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Frank Sinatra was an American singer and actor who became one of the most sought-after performers in the entertainment industry; he is often hailed as the greatest American singer of 20th-century

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Read the following article about the rise of Television

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Read the following article about the rise of Television

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https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/life_17.html
Do not watch the videos for this section until you have finished your handout and answered ALL questions!

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Father Knows Best: Bud Takes Up The Dance | Season 1 Episode 1 (Full Episode)

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For some of us, it began late at night: huddled under bedroom covers with our ears glued to a radio pulling in black voices charged with intense emotion and propelled by a wildly kinetic rhythm through the after-midnight static. Growing up in the white-bread America of the Fifties, we had never heard anything like it, but we reacted, instantaneously and were converted. We were believers before we knew what it was that had so spectacularly ripped the dull, familiar fabric of our lives. We asked our friends, maybe an older brother or sister. We found out that they called it rock & roll. It was so much more vital and alive than any music we had ever heard before that it needed a new category: Rock & roll was much more than new music for us. It was an obsession, and a way of life.

For some of us, it began a little later, with our first glimpse of Elvis on the family television set. But for those of us growing up in the Fifties, it didn’t seem to matter how or where we first heard the music. Our reactions were remarkably uniform. Here, we knew, was a sonic cataclysm come bursting (apparently) out of nowhere, with the power to change our lives forever. Because it was obviously, inarguably our music. If we had any initial doubt about that, our parents’ horrified — or at best dismissive — reactions banished those doubts. Growing up in a world we were only beginning to understand, we had finally found something for us: for us together, for us alone.

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The explosion of rock ‘n’ roll as a cultural force was ignited on a hot day in Memphis when a truck driver named Elvis Presley was called to a recording session.
During the post-WWII economic boom of the 1950s, many parents were able to give their teenage children much higher weekly allowances, signaling a shift in the buying power and purchasing habits of American teens.
Presley was considered by some to be a threat to the moral well-being of young women, because "Elvis Presley didn’t just represent a new type of music; he represented sexual liberation." Presley generated an "anti-parent outlook" and was the "personification of evil." To many adults, the singer was "the first rock symbol of teenage rebellion.They did not like him, and condemned him as depraved.
Presley's response: "I don't see how they think [my act] can contribute to juvenile delinquency. If there's anything I've tried to do, I've tried to live a straight, clean life and not set any kind of a bad example. You cannot please everyone."

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Elvis Presley "Hound Dog" on The Ed Sullivan Show

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Read about Little Richard on this link and watch the video, then answer the question on your handout. https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_artists-bio/lrichard.html

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Орлин Вълчев

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Little Richard - Lucille (1957) [Long Version, High Quality Sound]

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American Homes and Families in the 1950s

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American Homes and Families in the 1950s

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Living the American Dream, 1950s Suburban Life

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Read this link to answer the questions about Rosa Parks:
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/rosa-parks

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Watch MLK's famous "I have a Dream Speech"

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Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech

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American society in the 1950s was geared toward the family.
The "M.R.S." Degree
In the 1950s, women felt tremendous societal pressure to focus their aspirations on a wedding ring. The U.S. marriage rate was at an all-time high and couples were tying the knot, on average, younger than ever before. Getting married right out of high school or while in college was considered the norm. A common stereotype was that women went to college to get a "Mrs." degree, meaning a husband. Although women had other aspirations in life, the dominant theme promoted in the culture and media at the time was that a husband was far more important for a young woman than a college degree. Despite the fact that employment rates also rose for women during this period, the media tended to focus on a woman's role in the home. If a woman wasn't engaged or married by her early twenties, she was in danger of becoming an "old maid."

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This was also the era of the "happy homemaker." For young mothers in the 1950s, domesticity was idealized in the media, and women were encouraged to stay at home if the family could afford it. Women who chose to work when they didn't need the paycheck were often considered selfish, putting themselves before the needs of their family.

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Many of the advertisements in the magazines and T.V. shows somewhat defined the role of motherhood. They were constantly aimed at women because women were normally the ones that were buying the products for the house.
Advertisements often times showed smiling women with their arms loaded with cooked food, or a women cleaning house and looking happy and content to be doing that and nothing else. These were dedicated housewives whose goal in life was to meet the pleasures of their husband and children. Society believed women fit this role and it should be the goal for women.

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"In one sense, Monroe lived the American dream – rising from anonymity to become a famous actress"

Her mother had multiple mental health issues, and Marilyn was moved between different orphanages and foster homes. The traumatic childhood made her shy and reserved.
Later in life to earn a living, Marilyn took a job at a local munitions factory in Burbank, California. It was here that Marilyn got her first big break. A photographer was covering the munitions factory to show women at work for the War effort. He was struck by the beauty and photogenic nature of Marilyn, and he used her in many of his photographs. This enabled her to start a career as a model, and she was soon featured on the front of many magazine covers.
Later Marilyn became a famous and successful actress.
"However, behind her confident public persona, she struggled with relationships and resorted to a heavy drug use, which had a damaging impact on both her mental and physical health. In one sense, Monroe lived the American dream – rising from anonymity to become a famous actress, but it was a dream tinged with sadness for fame did not bring peace of mind or happiness."

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What High School Kids Were Like in the 50s

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What High School Kids Were Like in the 50s

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What High School Kids Were Like In The 1950s

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Real Name: Marion Michael Morrison
Born: 5/26/1907 in Winterset, lowa
Died: 6/11/1979
Portrayed the quintessential American hero onscreen. He is best known as a cowboy in John Ford directed Westerns. However, a well-known conservative and anticommunist, Wayne merged his personal beliefs and his professional life in 1952's Big Jim McLain. He played an investigator working for the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee, which worked to root out communists in all aspects of public life. Off screen, Wayne played a leading role in the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and even served as its president for a time. The organization was a group of conservatives who wanted to stop communists from working in the film industry, and other members included Gary Cooper and Ronald Reagan.