September 23: President Dwight Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10730 to mandate that National Guard troops enforce the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Phylon, vol. They withdrew their children from public schools and enrolled them in all-white segregation academies, and they used violence and intimidation to prevent blacks from asserting their rights. Chicago's African American community was concentrated in certain areas rather than being . Fats Domino. He led the league in stolen bases that season and was. Reverend T. J. Jemison watches Black riders being forced to stand and goes to the Baton Rouge City Council to propose a new system: Black riders would be able to seat themselves starting from the back of the bus and working toward the front while White riders would do the opposite until all the spaces were filled. Foundation for Economic Education, 1 May 2003. May 17: The U.S. Supreme Court declares segregation in public schools unconstitutional in the Brown v. Board of Education case, ruling that such practices violate the 14th Amendment rights of Black Americans; specifically, rights granted by the "equal protection of the law" clause. Meetings organized to spread the word about the boycott draw thousands of attendees. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicago's South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. Lapchick, Richard. By the 1950s, African Americans began to mobilize in earnest against discrimination. Earlier this year in March, a 15-year-old Black girl named Claudette Colvin does the same, refusing to relinquish her seat to a White passenger on the grounds that it is her constitutional right to sit where she wants as a paying customer. In many ways, they were right. "An Interview With Ralph Ellison." African Americans had been fighting against racial discrimination for centuries; during the 1950s, however, the struggle against racism and segregation entered the mainstream of American life. Malcolm X preaches Black nationalist beliefs and becomes a civil rights icon in New York. The woman shown standing outside her apartment was just one of many people affected. "Louis Emanuel Lomax (1922-1970)." About 4 million babies were born each year during the 1950s. The tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, known as the Cold War, was another defining element of the 1950s. This race riot lasts for several days and results in the complete destruction of the Clark family's apartment and their belongings, as well as many apartments rented by other residents of the building. Encyclopedia of African American History. She helps to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and is partially responsible for convincing the organizing committee to let a woman, who is originally going to be Myrlie Evers but ends up being Daisy Bates, speak at the event. On June 5, 1956, the Supreme Court rules the Alabama state statute requiring segregation on public transportation unconstitutional in Browder v. Gayle. This landmark case comes 62 years after a Black man named Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to give up his seat on a train to a White person, convicted of violating a Louisiana Jim Crow law passed in 1890 that requires Black and White passengers to sit in separate train cars. From there, Davis is soon recruited to the Army Air Corps' first all-Black fighter squadron, the 99th. Jones, Beverly W. "Before Montgomery and Greensboro: The Desegregation Movement in the District of Columbia, 1950-1953." This happens to be how the Youngers lived at this time in life. The Struggle for Civil Rights (1950s-1960s) Civil rights groups demanded an end to segregation. They fought for equality in education, housing, and employment opportunities, and they made some headway. By February 1965, Malcolm X had also been killed. Clark, James C. "Civil Rights Leader Harry T. Moore and the Ku Klux Klan in Florida." This play is the first Broadway show to be produced by a Black woman and Lloyd Richards, a Black man, directed it. On February 3, 1959, American musicians Buddy Holly. In 1848 Chicago got its first telegraph and railroad. African-American Chicago residents settled in the South Side neighborhood and, due to discriminatory . Fugitive slaves and freedmen established the city's first black community in the 1840s, with the population nearing 1,000 by 1860. The SCLC strives to make civil rights efforts more effective by joining churches and religious organizations into a cohesive group fighting against racism and injustice. Between 1882 and 1968, an estimated 4,742 people are lynched, the majority of them Black. When Jet is forced to halt publication in 1953 due to lack of capital, Johnson uses profits from Ebony to bring the small news magazine back. After the devastation of the Great Depression and World War II, many Americans sought to build a peaceful and prosperous society. The public transportation system suffers greatly, losing more than $1,500 per day while the boycott is in effect. The group then embarks on a global tour across 48 states and 71 countries. The Coffin Corner, vol. Smead, Howard. Members of this community try to keep the family from moving in, which creates tension throughout the play. Bloomsbury Press, 2010. They destroy the Clarks' apartment and steal their possessions through the night without police intervention. Two innovationsgrain elevators and the . After King's death the urgency for a different kind of protest emerged. A new subject, diversity called "Negro History" in these early years began to be taught in schools, as illustrated by the photograph taken at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. Between 1945 and 1960, the gross national product more than doubled, growing from $200 billion to more than $500 billion, kicking off the Golden Age of American Capitalism. Much of this increase came from government spending: The construction of interstate highways and schools, the distribution of veterans benefits and most of all the increase in military spendingon goods like airplanes and new technologies like computersall contributed to the decades economic growth. These troops were previously under state control and on orders by Governor Orval Faubus, a segregationist, to prevent the Black students from entering. The G.I. On September 25, three years after Brown v. Board of Education rules segregation in schools unconstitutional, the Little Rock Nine students successfully enter Central High School and attend their first classes., Louis E. Lomax Joins WNTA-TV: Louis E. Lomax is hired by WNTA-TV in New York City as a television journalist and documentary producer. He plays in one more game this season before the Bears cut him from the team. The troops are instructed to quell the angry mob protesting the school's desegregation and to protect the nine Black students who are joining the school. "The First Black QB in the NFL." The mob hurls bricks and stones at firefighters that arrive on the scene. July 11: An estimated 4,000 White people riot in Cicero, Chicago, when news of the community's first Black familyHarvey Jr. and Johnetta Clark and their two childrenmoving into an apartment in the neighborhood spreads. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Sixty-four episodes and one year later, Cole ultimately decides to end production due to a lack of funding.. Davis finally transfers to the Air Force in 1947, helping to desegregate the service, and graduates from the Air War College in 1950. Advice books and magazine articles (Dont Be Afraid to Marry Young, Cooking to Me Is Poetry, Femininity Begins At Home) urged women to leave the workforce and embrace their roles as wives and mothers. "Berry Gordy Jr. and the Original 'Black Label.'" The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights joins the SCLC in 1957., February 5: Perry H. Young Jr. becomes the first Black pilot of a commercial passenger airline when he flies a helicopter for New York Airways. In 1940, he successfully completes the Civilian Pilot Training Program sponsored by the federal government and accepts a position teaching pilots in training at the Coffey School of Aeronautics. June 19-25: Black residents of Baton Rouge boycott the citys segregated transportation system. Other works by Wells include "Shadow and Act," a collection of essays about Black culture and race relations, and "Juneteenth," a book about the nuances of Black identity, published in 1999 posthumously by his executor, John Callahan., University of Southern California / Getty Images. African American History 1950s The 1950's were the most influential decade in American history because the civil rights Act began, fashion was completely new and trendy, there was much advancement in entertainment and medicine, and suburban life was much more "functional" than any other decade in American history. In response, on June 19, Reverend Jemison and other activists in the community encourage Black Americans in the area to stop riding city buses entirely and instead use a fleet of free transportation vehicles arranged just for this purpose. African Americans Certificates of Freedom, 1844 Beginning with John Baptiste Point DuSable's trading activities in the 1780s, blacks have had a long history in Chicago. Bill subsidized low-cost mortgages for many returning soldiers, which meant that it was often cheaper to buy one of these suburban houses than it was to rent an apartment in the city. Thrower retires from football and becomes a youth social worker. Pulitzer Prize Winner Gwendolyn Brooks: Gwendolyn Brooks receives the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. After three years of negotiations and peaceful protest tactics, Supreme Court Chief Justice William O. Douglas finally rules in favor of desegregating establishments in the District of Columbia, maintaining that the anti-discrimination laws passed in 1872 and 1873 are still in effect.. Gibson retires from tennis in 1958. The temple is burned down after a bombing following his assassination in 1965 and rebuilt as a Sunni Muslim mosque called the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque, or Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, after both Malcolm X and his wife, Betty Shabazz. The less than 2 percent of Chicago's 1890 population who were African American also worked primarily in domestic and personal service jobs. November 1: Johnson Publishing Company prints its first issue of Jet. Later that year, anger and desperation fueled by years of discriminatory practices and police brutality exploded into violence in the Los Angeles African American neighborhood of Watts. Freeman is inducted into the National Bar Association's Hall of Fame in 1990 and she receives the 2011 NAACP Spingarn Medal., May 18: Harry Belafontes album "Calypso" is released. Years of conflict taking place in Palestine came to a head in 1947 when the UN passed a partition agreement that apportioned British-occupied Palestine into a separate Arab and Jewish state, and a civil war broke out in 1948 when Israel declared its independence and Arab nations invaded former Palestine. The text of this exhibition is available under a Creative Commons CC-BY license. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. With the conclusion of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1956 and the rise of the civil rights movement that follows, community leaders see a need for organization and strategy in the protests and assemblies taking place nationally. The daughter of a prominent doctor and his socialite wife, Jefferson inhabited a world of ambition, education. She joins the New York Philharmonic on stage for the first big performance of her career in 1925, famously sings for more than 75,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 when the Daughters of the American Revolution do not let her perform at Constitution Hall, and sings recitals at the Met throughout the 1940s (without yet being a part of the company). The squadron flies dozens of successful missions, downing over 100 enemy planes. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, 5 Feb. 2017. "Black History from 19501959." Many people in the United States worried that communists, or subversives, could destroy American society from the inside as well as from the outside. and put through times of trial during the Great Depression and the urban renewals of the 1950s and 1960s. As a result, communism needed to be containedby diplomacy, by threats or by force. "Juanita Hall (1901-1968)." August 28: Two White men kill 14-year-old Emmett Till while he visits family in Money, Missouri. In the 1950s, televisions became something the average family could afford, and by 1950 4.4 million U.S. families had one in their home. They then take him by force out of his cell and lynch him near Poplarville, Mississippi, throwing his chained body into the Pearl River. At the same time, the ongoing Vietnam War reached into every community. . . This semi-autobiographical book follows a young Black boy named John Grimes as he faces daily discrimination and hardship in Harlem and learns what it means to be Black in America, covering both the country's history of racism and elements of Black pride and culture. May 18: James Baldwin publishes his first novel, "Go Tell It on the Mountain." Suburban homes, meanwhile, weren't always so perfect for the (mostly white) women who lived in them. International Social Science Review, vol. These houses were perfect for young familiesthey had informal family rooms, open floor plans and backyardsand so suburban developments earned nicknames like Fertility Valley and The Rabbit Hutch.. He gets his own interview show, "The Louis E. Lomax Show," on KTTV in 1964 and goes on to cover the NAACP, the Black Panthers, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and more. The Elvic Oracle. African Americans had been fighting against racial discrimination for centuries; during the 1950s, however, the struggle against racism and segregation entered the mainstream of American life. National Park Service. The violence triggered by the arrest of a black motorcyclist by white police was the most destructive urban uprising in US history at that time. "NBA Plays Leading Role During Coronavirus Pandemic and Racial Reckoning." All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. 166183. The Struggle for Economic Equality (1900-1950s) Most African Americans lived in California's growing urban centers. As assistant to the UN Special Committee on Palestine, Bunche was responsible first for assisting UN appointee Count Folke Bernadotte in mediation and then for assuming the role of mediator himself when Bernadotte was assassinated in 1948. Her award is for Best Supporting Actress. You are free to share and adapt it however you like, provided you provide attribution as follows: African Americans: Civil Rights and Social Reform, 1950s-1970s curated by University of California staff, available under a CC BY 4.0 license. He hosts famous Black artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, and Pearl Bailey. When Rosa Parks died in 2005, she was the first woman to lie in honor in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. "The Story of Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene.'" December 25: Florida NAACP official Harry T. Moore and his wife Harriett are killed by a bomb. 199-205, doi:10.1177/0886109909331753. . Michael Jordan is the sole Black majority owner of an NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, but there are a handful of Black partial owners like Kevin Hart, Will Smith, and Magic Johnson., April 9: Juanita Hall becomes the first Black person to win a Tony Award for her portrayal of Bloody Mary in the 1949 play "South Pacific." Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1950-1959-45442. Living as a colored person in the 1950s was much different from how it is today. Weinraub, Bernard. Rising car and truck ownership made it easier for businesses and middle- and working-class white residents to flee to the suburbs, leaving behind growing poor and minority populations and fiscal crises. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancers perform Revelations. The Abstract Expressionism of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning signaled a new age in art, paving the way for the Pop Art of artists like Andy Warhol in the 1960s. "Ralph Bunche - Biographical." During the boycott, Dr. King is tried and convicted for violating Alabama anti-boycott legislation., December 27: Frankie Muse Freeman becomes the first Black woman to win a major civil rights case after serving as the lead attorney for the NAACP in the Davis et al. https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-history-timeline-1950-1959-45442 (accessed May 2, 2023). 347366. Throughout the 1950s, the neighborhood was known for its bustling commercial areas, popular music clubs, and community of . The Little Rock Nine students are Minniejean Brown-Trickey, Ernest Green, Carlotta Walls, Elizabeth Eckford, Melba Patillo, Terrence Roberts, Thelma Mothershed, Gloria Ray, and Jefferson Thomas. Despite her success, she is paid very little for playing the sport and has an income below the poverty threshold for much of her life., September 9: Congress establishes the Civil Rights Act of 1957. A mob of thousands of people forms. The United States never formally declared war on North Korea. With this, the "separate but equal" doctrine that defines the justice system for the next several decades is introduced. 2011. "History - Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment." The 1950s saw the emergence of Rock n Roll, and the new sound swept the nation. Approximately six million Black people moved from the American South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western states roughly from the 1910s until the 1970s. During the 1950's, the time that the Younger family was living in Chicago, whites and blacks were living completely separate lives and a majority of the blacks were living in poverty. As the 1957 photograph makes clear, even baseball legend Willie Mays was touched by housing discrimination. The 1950s were a decade marked by the post-World War II boom, the dawn of the Cold War and the civil rights movement in the United States. With his fame, Belefonte takes every opportunity to bring light to civil rights efforts and racism in America, refusing to use his success as a Black artist to pretend the state of race relations is more favorable to Black Americans than it is. The book's spiritual focal point, anchored by the protagonist's devoutly religious stepfather, contributes to Grimes' struggle to find himself, particularly when grappling with morality and sin. One photograph shows former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (newspapers still called him Cassius Clay) riding in a convertible as Grand Marshall of the Watts Summer Festival in 1967; another shows the Queen of the Watts Christmas Parade in 1968. America at this moment, said the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1945, stands at the summit of the world. During the 1950s, it was easy to see what Churchill meant. However, Berry, aware that he is a Black man performing a tour for audiences of different races, feels pressured to conceal aspects of his identity. She performs this role, portraying not a Black woman but a Pacific Islander, over 1,900 times.. The 1963 photograph documenting a cross burning on the lawn of a black family in San Francisco's Ingleside district in 1963 shows clearly that this backlash was not limited to the Deep South. 110. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in Oakland by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966. "Sweet Tunes, Fast Beats and a Hard Edge." Growing up in the 1950s, Margo Jefferson was part of Chicago's black upper class. Bronzeville is a center for African-American life and culture in Chicago. It's not too much to say that the racial and social mores of slavery remained very much alive in Mississippi in 1955. Lewis, Femi. She concludes by saying, "Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him.". This poem about teenage rebellion is widely taught and critiqued in schools., Breaking the NBA Color Barrier: Chuck Cooper, Nathaniel Clifton, and Earl Lloyd become the first Black Americans to play in the National Basketball Association. Rudolf Bing, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, has by now recruited several Black artists to various positions within the Met, including ballerina Janet Collins. Till is shopping at Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market when he encounters a White woman named Carolyn Bryant. The United States was the worlds strongest military power. Rates of unemployment and inflation were low, and wages were high. During their first attempt to move in, the Clarks are stopped not only by angry White civilians but by police officers who demand a warrant, beat Harvey Clark Jr., and threaten to arrest him if they do not leave. April 30: Racial segregation in Washington D.C. public places is declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co., Inc. Hundreds of supporters greet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he stands outside of a courthouse after his conviction in State of Alabama v. M. L. King, Jr., No. In the study, Charles, the Edwin and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor and interim dean at the University of Chicago Harris School of . Jr. Drive, a direct physical link to Wells' life in Chicago, was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1995. . 2, May 2006, pp. United States Courts. It spurred the rise of African-American activism, which laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. ESPN, 23 July 2020. Milam kidnap Till. Black History from 19501959. His music ushers in a new era of jazz in which musicians improvise based on scales rather than chords, allowing for greater variation and more melodic interpretations. Black Americans and civil rights protesters embrace "Calypso." Racial discrimination often relegated them to low-paying service jobs, such as the men in Anaheim's street corner shoeshine business or the chauffeur standing behind Edith Story and her automobile. Only 60 police officers arrive to help. Ralph Abernathy: Advisor and Confidante to Martin Luther King Jr. Black History and Women's Timeline: 1920-1929, Shocking Moments in 20th Century Black History, Organizations of the Civil Rights Movement, The Early History of the NAACP: A Timeline, Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1965 to 1969, 5 Men Who Inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. to Be a Leader, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), NBA Plays Leading Role During Coronavirus Pandemic and Racial Reckoning, Civil Rights Leader Harry T. Moore and the Ku Klux Klan in Florida, Before Montgomery and Greensboro: The Desegregation Movement in the District of Columbia, 1950-1953, Equal in All Places: The Civil Rights Struggle in Baton Rouge, 1953-1963, About Us: A History of Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, History - Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment, Civil Rights Pioneer: Frankie Muse Freeman, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), Unforgettable Nat King Cole, Flip Wilson & American Television, Dorothy Irene Height: Profile of a Giant in Pursuit of Equal Justice for Black Women, Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957), Berry Gordy Jr. and the Original 'Black Label, Kind of Blue' and the Economy of Modal Jazz, M.S.Ed, Secondary Education, St. John's University, M.F.A., Creative Writing, City College of New York. Newton fled to Cuba, but returned in 1977 (shown here) and was acquitted. After interviewing Malcolm X and giving the world one of its first glimpses into the workings of the Nation of Islam, which many White people know little to nothing about beforehand, Lomax becomes famous for his investigative reporting, especially on topics within Black civil rights. National Museum of African American History & Culture. McClymonds High School band in procession, West Oakland, c.1945 [picture], Willie Mays Beef -- Difficulty Buying House, Group of young women [at social event? She is awarded the Citizens Medal Award for distinguished service in 1989 from President Ronald Reagan, the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004, and over 20 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities. Till's murder is widely covered in the media, especially by the popular Black-owned Jet, which publishes an image of Till from his funeral. Advertisers do not want to change the format of their ads to accommodate a single magazine, and their reasons for not purchasing ad space with Jet might also be race-based. This committee's primary goal is to hold D.C. establishments accountable for abiding by laws passed in the early 1870s requiring public dining places to serve any and all "respectable" and "well-behaved" patrons, under penalty of a $100 fine and a one-year suspension of their license. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Acts of nonviolent resistance like the boycott helped shape the civil rights movement of the next decade. She is not the only Black person to stand up to segregation policies on transportation. This historic victory is the result of three years of legal battles and protests that began in 1950, launched by a Black woman's experience with discrimination. Works Cited When was the KKK made and why? Between the end of World War I and the mid-1930s, they produced one of the most significant eras of cultural expression in the nation's historythe Harlem Renaissance. 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks, 1985. The ruling ends racial discrimination in public housing in St. Louis, declaring these practices unconstitutional. 3, 1986. From the 1950s through the 1970s, movements for civil and social rights, equality, and justice swept the United States. The Blood of Emmett Till. In Alabama in 1961, Freedom Riders protesting segregated transportation adopt the tune of "Calypso" but change the lyrics and sing "Freedom's Coming and It Won't Be Long" in their jail cells., June 5: The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) is established in Birmingham by local Black activists five days after the NAACP is banned in Alabama by Attorney General John Patterson. Mary Church Terrell plans for the 1952 National Association of Colored Women convention with the organization's president, Ella P. Stewart. "Civil Rights Pioneer: Frankie Muse Freeman." In the early 1950s, Mark Satter opened his law practice in the Chicago suburb of Lawndale, but his life's work really began in 1957, the day a black couple, Albert and Sallie Bolton, walked . 25, no. "About Us: A History of Masjid Malcolm Shabazz." The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America. Determined to end restaurant segregation in D.C., Terrell and other activists and allies form the Coordinating Committee for the Enforcement of the D. C. Anti-Discrimination Laws (CCEAD). Under this act, federal prosecutors are now able to get court injunctions against those who interfere with Black citizens' right to vote. Arsenault, Raymond. 185-200. Lewis, Femi. He is transferred to Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1938 and becomes a captain by 1940. Hansberry draws on her own experiences growing up to write her play, a social drama representing an authentically Black American experience as it has never been represented before on stage. Their poverty rate climbed from 29.4 percent in 2000, to 31.5 percent in 2007, to the current 34.1 percent . Till's mother, Mamie Till, decides to have an open-casket funeral for her son, despite insistence from law enforcement and the funeral director that she keep it closed, to send a message about racial injustice and to properly grieve. BlackPast, 23 Jan. 2007. Overnight, a riot starts when members of the hostile crowd throw rocks into the Clarks' apartment. The Golden Age of Television was marked by family-friendly shows like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Twilight Zone and Leave It To Beaver. This is the first of many bus boycotts throughout the south and is said to be the first successful civil rights bus boycott in history., October 18: Willie Thrower joins the Chicago Bears and becomes the first Black quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Terrell and three others provide proof of wrongful discrimination when the Black members of their group are denied service at a restaurant owned by John Thomas, who is prosecuted, on February 28, 1950. Music marketing, changed, too: For the first time, music began to target youth. By World War II the migrants continued to . Sinclair, Dean. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Our Documents. Mary Church Terrell, a teacher and civil rights activist, is denied service at a local store because the store's owner has decided not to serve persons of color any longer. Johnson believes in the importance of this fledgling publication's causeto spread awareness about events that affect Black lives in a way that is easily understood by the majority of readersand gives this publication more attention than his others. The violence shocked the nation and left the community in disarray. Many Southern whites resisted the Brown ruling. The 99th leaves in 1943 on orders to fly a combat campaign over North Africa during World War II, traveling throughout Europe and Africa on similar assignments. Van Atta, Robert B. 24, no. Freeman becomes the first woman to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights when President Lyndon Johnson appoints her in 1964. A large-scale survey then takes place to further illustrate the magnitude of the discrimination in Washington, D.C.: 99 restaurants are studied and 63 of these deny service to Black participants. Before being cast in this role as Ulrica in "Un Ballo in Maschera," Anderson performs as a solo concert artist. Anderson, by now famous around the world for her unique voice, breaks the Met's color barrier with a performance for which she receives a standing ovation. For example, the nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad in the Korean War exposed underlying divisions in American society.