PBS
Pbs American Experience: Mrs. America: Women's Roles in the 1950s
Learn about the role of women in the 1950's. American society was geared toward the family and marriage and children were part of the national agenda.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Women in the 1950s
Looks at what life was like for women in 1950s America. Examines the tension between the expectations of conformity and domesticity and an emerging discontent as many women chose to continue working after World War II. Meanwhile, African...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Anticommunism in the 1950s
Looks at the paranoia of the 1950s when Americans lived in fear of communism. The House Committee on Un-American Activities created blacklists of people working in Hollywood, McCarthyism flourished, and the Rosenberg couple were tried...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Post War Prosperity and Cold War Fears 1945 1960: The American Dream
Looks at the policies of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, both at home and abroad. Also examines changing gender roles in the 1950s, and the impact of suburbanization on America.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry
Selected (7) reading passages (grades 8-10) to pair with the drama "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. When a struggling African-American family receives a large insurance check, a conflict erupts on how to spend the money....
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Changing America" by Barbara Radner
This is an informational article about how Martin Luther King Jr. worked toward changing America in the 1950s and 1960s. It includes a short bio of Dr. King and a reading purpose: As you read, take notes on the problems that African...
SparkNotes
Spark Notes: Social Trends of the 1950s
Spark Notes gives a brief overview of the 1950s from consumerism and conformity to poverty to youthful rebellion. A good review of this important decade in American history.
US Department of State
America.gov: Edward R. Murrow [Pdf]
Highlights the life and career of broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow. Examines his "This is London" reports during World War 11, the Senator McCarthy anti-Communist campaign in the 1950s, his critical treatment of migrant workers, and...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Poverty in America [Pdf]
Discover the numbers behind poverty in America in the 1950s. Read about those who were in poverty, where they lived, and find out if things have improved over the decades. [pdf]
Other
The Suburbanization of America: Patio Culture
This site offers a discussion on middle class suburban life in the 1950's and 1960's which has been dubbed the Patio Culture.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Chicago, the Transit Metropolis
Explore the role of public transportation in Chicago, from the 1890s through the 1950s.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The 1950s: Happy Days
A brief look at American life and politics in the 1950s with an increase in consumerism and fear of the Soviet Union.
University of Virginia
Virginia Center for Digital History: Television News of the Civil Rights Era
A rich collection of streaming video samples of television news footage from 1950 to 1970, along with an assortment of primary source documents, first-person accounts, a glossary of terms, and essays and analysis for learning about the...
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania: The Literature & Culture of the American 1950s
This site provides a very large collection of web resources for a study of American culture during the fifties. Some links no longer work.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Prosperity and Cold War Fears 1945 60: Popular Culture and Mass Media
Examines the impact that rock and roll music, movies and the invention of television had on America in the 1950s.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: City and Suburb: Chicago and Park Forest, Illinois 1950s
Exhibition highlights the differences between city and suburbia living. Visit Park Forest, Illinois, a new suburb of Chicago, where every day is moving day. A station wagon and moving boxes sit in front of a new house and the new kids on...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Land of Television
The advent of increased television programming helped create a national popular culture. Read about the many kinds of television programs offered in the 1950s.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Atomic Fears and the Arms Race
Looks at the nuclear arms race in the 1950s as the United States and the USSR both stockpiled nuclear weapons. Includes 1951 propaganda video showing schoolchildren how to 'Duck and Cover' in the event of a nuclear attack. [9:15]
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Atomic Fears and the Arms Race
Read about the impact of nuclear proliferation in the 1950s, including fears of atomic bombs and increasing militarization.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Red Scare America
Describes the events that took place during the McCarthy Era and actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Ordinary Americans feared being identified as a Communist sympathizer and libraries removed books from their shelves...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: A Biography of America: The Fifties 1945 1960
World War II ends with the legacy of its final moment: the atomic bomb. After reading comprehensive background material, interactive feature lets you decide if President Truman was correct in his decision to drop atomic bombs on...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Marshall and Mc Carthyism
Read the outlandish claims Senators Joseph McCarthy and William Jenner made about honored statesman and public servant, George Marshal during the time that came to be known as McCarthyism.
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: 1950s 1970s: Struggles for Social Justice
The protests of the 1960s and 70s are highlighted in original photographs. The informational text and overview discuss what groups were fighting for social justice, what the issues were and how these groups made their voices heard.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Start of the Space Race
Looks at the USSR's launch of Sputnik and the galvanizing effect it had on America's motivation to fund aerospace research. NASA was soon formed and more funding was put in place for public education in the sciences and math.