Becky Archives: Semester Two

Rebecca's
Semester 1
Archive

Semester 2:
The US through the 20th Century

Stage One: The Progressive Era

01/17/01: One heroic woman that no one will honor Rebecca wonders where in the world is Florence Kelley? One of the most influential social activists of the 20th century has all but disappeared from the textbooks. Rebecca hopes to revive her legacy.

01/17/01: How would you like that community? Sunny-side up?
Rebecca learns how one woman, born into privilege can make the world better for the less fortunate. We're talking about Jane Addams and Hull House

Stage Two: The Roaring 20's & Great Depression

01/31/01: Newspaper Instigates! Picture Postcards Retell Riot: Part I
Springfield's Race Riots of 1908 shocked the nation by occurring in the "Land of Lincoln," and were the inspiration for the creation of the NAACP. Rebecca visits Illinois' capitol city to find out why white anger erupted in violence against Springfield's black population.

02/03/01: Hooverized dresses? WWI in the first person
What were American women doing during World War I? Rebecca had a bit of trouble finding out, until she talked to the best resource around: her grandmother, who had lived it.K?

02/14/01: Star Struck! The Major Motion Picture is Born!
Rebecca hits Hollywood, 1920s style. There she learns about the beginnings of the movie industry, including D.W. Griffith, Mann's Chinese Theater, silent film, the Walk of Fame, and the stars of the silver screen.

02/17/01: Out to get us: How GM destroyed our good public transportation
Los Angeles once boasted the best public transportation system in the world. Then, after the World Wars were over, the famed "Red Cars" were dismantled and replaced by freeways and a bus system. The National City Lines monopoly provided the buses. Was it a conspiracy? And what can be done about the problems the lack of public transit have left us with today?

02/21/01: No Home. No Job. No Welcome. The 1930's brought an economic depression to the country and a drought to the Dust Bowl states. Without fertile soil or land to farm, 400,000 people left Oklaholma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri to look for better luck in California. Rebecca reads this history in The Grapes of Wrath and travels to Bakersfield, CA to talk to the Okies who lived it.

02/24/01: Rebecca - Together we can make a difference! One of FDR's most effective New Deal programs was the Civilian Conservation Corps. The same work that revitalized the nation during The Depression is being carried out today by groups like the Student Conservation Association and Americorps NCCC. Rebecca and Irene travel to Muir Woods to watch them work and find out how to get involved.

Stage Three: World War to Cold War

02/28/01: Zoot Suiters - Living the Real Vida Loca During WWII, American sailors rioted against Zoot Suit wearing youth in Los Angeles. Rebecca explores the brutal racism behind the chaos.

02/28/01: The Bomb: Did we have to drop it? In 1945, Harry Truman decided to use the newly created atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II in the Pacific. After a trip to Manhattan Project headquarters in Los Alamos, NM, Rebecca asks why we dropped the bomb, and if it was necessary?

03/03/01: Rebecca - Memories from the forgotten war in Korea Five years after WWII ended, The United States became involved in a three year "police action" in Asia better known as the Korean War. Rebecca talks to a Veteran of the conflict, and learns that war really is hell.

03/10/01: Rebecca - Marching and writing to a beat all their own Rebecca looks at a generation of American youth truly marching to the beat of a different drummer. These beatniks, rebelling against the social norms of the 1940s and '50s, set the stage for the radical hippie movement of the 1960s. San Francisco sets the stage.

Stage Four: America in Upheaval

03/21/01: The Rule of Reason Federal Chief Justice Earl Warren presided over 16 years of progressive Supreme Court decisions. His leadership and compassion led the way for an expansion of individual rights in the U.S. Rebecca looks at some of the 1960's landmark decisions to emerge from his court room.

03/21/01: Considering Kennedy in Camelot The 1960's were an extreme decade, and John F. Kennedy was a president to match. Well loved during his term and much discussed after his assassination, JFK offers historians a lot to debate, a lot to discover, and a lot to ponder.

04/04/01: Rebecca - Bayonets and pencils just don't mix In 1970, President Nixon announced US plans to invade Cambodia. Students who had been against the war in Vietnam were outraged at this turn of events, and protested throughout the country. Often, the National Guard was called in with disastrous consequences. Rebecca and Jen went to Ohio to visit the campus where these protests ended with a terrible casualty list: 4 dead, 13 injured at Kent State University.

Stage Five: The U.S. at the New Millenium

04/11/01: 6-hooved deer, Glowing Fish, and Gigantic Radishes... Oh My! Rebecca and Jennifer drive through central Pennsylvania to visit the site of Three Mile Island. They encounter more questions than answers to the effects of this partial-meltdown, (America's worst nuclear disaster) and look at problems with nuclear power in general.

04/18/01: Family Matters The ideal of the American Family is evolving to include more and more variations on the traditional family unit. Rebecca and Jen meet with a gay couple and a lesbian couple in Dallas, TX, who have each decided to make an alternative family a reality for them.

04/18/01: No Nukes is Good Nukes The nuclear weapons race began in earnest after the Soviet Union exploded their first atomic bomb in 1949. Since then, anti-nuclear protestors have been lobbying for an end to the creation and testing of nuclear weapons. They hope to show that nuclear weapons, waste and war create a mess of environmental, health and economic problems, and get them stopped for good. Rebecca and Stephanie visited the most radioactive spot in the US - Hanford, WA - before meeting with Peace Action protestors in Seattle.

04/25/01: Baby Talk Teenage pregnancy has been linked to lots of negative consequences in this day and age. It is a problem that many organizations are dealing with through prevention programs and support programs. Stephanie and Rebecca visit the Teen Pregnancy Project at Adult and Family Services office in Eugene, Oregon to find out about the realities of teenage motherhood.

04/25/01: Still Separate, Still Unequal Rebecca takes a look at the terrible inequalities in public education by recounting her experiences teaching in the Long Beach Unified public school system. She talks about the voucher debate and offers some examples of non-profit programs that have been successful in helping to even out the educational playing field.

05/02/01: A Body is a Beautiful Thing to Waste Eating disorders are a serious health issue for both women and men, with lifelong consequences. Rebecca discusses the role of media in self-esteem and body image, and offers one woman's story of her struggle with anorexia nervosa.

05/05/01: Rebecca - Learning about life by living it - with gusto! Rebecca recounts her Trek experiences, and shares a thing or two that she's learned along the way.