American History Since 1877

Chapter 27:
The Age of Affluence, 1945-1960

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These resources have been selected by librarians to supplement HSTY202 classes (American History from 1877) at Tompkins Cortland Community College.

• Gale Virtual Reference Collection
• Books and eBooks in TC3 Collection
• Subject Headings
• Multimedia
• Locating Journal Articles in Databases
• Web Resources

Gale Virtual Reference Collection

TC3 students and staff have access to the Gale Virtual Reference Library which has over 250 academic reference encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. This is a good place to start your research because it provides useful background information.

Books and eBooks in the TC3 Collection

• The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith [HC106.5 .G32 1998]
• Baseball Between the Lines: Baseball in the Forties and Fifties as Told by the Men who Played It by Donald Honig [GV865.A1 B33 1993]
• A Consumer’s Republic: the Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America by Lizabeth Cohen [HC110.C6 C537 2003]
• Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminine Mystique: the American Left, the Cold War, and Modern Feminism by Daniel Horowitz [HQ1413.F75 H67 1998]
• Coming of Age in Mississippi [E185.97.M65 A3] - Autobiography of Anne Moody, from rural Mississippi, who took part in a sit-in during the 1960's at a Woolworth's in Jackson. [Primary Source]
• The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan [HQ1420 .F7]
• Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War era by Elaine Tyler May. Available online via ACLS Humanities E-Book.
• More than Just a Game: Sports in American Life Since 1945 by Kathryn Jay [GV706.5 .J39 2004]
The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit by Thomas J. Sugrue [F574.D49 N4835 1998]. Also available online via ACLS Humanities E-Book.
• Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63 by Taylor Branch [E185.61 .B7914 1988]
• The Party's Over Now: Reminiscences of the Fifties--New York's Artists, Writers, Musicians, and their Friends by John Gruen [NX511.N4 G7 1972]
• The Promised Land: the Great Black Migration and How it Changed America by Nicholas Lemann [E185.6 .L36 1991]
• Race, Rock, and Elvis by Michael T. Bertrand [ML3918.R63 B47 2000]
• State of the Union: a Century of American Labor bt Nelson Lichtenstein [HD8066 .L53 2002]

Don't hesitate to ask a reference librarian for help in locating other books owned by us or for help in using the SUNY Union Catalog WorldCat, the wordwide database of library books and materials that you can use to borrow books owned by other libraries by using interlibrary loan.

Subject Headings

Try these suggested subject headings to find books on Affluent Society and the Liberal Consensus, 1945-1965 in the TC3 Library Catalog, the SUNY Union Catalog and WorldCat.

• African Americans, Civil Rights
• Feminism, United States
• King, Martin Luther, Jr.
• United States - Economic conditions - 1945-
• United States, History, 1953-1961
• United States, History, 1960-1969

Multimedia

• Hollywood on Trial [videorecording] [Media PN1993.5.U65 H65 1989]
  "A courageous and true recording of the story of 'The Hollywood Ten', who, in 1947, would not cooperate when accused by the United States government of possible communist loyalties."
• Crisis in Pictures: America, Love it or Leave it [Media HN57 .C7] - Summary: "Photographs of America during the 1960s, the changing values and social uncertainties, including Vietnam potests, hippies, and political and civil upheaval."
• The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 (2008) - Academy award-nominted film features Rev. Billy Kyles' eyewitness account of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Streaming video via Films on Demand.

Locating Journal Articles in Databases

History-related electronic journals are available to TC3 students and staff in our electronic databases and in our list of full-text electronic journals, also listed by subject (History & Archaeology).

Web Resources

• Brown v. Board of Education: the Case - National Park Service provides a summary of the case and links to primary source documents, including the United States Supreme Court's Decision and Implementation Order.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum - Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the Civil Rights Act of 1957 occurred during his administration (1953-1961).
• Foreign Relations of the United States
  "Foreign Relations volumes contain documents from Presidential libraries, Departments of State and Defense, National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, Agency for International Development, and other foreign affairs agencies as well as the private papers of individuals involved in formulating U.S. foreign policy."
• History and Politics Out Loud - "A searchable archive of politically significant audio materials..." - Primary sources.
• Levittown, Pa: Building the Suburban Dream - Exhibit from State Museum of Pennsylvania "explores the early history of Levittown from the perspective of those who built and lived the suburban dream." It includes photographs and news items.
• Levittown: Documents of an Ideal American Suburb
• Literature and Culture of the American 1950's - Alphabetical list of readings in the American 1950s. - Primary sources.
• Literary Kicks: Opinions, Observations and Research - The Beat Generation - Levi Asher
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
  The "Research" section lists online holdings that include speeches and messages, LBJ's diary, photographs, oral histories, National Security Administration Memoranda, and other primary sources. There is also a "60s Video Montage."
• Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project - "The King Papers Project is a major research effort to assemble and disseminate historical information concerning Martin Luther King, Jr. and the social movements in which he participated." Web site presents primary source documents, including speeches, sermons, and autobiography.

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Send comments to Margaret Anderson.

Last update: Monday, January 03, 2011