Cultural Center students wll dscover both the unversal and the unque about one of the most definng decades n our naton’s hstory through a seres of exhbts employng vdeo, audo, photos and artfacts. Ths packet of nformaton s desgned to assst teachers n makng the most of ther students’ vst to the Lorenzo Cultural Center. Contaned n ths packet are: 1. An outlne of the exhbt 2. Facts, nformaton, quotes and actvtes related to the sxtes 3. Lesson plans related to the sxtes 4. A resource lst wth webstes, addresses and nformaton The Sixties: A Decade That Defined a Generation February 28–May 16, 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introducton . Part I: Exhbt Outlne . 1 Part II: Sxtes Fact and Informaton Tmelne . 5 Part III: Sxtes Quotes . 10 Part IV: Lesson Plans for the Classroom Empathy and the Vetnam War . 11 The Cuban M ssle Crss: Teachng Actvtes . 14 Were My Dreams Realzed? . 16 Keep on Pushng: Popular Musc and the Cvl Rghts Movement . 19 Study the Mchgan Far Housng Act of 1968. 23 Teachng wth Documents: Foundng Documents of the Peace Corps . 34 Amerca’s Space Program: Explorng a New Fronter . 39 Warhol’s Foxy Lady: Pop Art . 42 Make a 1960’s Album Cover . 45 Beatlemana . 47 Women’s Lberaton: Betty Fredan . 48 Part V: Webstes and Other Resources . 49 Part VI: Suggested Readng Lst. 51 The Sixties: A Decade That Defined a Generation February 28–May 16, 2009 PART I: EXHIBIT OUTLINE Background Information on the Sixties Introduction The Sixties: A Decade that Defined a Generation was one of turmol and change. The country was jolted by the assassnatons of one presdent, two cvl rghts leaders, and one presdental hopeful. Nuclear war was barely averted. The country was less wllng to tolerate socal nequtes. As the decade wore on, the war n Vetnam became ncreasngly contentous, wth protests growng n frequency and sze. At the begnnng of the decade, one man orbted the earth, and at the end, two men walked on the moon. Annette, Faban and Elvs entered our theaters. Then, n a blnk, thngs changed; Brtsh musc filled the ar waves and wld fashons became a statement. T-shrts became te-dyed, har grew, skrts shortened and h-fi stereos got louder. Coffee houses and folk musc flourshed. College students fought for ndependence of thought; cvl rghts and femnsm became major topcs. Schools became ntegrated. Draft cards and bras were burned. The Early Years In the 1960s, as n most eras, everyone ncludng Mchganans dreamed of a better lfe. In the early years of the 1960s famly lfe was stll domnated by the tradtonal roles for mother and father. Televson shows reflected good, old-fashoned famly values. Ed Sullvan treated us to Elvs, Frank Snatra and Wayne Newton. But soon, suts and tes gave way to jeans. ‘Father knows best’ wasn’t always the case. Greased har and leather changed to long har and beads. The Political Scene The Cold War, the state of conflct, tenson and competton that exsted between the Unted States and the Sovet Unon, began followng WW II and through the 1960s. The closest these superpowers came to war was durng the Cuban Mssle Crss n 1962, when the Sovet Unon secretly placed offensve mssles wth nuclear warheads n Cuba, and provoked an Amercan naval quarantne that brought the two superpowers to the brnk of war. However, the threat of nuclear annhlaton restraned the Unted States and the Sovet Unon from drectly confrontng each other n battle. The Space Race grew out of the Cold War between the Unted States and the Sovet Unon and was a crucal arena for ths rvalry. Our naton marveled at advances n technology and JFK’s commtment to go to the moon n less than a decade. Early Apollo mssons broke barrers and solved techncal problems, whch allowed the Apollo 11 flght to launch on July 16, 1969, manned by astronauts Nel Armstrong, Edwn Aldrn Jr., and Mchael Collns. After the landng of the Lunar Module on July 20, 1969, Armstrong donned hs space sut to become the first man to step on the moon’s surface and speak the now-hstorcal phrase, “That’s one small step for man, and one g ant leap for manknd.” John Ftzgerald Kennedy defeated Rchard Nxon n the 1960 U.S. presdental electon, one of the closest n Amercan hstory. At forty-three, he was the youngest elected to the office. Kennedy s also the only presdent to have won a Pultzer Prze. Asde from the Cuban Mssle Crss and the Space Race, other major events durng hs bref admnstraton ncluded the Bay of Pgs Invason, the Cuban Mssle Crss, buldng of the Berln Wall, the Space Race, an acceleraton n the Cvl Rghts Movement, early events of the Vetnam War and the creaton of the Peace Corps. JFK first mentoned the Peace Corps on Oct. 14, 1960 durng a 1:30 a.m. appearance at the Unversty of Mchgan Unon. John F. Kennedy was assassnated on November 22, 1963, n Dallas, Texas. Lyndon Banes Johnson, succeeded to the presdency followng the assassnaton of Presdent John F. Kennedy, completed hs term and was elected Presdent n hs own rght n a landslde vctory n 1964. Johnson was responsble for desgnng the “Great Socety” legslaton that ncluded cvl rghts laws, votng laws, Medcare, Medcad, ad to educaton, and the “War on Poverty.” Smultaneously, he escalated the Amercan nvolvement n the Vetnam War from 16,000 Amercan solders n 1963 to 500,000 n early 1968. LBJ’s most memorable vst to Mchgan was hs commencement address to U of M grads on May 22, 1964 where he asked all n attendance to jon the “Great Socety.” 1 Rchard Mlhous Nxon served as vce presdent from 1953 untl 1961. Despte announcng hs retrement from poltcs after losng the Calforna gubernatoral electon n 1962, Nxon was elected presdent n 1968. The most mmedate task facng Presdent Nxon was the Vetnam War. He ntally escalated the conflct, overseeng secret bombng campagns, but began to wthdraw Amercan troops from Vetnam n June 1969 and ntroduced a lottery system that mproved the mltary draft system n December of that year. The War Unted States mltary nvolvement n Vetnam began as early as the md-1950s n an effort to halt the spread of communsm n Southeast Asa. Vetnam was a country dvded, wth the South Vetnamese government aded by the Unted States and communsts forces backng the government of North Vetnam. The Unted States government beleved that f North Vetnam were to gan full control of the country, then the rest of Southeast Asa and beyond would eventually fall to communst rule. By 1963 Presdent Kennedy had trpled U.S. ad, and the number of mltary advsors present n Vetnam had rsen from several hundred to sxteen thousand. By 1965 the push to ncrease Amercan mltary occupaton n Vetnam forced the Selectve Servce to ncrease draft calls. As Amercan casualtes rose, so dd the protest aganst the Unted States’ nvolvement. The North V etnamese joned forces wth the Vet Cong to launch the Tet Offensve n 1968, attackng approxmately one hundred South Vetnamese ctes and towns. U.S troops n Vetnam reached a peak of 540,000 n 1968 before Presdent Nxon ordered the first of many U.S troop wthdrawals n July 1969. National: Number of Amercans who served n Vetnam . 2,700,000 Average age of U.S. combat personnel n Vetnam . 19 Number of U.S. servcemen klled n combat n Vetnam . 59,000 Number of women mltary personnel who served durng Vetnam era . .193,000 Number of women klled n acton n Vetnam . 8 Number classfied as serously wounded . .153,300 Number of servcemen who lost at least one lmb. 10,000 Number of South Vetnamese mltary personnel klled durng war . .220,357 Number of South Vetnamese mltary personnel wounded . .499,000 Estmated number of North Vetnamese mltary and Vet Cong KIA . .444,000 Estmated number of Vetnamese cvlans klled n war . .587,000 Estmated number of Vetnamese cvlans wounded n war . .935,000 One out of every ten who served n Vetnam were klled or wounded. 68% of casualtes occurred durng 1967–69. Michigan: Number of Mchganans who served n Vetnam. .2,654 Number stll lsted as mssng n acton (MIA) . 53 Number of Congressonal Medal of Honor recpents . 6 The Rights of the People Some who grew up n the years followng the end of WW II felt the prescrbed deal for Amercan lfe was restrctng and ts rewards unsatsfyng. Securty and conformty seemed less mportant than self-expresson. Materal success and prestge dd not seem as desrable as meanngful human relatonshps. Young people grew more and more aware of poverty and racal njustce n Amerca and became socally actve n questonng the accepted vew of the Unted States as an deal and fully free socety. Amercans were moved by the Vetnam War, racal njustce, fear of nuclear annhlaton, and the rampant materalsm of captalst socety. Many were nspred by leaders such as John F. Kennedy and Martn Luther Kng Jr. Small groups staged st- ns at schools, local lunch counters, and other publc facltes.