Overview of the Program

The program includes a number of separate components. The main section is a chronicle of the major events. There is a section on the Vietnam War, as well as sections on the Space and Technology. There is a complete section on the Popular Culture of the Sixties, as well a section on Economics. Also included is a section with extensive charts on major statistical events of the decade. In addition, there are Biographies of the major figures of the 60’s , and multimedia presentations that present the author’s perspective on some of the major events of the decade. Finally, there is a Documents section that include the text of the speeches and press conferences of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, as well as President Nixon’s 1969 speeches.

The Main Chronology

The following major events are covered in the Main Chronology:

1961
President Kennedy Inaugurated
Peace Corps Founded
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Kennedy Kruschev Summit
Berlin Crisis
1962
First American in Space
Steel Prices Rolled Back
US Commitment of Vietnam deepens
Prayer Unconstitutional in Schools
Environmental Movement Launched
First Black at University of Mississippi
Cuban Missile Crisis
1963
Feminine Mystique Published
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
March on Washington
University of Alabama Integrated
Medgar Evers slain
Kennedy Visits Berlin
President Kennedy Assassinated
1964
Beatles in America
Civil Rights Act of 1964
American troop Intervene in Dominican Republic
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Warren Commission Report
Dr King Receives Nobel Prize
1964 Election
1965
War on Poverty Launched
Violence in Selma
Voting Rights Act of 65
Riots in Watts
Immigration Act of 1965
1966
Miranda Decision
National Organization of Women Founded
1967
Large Scale War Protest Held
Johnson Meets Kosygin
1968
Tet Offensive in Vietnam
McCarthy Wins 40% of new Hampshire Vote
Johnson Will Not Run of Reelection
Martin Luther King Assassinated
Robert Kennedy Killed
Violence Mars Democratic Convention
Nixon Wins Election
1969
Landing on the Moon
Woodstock
1970
Invasion of Cambodia
1973
Gerald Ford Become Vice President
1974
Richard Nixon Resigns

While the program covers primarily the events of the 60’s, we have added the Watergate Scandal and resignation of Nixon, for they provide the closure for our coverage of the events of period.

Each event’s entry includes a high quality photo of the event and a brief narrated description. For many major events, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the passage of the Civil Rights Acts, the entries include additional information. The Inaugural of President Kennedy includes both a video that summarizes the events of the day and an audio recording of the President’s complete speech.


The Vietnam War

This section presents nearly 70 entries on events in the War in Vietnam. The section begins with Vice President Johnson’s Report to President Kennedy on his visit to Southeast Asia. Johnson makes clear his view that South Vietnam must be defended. The last entry in this section covers the beginning of the withdrawal of American forces as part of President Nixon plan for the Vietnamization of the war. The program does not, however, go on to the final chapters of the war and the final defeat of South Vietnam. The chronology does not include a section on the causes of the war. The multimedia presentation on the war does, however, begin with a description of the causes of the war. It provides a complete overview, from its origins to the end of the war. Each entry in the section is narrated, and includes many videos.

The Space and Technology section has two separate timelines for each topic.

Space

The Space timeline covers the following events:
1/31/61- Ham Goes to Space
3/5/61- Mercury 3
6/25/61- US to Put Man on the Moon
7/21/61- Mercury 4
2/20/62 Mercury 6
5/24/62 Mercury 7
10/3/62-Mercury 8
3/23/65 -Gemini 3
6/3/65 Gemini 4
7/14/65 Mariner 4 Takes Mars Photos
8/21/65-Gemini 5
12/4/65 -Gemini 7
12/16/65- Gemini 6
3/16/66 Gemini 8
6/2/66 Surveyor I Lands on the Moon
6/3/66- Gemini 9
7/13/66- Gemini 10
9/12/66- Gemini 11
11/11/66- Gemini 12
1/27/67- Apollo 1
4/19/67 Surveyor 3 Digs Trench
10/11/68- Apollo 7
12/21/68- Apollo 8
3/3/69- Apollo 9
5/18/69- Apollo 10
7/16/69- Apollo 11
11/14/69- Apollo 12

Each entry in this section is a narrated and includes a high quality photo. Many include lengthy videos.

Technological Advances:

Polaris Missile Fired
USS Enterprise Launched
Planes Collide Over Staten Island
Last Bendix Race Won by B-58
Telstar Broadcasts Live Satellites
USS Thresher Sinks
Surgeon General Reports on Smoking
IBM Introduces System 360
Nader Publishes Unsafe at any Speed
Verrazano Bridge Opened
First Commercial Satellite Launched
Great Blackout
First Direct Dial Phones
Heart Care Makes Strides
First 747 Flight

Each entry is narrated and includes a high quality photo. It is interesting to note how few technological advances were not space-related.


Statistic

The Statistics section is divided into four parts: Population, Economy Education and Miscellaneous Graphs.

The Population section has the following graphs:

U.S. Population
Urban Vs Rural Population
Ages
Family Size
Births, Deaths, Marriages & Divorces
Infant Mortality
Medical Expenditures
Immigration
Family Consumption 1965
Philanthropy
Recreational Expenditures

The Economics section has the following graphs:

Budget
Gross National Product
Labor Force
Employment
Unemployment
Employment By Economic Sector 1960
Employment by Economic Sector 1970
Wages
Hourly Wages
Income Distribution 1960
Income Distribution 1970
Social Welfare Expenditures
Balance of Trade
Defense Expenditures

The Education section has the following graphs:

Public Education Expenditure
University Degrees
Doctoral Degrees
Median Education

The Miscellaneous section has the following graphs:

Electricity Production
Passenger Arrivals
Airlines Revenues
Auto Fatalities
Crime Rate

The Statistics section provides graphic depictions of various important trends of the 60’s. The statistics on Births, Deaths, Marriages and Divorces present excellent depictions of some of the population changes during the decade. We see births declining as the baby boom ends, while marriages increase as boomers reach marriage age, and we see the growth of the number of divorces.

Looking at the chart of Income Distribution, one of the striking changes is the upward mobility of Blacks during this decade.

If we look at the Budget we can see how dramatically it increased in the latter part of the decade. A quick look at the defense budget and social welfare expenditure explains why. We can also observe the striking increase in public (not national) expenditure on education.
The statistics on the Crime Rate show the growing increase of crime during the period.




Arts and Culture

This Section is divided into three main sections:

The first section presents three essays on the 1960s, divided by period:

Early Sixties
Mid Sixties
Late Sixties

The second section provides lists of some of the popular cultural achievements of the decade. The list includes:

Top TV Shows
Top Movies
Academy Award Winners
Best-Selling Books
Best Selling Records
Pulitzer Prize Winners
Grammy Award Winners
Beatles Hits
NBA Championship Winners
World Series Winners
Super Bowl Winners

The Third Section provides the fall television schedule of each year.

Americans of the 1960’s

This section presents essays on African Americans, Native Americans, Ethnicty and Women. Also included are multimedia essays on Women and African Americans.

Documents

The Documents section is divided into three parts, the first on the Kennedy Period, the second on Johnson Period and the third on the Nixon Period. Included are the full texts of the presidential inaugural addresses, President Kennedy’s speech on the Cuban Missile Crisis, and his Civil Rights speech, given on June 11, 1963. The famous Supreme Court speech on school prayer is in this section, under the heading Engle vs Vitale. Have your students read the decision and then hear the President Kennedy’s response in the video clip. There is also a special section on the tragic assassination of Presidents Kennedy. It includes the official White House announcement of the schedule of the Kennedy funeral rites.

The Johnson section includes the President’s press conferences as well as major addresses. One of the most interesting is his address at Holy Cross College. In this address, we see terms never to return to the US political vocabulary: America’s responsibility not only to wipe out poverty in the US, but in the entire world. Other interesting speeches include Johnson’s speech at John Hopkins University, in which he spells out his goals in the War in Vietnam and his speech at the signing of the Voting Rights Bill, in which Johnson summarizes the events in the Civil Rights movement. The program also has the March 30, 1968 speech, in which President Johnson announces that he will not run again. The last document in the section is a speech by President Nixon on Vietnam, delivered on December 15, 1965.

MultiMedia Presentations

The Multimedia section has multimedia presentations summarizing a number of subjects of the 60’s. The presentations include:

Overview of the 60’s
A Summary of the JFK Presidency
Jacqueline Kennedy
The Effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Effects of the Kennedy Assassination
The Space Race
Women in the 60’s
The Civil Rights Movement
Lyndon Johnson
Closing Remarks

Videos

The Video section brings together a number of the most important videos in the program. The following is a list of the videos in this section:

Ali Convicted of Evasion
Apollo 11 ( landing on the moon)
Bay of Pigs
Beatles
Bombing Vietnam
Cedar Mountain (Vietnam)
Contiem, Battle
Cuban Missile Crisis
Dominican Crisis
Gemini 11
Glassboro Summit
Hippies
Jacqueline Kennedy
JFK Assassination
JFK Inaugural
JFK’s First State of Union
Medicare Bill Signing
Peace Corps
Plieku, Battle
School Prayer (President Kennedy’s Response to Supreme Court Decision)
Selma (Civil Rights March)
Space Walk
Steel Prices (President Kennedy’s response to price increase)
Tonkin Gulf
Voting Rights
Watts Riots
University of Alabama (desegregation)

Economy

The Economy section contains a series of essays explaining different aspects of the American economy in the 60’s. These sections include:

Introduction
Growth and Unemployment
Inflation
Poverty
Vietnam War and the Economy
Labor Unions
Producers and Consumers
Monetary System
Trade

Biographies

This section includes information on many of the most important people of the 60’s. It presents politicians, including the major figures of the Kennedy administration, as well as leading legislators of the time. It also includes leaders of the civil rights movement and major figures of the cultural world.

Bibliography

Finally the program includes an extensive bibliography that provides an extremely list of further sources. Books are arranged according to general topic. The listing of selected Important Books of the Sixties is briefly annotated.

Sixties Info

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