TIMES CHANGE
TIMES CHANGE America after WWII
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TIMES CHANGE AMERICA AFTER WWII
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1960's WOMEN MOVEME
N AT U R E ' S CALLING 6
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48 THE SUBURBS
CALL ASHLEY NEUFELD
N AT URE’S
I N N AT U R E N O T H I N G EXISTS ALONE
— RACHEL CARSON
“In nature nothing exists alone” an overarching mantra infused throughout Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring (Carson 2002, 51). This concept illustrates the communion between humankind and the natural environment. Cause and effect are played out in the natural environment and paralleled in the reaction of Silent Spring. Information is gathered, synthesized and produced as a call to action through literature. Society then absorbs the content and becomes aware. In the same way that nature evolves and flows, so
does information. Carson’s novel critiques the ignorance of man and the use of science as a weapon against nature (Hynes 1989, 16). The accusation is lodged against the extensive use of pesticides after WWII, the negative impact on organic life, and a critique of mankind fighting to control nature for the sake of convenience. This paper will begin with a brief introduction of Rachel Carson and the key ideas of Silent Spring. Next it will present the reaction to Silent Spring from the corporate, political, and societal levels. Last, it will provide the key concepts to digest Carson’s ideologies and provide clarity in the un-
packing of intertwined theories of nature, science and human life. “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter (Carson 2002).” A quote from Rachel Carson that
those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of stren dure as long as life lasts
there is something infinitely he
repeated refrains of nature — the
assurance that dawn comes
spring after winter showcases her appreciation for the natural world. The earth to Carson was worth contemplating and described as “beautiful.” Carson reveals to the reader her deeply spiritual connection to nature, a relationship that would prove to be of great value to Carson throughout her life and writing career. Her love and interest in the environment was formulated in her childhood. Carson was born in 1907, in Springdale, Pennsylvania. The reverence she had towards nature is largely a result of her mother Maria’s values, and
ngth that will en-
ealing in the
s after night, and
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growing up on a farm, with plenty of land on which to roam and play. As a child Carson was interested in writing. By the age of eight she was writing short stories, and at ten her first story was published (Carson 2002). Her two loves would follow her into her college years, first pursuing a degree in English and shortly switching to biology at the private Pennsylvania College for Women in Pittsburg. Later, she graduated from Johns Hopkins where she earned a master’s degree in zoology in 1932. After college, she became a biologist at the US Fish and Wildlife Service and worked her way up to the position of editor-in-chief (Carson 2002). In this position she was granted the freedom to pursue both of her passions, research and writing. Carson began
her professional writing career when she realized “that by becoming a biologist I had given myself something to write about (Graham 1979, 5).” She would then go on to write three books, Under the Sea- Wind, The Sea Around Us, The Edge of the Sea, all of which combined a unique voice of science and poetry. This lead to the writing of Silent Spring, her most notable work. The three core concepts of Silent Spring are the interconnectedness of ecosystems, a critique on the intensive use of pesticides, and the reliance on technology without questioning their effects
on humanity (Hynes 1989, 12). Carson opened her novel with a depiction of a nameless town filled with marvelous, detailed descriptions of nature full of color and abundance. The story turned sinister with the mystery disease that began to kill off livestock, cripple birds, and strike children dead while at play. No birds were singing and chirping that spring. Silence filled the land and the community came to realize, “no witchcraft, no enemy action, had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world, the people had done it themselves (Carson 2002, 3).” Carson then would relate this example throughout the book to the negative effects pesticides were presenting in America. “Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good (Carson 2002, 12)?” Carson is not afraid to display the ignorance of
1953 | Rachel Carson
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T I M E S C H A N G E 11
the American people about the pollution of their land. She stated that the Bill of Rights did not protect its citizens from lethal poisons, only because our forefathers could not have imagined this sort of problem (Carson 2002, 13). The first key concept in Silent Spring is that “in nature nothing exists alone (Carson 2002).” A common theme woven into the novel to illustrate how pesticides could not simply kill insects and leave the world unscathed. Carson introduced a new victim of pesticides in each chapter of her book. She began with the contamination of water, soil and cropland. Next she emphasized the death and destruction in bird populations and complications to human life. In the later chapters she related the content to the entire ecosystem of the earth, a chain reaction of contamination. “They
“no witchcraft, no enemy action, had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world, the people had done it themselves”
have entered and lodged in the bodies of fish, birds, reptiles, and domestic and wild animals so universally that scientists carrying on animal experiments find it almost impossible to locate subjects from from such contamination (Carson 2002, 16).” Carson wrote about the delicate balance of nature and the intricacy that humans upset when freely spraying pesticides (Carson 2002, 57). The specific pesticides that Carson addressed are DDT, aldrin and dieldrin. These pesticides were being sprayed without question all around America in the 1940’s and 50’s (Hynes 1989, 12). Pesticides were praised for killing rodents and insects as well as the new solution for
DICHLORO
DIPHENYL
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CHLORO ETHANE
TRI
L world famine and the plague. Carson was against the mass spraying of pesticides and warned of the dangerous consequences of using science as a weapon against nature (Hynes 1989, 16). The final chapter in Silent Spring is a call to action, offering a solution. The answer to the pesticide epidemic from Carson’s perspective was to focus on biological solutions. She
believed in researching and understanding the organism and its ecosystem, before attempting to control them. This was to be done by pathologists, geneticists, physiologists, biochemists, ecologists and entomologists, working together to produce informed science (Carson 2002, 278). Carson advocated for the reverence of life in all forms, even through the struggle “How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind (Carson 2002, 8)?” Carson could not fathom the idea that humanity would be driven to blindness in killing
their species for the sake of power over a small portion of the environment. The “intelligent beings” that Carson was calling out were the powerful chemical and agricultural industries. The reaction to her writings from the industry level was far more severe than expected. The fight began before Silent Spring was published. Silent Spring was introduced as a three-part series in The New Yorker. The first chapter of the novel “A Fable for Tomorrow” was published inside the series. The Monsanto Company quickly took action in creating a rival story “A Desolate Year” to parody Carson’s call to action (Hynes 1989, 17). The company had to rush to publish their story alongside the first edition of Silent Spring. The Velsicol Chemical Corporation of Chicago sent a letter to Silent Spring’s publisher, Houghton Mifflin, to consider taking a second look at Carson’s research against pesticides, specifically accusations against chlordane and heptachlor, both produced by Velsicol alone (Graham 1979, 49).
“I thought she was a
spinster .
What’s she so worried about genetics for?” Houghton Mifflin consulted with researchers to delve into the accusations, finding full assurance in Carson’s claims against the pesticides. Likewise, the National Agricultural Chemicals Association poured resources into their public relations program and began producing literature through brochures about the “unadulterated blessings of chemical pesticides (Graham 1979, 48).” The industry was furious and scared of the impact Silent Spring would have once published. Chemical firms went as far as developing teams to read the articles line-by-line to find flaws that could
derail Carson’s credibility (Graham 1979, 48). They threatened to retract their advertising from any publications, such as gardening magazines and newspapers, that supported Carson’s claims (Graham 1979, 58). The Federal Pest Control Review Board called an urgent meeting in regard to the articles. They spoke of Carson in terrible ways and cursed the contents of Silent Spring. A powerful board-member at the meeting said, “I thought she was a spinster. What’s she so worried about genetics for (Graham 1979, 50)?” Carson was attacked on every level possible, she was reported to be an idealist, illiterate woman, and critiqued for her eloquent writing style. The
Engineering News. In the article he portrayed Carson as ignorant and biased and in light of these attributions she could not be considered competent to judge policy. He twisted her words to paint a picture that Carson was against responsible use of pesticides in order to control insect-borne diseases (Graham 1979, 57). Carson, in fact, did not advocate for all pesticide use
TIMES CHANGE 15 Rachel Carson | Alfred Eisenstaedt
an idealist,
illiterate woman ,
and critiqued for her eloquent writing style.
harsh reaction was due, in fact, to the publishing of Silent Spring at the peak of pesticide use in America. In 1963 alone, US companies produced around 90 thousand tons (Carson 2002). Dr. William J. Darby, a nutritionist at the Vanderbilt University for Medicine, wrote the most controversial article against Carson for Chemical and CBS | Rachel Carson
to cease, but called to attention a larger ideal, the questioning of the overall methods that were promoted in their use against insect-borne diseases (Graham 1979, 57). On a multitude of accounts the chemical and agricultural industry lacked humility to understand Carson’s call to action, and treated Silent Spring as the enemy to their industry. They failed to realize the effects on wildlife, humanity and the preservation of nature. Their bottom-line was their worry, and rightfully should have been in light of Carson’s call to action. The AMA news prompted doctors to con-
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sult the chemical trade associations for materials regarding pesticide use for their patients. Carson’s response was disbelief, “I can’t believe that the AMA seriously believes that an industry with $300 million a year in pesticide sales at stake is an objective source of data on health hazards (Graham 1979, 58).” Carson’s claims were under full attack and research began to be conducted
to further investigate the truth in the pesticide controversy. “Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species — man — acquired significant power to alter the nature of its world (Carson 2002).” This quote manifests the connection between the power of policy in altering the natural world. The political reaction to Silent Spring would lead to a social and political movement surrounding the topic of the environment. The largest threat to Carson’s theories came from a report by Jamie L. Whitten. Whitten, a congressman from Mississippi and chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture attacked Silent Spring from the perspective of a spokesman in federal policy for agricultural interests (Hynes 1989, 120). Whitten addressed Carson with backhanded compliments, citing Silent Spring as “delightful reading.” This portrayal, yet again, was to threaten Carson’s creditability as a biologist, naming her research as “unscientific.” Whitten pulled together a report to refute Silent Spring in which he prepped the staff by accrediting scientists and physicians claiming the book as “superficially
scientific.” Accusing Carson for writing factual information in an unscientific manner and reaching false conclusions. The staff members refuted Carson’s claims of pesticides having been detected underground in streams that come to surface and kill vegetation, livestock and would flow into the wells in which humans drink. They deemed the statement as unsupported by scientific fact (Graham 1979, 178). However, it is noted in the same report they contradict themselves, in an example of California Peach Pickers in 1963, becoming ill from a newly formed toxic compound, after the trees had been correctly sprayed with pesticides (Graham 1979, 178). The report by Whitten was quickly published by the National Agricultural Chemicals Association and
was endorsed by the fact that a “congressional committee” had attempted to discredit Carson’s claims. The report was taken as an “apology for the status quo in pesticide use” not as seriously as it should have been taken (Graham 1979, 178). The basis of the report was to claim that inconclusive data on both ends of the spectrum of pesticide use was a sign not to take Silent Spring seriously. The motive behind Whitten’s report was to uphold the politics of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and guard the agricultural economy in the use of pro-pesticide (Hynes 1989, 120). Although Carson had major critics, she had powerful leaders on her side. President John F Kennedy was one of those supporters. Kennedy had read The New Yorker version of Silent Spring and requested the President’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) to research Carson’s claims and provide information on pesticide use and regulation in the Unit-
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Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species — man — acquired significant power to alter the nature of its world
ed States (Hynes 1989, 121). The Use of Pesticides report concluded that pesticides were present throughout the environment and found in human tissue, backing Carson’s work. The report reflected the detriment to fish, birds and other wildlife populations. PSAC, concluded that the, “elimination of the use of persistent toxic pesticides should be the goal (Hynes 1989, 121).” The policy wouldn’t take place until 1967, in which the Environmental Defense Fund would form and contribute the legal grounds on which DDT would be banned. Through the research and policies sparked by Carson’s writings, she is
credited with the start of the environmental movement of the 1960’s. The movement would produce the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and would introduce the ecofeminist movement. Earth Day was celebrated in April of 1970, the same year that DDT was banned in the US. “We urgently need an end to these false assurances, to the sugar coating of unpalatable facts. It is the public that is being asked to assume the risks that the insect controllers calculate. The public must decide whether it wishes to continue on the present road, and it can do so only when in full possession of the facts (Carson 2002, 13).” Carson wrote to promote social action. Silent Spring was successful in the 1960’s because of its controversial topic and the massive attention it generated. The novel not only critiqued the domination of nature through
chemistry, but it was also a call to action against the 1950's pivotal focus on technology reigning supreme, and the willingness to turn a blind eye to its effects. The reaction to Silent Spring on the societal level was present in the power of human voice, in the fight for preserving the environment. Carson advocated for concerned citizens to rise up and demand change from their government (Carson 2002, 13). The concerned citizens did indeed rise up, and created the envi-
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ronmental movement. Carson wrote to the people of the US, the housewives, parents, homeowners, farm workers, to every individual. The public responded with sheer shock to Silent Spring. “I got physically ill when I learned that ospreys and peregrine falcons weren’t raising chicks because of what people were spraying on bugs at their farms and lawns. This was the first time I learned that humans could impact the environment with chemicals, quoted one reader (Griswold 2012).” Carson believed that the combination of identification and knowledge would
lead to personal responsibility (Palmer 2001, 199). An example of the activism Carson provoked was in the United Farm Workers Movement. The first organized meeting for the farm workers was a mere three days after Silent Spring was published (Hynes 1989, 123). The meeting was in Fresno, California on 30th of September, 1962. The leader of the organization was Cesar Chavez, who would become the best known Latino American civil rights activist. The workers wanted protection rights from toxic pesticides (Hynes 1989, 123). The pesticide law by the Department of Agriculture, did not protect the workers by banning pesticides from the fields, it served to only register the pesticides
1 9 6 5
E PA (Hynes 1989, 123). The workers had a long fight ahead of them. The banning of pesticides was the trickiest section of the contract the workers outlined in order to gain rights in order to get better working conditions, and fair salary. Chavez lead boycotts, and strikes to gain the attention of corporations and used nonviolent tactics to fight for farmer workers rights. The most notable strike was held in September of 1965, were farm workers in Delano, California walked out of grape orchards to stand up for their rights. It took five years of protest for the farm workers to get their contracts signed. The banning of DDT was won by the organization, just two years before
califor-
DDT
nia
the EPA would ban the pesticide (Hynes 1989, 123). Silent Spring was the material and call to action the public needed to become informed enough to make a change for their health and safety. “If, having endured much, we have at last asserted our “right to know,” and if by knowing, we have concluded that we are being asked to take senseless and frightening risks, then we should no longer accept the counsel of those who tell us that we must fill our world with poi-
sonous chemicals; we should look about and see what other course is open to us (Carson 2002, 13).” Carson’s words rang in the ears of activists, corporations, and politicians, all seeing the need to rise up and speak about about the relationship between humans and their environment. An abundance of ideas are packed into Carson’s Silent Spring. The first concept is the relationship between humankind and the environment. The society that she critiqued viewed nature not in the same spiritual sense Carson revered nature, but instead, as a “supermarket of resources stocked for human purposes” (Hynes 1989, 141). Carson gave both value and respect to nature and provided it a voice. The nature that Carson speaks of is an equal, not something to be dom-
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inated. The responsibility of humankind to protect nature will in return protect humankind, creating a marriage between humankind and the natural world (Hynes 1989, 141). In the chapter, “The Human Price”, Carson sets the blame for heavy pesticide use on a world concerned with “the modern way of life (Carson 2002, 188) .” The “silent” killer is the effects of pesticides in the contaminated body. The death she speaks of is not a direct killing, but a process that will only worsen with time and ignorance. Carson writes, “we spray our elms, and the following springs are silent of robin song.” The call to action she presents is the possibility of extinction for mankind.
1953 | Rachel Carson
“A change at one point, in one molecule even, may reverberate throughout the entire system to initiate changes in seemingly unrelated organs and tissues (Carson 2002, 189).” A spiraling effect of the silent death, one that will strike in the future. Carson is addressing the fact that humankind’s actions will directly alter the future. Carson advocates that once nature is killed off, it cannot return, humankind will be left in a state of self destruction. Silent Spring’s final chapter begins with a Robert Frost poem, “we stand now where two roads diverge.” Carson speaks of one road being convenient and hauntingly simple, leading to disaster. The second road she writes, is humanity’s last chance to save itself and preserve nature, a choice that is up to the people (Carson 2002, 278). Carson followed in a meticu-
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lous fashion the transition of pesticides from their point of entry into the soil, then seeping into groundwater, carried throughout fields and contaminating crops that in turn would infect birds, herbivores and omnivores, from animals to humans, the possible result of a species extinction without the knowledge of the contamination. The interconnectedness of life on earth was Carson’s edge in her writing. A haunting truth through a poetic voice, sparked the environmental movement. By combining her two loves of writing and research, Rachel Carson har-
nessed a powerful testament for the preservation of nature. The themes in her writing are directly about the toxic impact pesticides have on the environment. The call to action is in the question Carson proposes, the “why” behind man’s need to control nature for its conveniences. The overarching themes that are timeless are the power of social action, and the necessity of preserving the natural world for human survival. The impact of her poetic literary style mixed with accurate scientific data reached multitudes of readers and produced a variety of outcomes. The reaction to her novel was mixed: outrage, clarity, enlightenment, and action all happened in light of her novel. Although Carson sparked a global environmental movement, she did not get the
NA TURE a voice for
privilege to live to see the fruit of her labor. Carson died of breast cancer, becoming weak and ill from radiation treatments. After her death Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter. Although she died two years after the publication of Silent Spring her voice is still heard through her words today. Silent Spring has been translated to nearly every language on the planet and has sold over two million copies. Carson was the voice for environmentalists, female scientists, and the public. Carson was the voice for nature.
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w o s e c o n d w a v e
M A N DY S M IT H
m
M O V E M
Women have had to do a lot of fighting, speaking up, and confronting men throughout history in order to get where they are today. Equality did not happen overnight; it took a lot of effort and time. Therefore the Women’s Movement came in phases or waves. The first wave happened between 1848 and 1920. During World War II, women began to feel empowered until the
1950s brought any growth to a halt. While the 1950s were a low-point for the Women’s Movement, this decade perfectly set the stage for the Second Wave Women’s movement. The Second Wave unfolded in the 1960s alongside the anti-war and civil rights movement (Carlisle and Golson 2008, 158). This movement was distinguished by having a more radical and aggressive
1 9 6 0 s
e n’
s
E N T
attitude compared to past women’s movements. Whereas the First Wave Women’s Movement focused largely on suffrage and breaking through legal obstacles such as property rights, the Second Wave Women’s Movement broadened the debate to a wider range of more unspoken issues: domestication, the workplace, reproductive rights, and other inequalities. Women came together with a common concern about the way they were treated. Most of this concern related to their treatment in the workplace, but eventually the women addressed the various social injustices brought upon women. Protests, petitions, and the formation of groups allowed the women of the 1960s to reach the goal of enacting the
Not only did they lack the right to vote, but also the right to own or inherit property, and once they were married the husband was in control of the household. August 1970 | Women’s Rights March
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Equal Rights Amendment (MacLean 2009, 60). In order to fully understand the Second Wave Women’s Movement, it is critical to know a bit about the progress of that first wave of feminism. The First Wave Women’s movement began in the late 19th century, and continued until women finally received the right to vote in 1920. The start of this first wave was in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention. There women’s grievances and desire for suffrage were outlined. It was the groundwork of the Women’s Movement. American women of the 19th century did not have a lot of rights. Not only did they lack the right to vote, but they also lacked the right to own or in-
herit property, and once they were married the husband was in control of the household. Overall the objective of this First Wave feminism was to open up opportunities for women, especially in the area of suffrage. Women at last received the right to vote in 1920. This was a step in the right direction, but the women were only just beginning their fight (Carlisle and Golson 2008, 156). The Second Wave rose after the 1950s, which was considered the low point of women’s rights
in the 20th century (Carlisle and Golson 2008, 157). During World War II, it became critical for women to enter the workforce, because of the number of men serving overseas. From 1941 to 1945, over 6 million women joined the workforce. They were in many different areas, from factories to journalism. Employment outside of the home left women feeling empowered. It demonstrated that women were competent and capable. They developed a strong sense of pride and purpose. Unfortunately, once the war ended, and the men returned home, many women lost their jobs to them. Many women were left with no other choice than to return home and take care of their families, instead of working. While some women still remained working,
the vast majority of women in the 1950s were housewives and stay-at-home mothers. Adlai Stevenson, a Democrat who ran for president during the 1950s, was a witty, high - principled intellectual. He was the darling of the liberals in his day, saying: Stevenson referred to the destruction of the empowerment women were felt during World War II, and how the women came to feel trapped in the life of a being a
housewife. The “baby boom” began at this time; Many women feel frustrated and far apart from the great issues… for which their education has given them understanding and relish. Once they wrote poetry. Now the laundry list. Once they discussed art and philosophy until late in the night. Now they are so tired they fall asleep as soon as the dishes are finished. There is, often, a sense of contraction, of closing horizons and
Once they wrote P O E Now it’s the L A U N D R Y list.
Once they discussed A R T and P H I L O S O P H
Now they are S O T I
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TRY.
H Y until late in the night.
I R E D they fall asleep as soon as the D I S H E S are finished.
the women working outside of the home still felt a
STRONG injustice lost opportunities. They had hoped to play their part in the crises of the age. But what they do is wash the diapers (Davis 1999, 51). soldiers returned home, ready to start families, and so more and more babies were born, and women stayed at home to care for them. Less than one third of women worked outside of the home by 1950. The women who did work outside of the home often worked clerical, nursing, or teaching jobs, careers that were considered to be more suited for women. The women working outside of the home still felt a strong injustice through low wages and a lack of promotions (Burke 1980, 46). The Women’s Movement seemed to be on
pause during this decade. America was going through various social transitions throughout the 1960s. The country was stirring with ideas; it was a decade of change and of protest. A younger, more radical demographic of Americans stepped up and fought for their beliefs concerning many different topics, from Anti-war protests, to minority segregation, to the sexual revolution, to gender equality. Young and open-minded women led the Second Wave Women’s Movement. One
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large part of social transition for women happened right in 1960. This was the year that the first contraceptive or birth control pill arrived legally on the market for American women. It only took two years for there to be 1.2 million American women on board with taking this pill. Having contraceptive pills as a legal option, while it was taboo and controversial, it was new and exciting for women. It brought upon a whole new sense of empowerment. Suddenly women could control when they started a family, and plan their lives how they wanted to; it would open up more time for growth in the workforce, instead of quickly settling down as a homemaker. Gloria Feldt, the former CEO of Planned Parenthood, said, “If women are going to have control and power in society, they have to be able to control when they have children, and they have to be
able to make money. The pill brought together the economics and the fertility timeline in a neat little package” (Seligson 2012). While the birth control pill offered control and power to women, it offered sexual freedom as well. This helped contribute to the sexual revolution that was happening at the same time as The Second Wave Women’s Movement. The birth control pill was a small kick - starter to the Second Wave Women’s movement (Davis 1988, 11). Betty Friedan is
through low wages and a
LACK
of promotions
known as the women who ignited this second wave. The women of America were building up their concerns over the previous years, but Betty Friedan inspired the women to do something about it. She was a free-lance writer, a graduate in psychology, and a suburban mother. She studied at Smith College, and graduated with a Bachelors. Married in 1947, Friedan was the mother of three children. She continued to work after she had her first child. Unfortunately, she lost her job while pregnant with her second child. From then on, she stayed home, taking care of the household, but the entire time she was restless and could not help but wonder if other homemakers felt a similar feeling (Collins 2014,
14). Therefore, a few years before she wrote her best-seller book, “The Feminine Mystique,” Friedan conducted a survey for her alma mater, Smith College. She surveyed the women that graduated with her, to see if higher education “somehow masculinized women and prevented them from finding happiness as housewives or mothers” (Davis 1999, 50). What Friedan found was that eighty-nine percent of these women were housewives, and many of them said they regretted that they had not put their education to serious use. From this, Friedan concluded that something important was lacking from the life of a housewife. She dubbed this missing piece “the problem that has no name” (Davis 1999, 51). Friedan concluded that women were absorbed in a “feminine mystique,” starting when they were little girls. They were taught that men and women were profoundly different, and that they should have entirely different needs and ambitions. They thought that a woman could only find happiness from marrying a man who was dominant and by having his children; that wanting
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Workers World Photo
more out of life was unnatural and unfeminine when you’re a woman. Friedan believed women were not different than men, and that the “feminine mystique” was corrupt. While Betty Friedan is known as a key character in the Second Wave Women’s Movement, she was not favored right away. In February of 1963 she published her book, The Feminine Mystique. The best-seller book argued that, “as middle class women grew more educated, the traditional models of domesticity were failing to fit their goals and their economic realities” (Carlisle and Golson 2008, 159). Friedan wrote, “The perfect nuclear family image depicted and strongly marketed does not reflect happiness and was rather degrading for women” (Rosen 2007, 132). Soon after the book was published, Friedan began to receive calls from televi-
sion talk shows, and for interviews. At the time, The Feminine Mystique was viewed as a controversial book with new and taboo ideas. Some readers thought her written work challenged the very basis of many middle class women’s lives. Although her fame quickly spread throughout households and she shortly became known as a bit of an outcast, especially within the suburb she personally dwelled in. While it angered some people, it was also a relief to other readers. It was relieving to those women who felt guilty or ashamed because they worked, and for the
women who were housewives that felt unhappy and restless. She spread the idea that housework and motherhood were not the most fulfilling goals for the modern woman (Carlisle and Golson 2008, 159). Betty Friedan and her book began to develop followers. Friedman’s words eased women’s guilt and justified their ambitious attitudes (Ruth Rosen 2007, 133). On top of that, Friedan’s words began to awaken young adult followers who read her book, and who did not want to live as housewives like their mothers or other women in their lives. The Feminine Mystique became hugely popular and the Second Wave Women’s movement really started to come to life. Title VII is what many women viewed as the “vital wedge” that would help to lead the way to equality in the workplace. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress; it was a huge landmark for the African American Civil Rights Movement, as it made segregation by
race illegal. This act was also important to the Women’s Movement. This is because it included a section prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sex (Rupp and Taylor 1990, 176). This section was Title VII, and it was the only section of the entire bill that mentioned sex along with racial discrimination. Title VII was not just a surprise gift to the ladies of the Women’s Movement. The National Women’s Party played a part. Howard Smith was a conservative man from Virginia who introduced the amendment on the floor of the House of Representatives. During 1963, two members of the National Council of the Woman’s Party wrote to Howard Smith, in order to persuade him that a sex amendment
TIMES CHANGE 39 Elizabeth Cady Stanton (seated) and Susan B. Anthony
would serve his opposition of the civil rights and his interests by diverting the pressure for passage of the bill. Perhaps Smith’s thoughts were that by including women he could make the bill seem so absurd that it would kill the legislation (Forbe 2007). He did in fact mention the sex amendment, commenting that “the National Woman’s Party were serious about it” (Rupp and Taylor 1990, 177). When Smith presented this subject, it provoked a great deal of laughter. He shortly after claimed that his suggestion was merely a joke. Though it is not entirely clear what Smith’s intentions were, it is probable that “he hoped that the amendment would help defeat the bill but believed that, if it did not, it would be better at least to give white women the same protection accorded to black women and men” (Rupp and Taylor 1990, 177). The National Women’s Party lobbied, arguing that without this bill
1981 | Sandra O’Connor | first female supreme court justice
THE civil rights
the amendment would discriminate against white women. To the surprise of many, the change to Title VII, and the entire Civil Rights Act was eventually passed in 1964, and The National Women’s Party saw this as a step towards the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. For the first time, women were given the backing of the law if they chose to fight against unfair treatment. Even with the passage of Title VII, employers discriminated against women causing women to either accept the discrimination, or
ACT take legal action, which was often too time-consuming and costly for the average woman. Even when a woman decided to take an issue to court, they were met with strong resistance. This continuation of inequality did not crush the Second Wave Women’s Movement. It only fueled the flame, and made the women fight harder to be heard. The National Organization for Women, more commonly known as NOW, was formed in 1966 by a small group of women. This group formed with the objective of actually ending discrimination in employment, and getting the Equal Rights Amendment passed. Betty Friedan, the author of Feminine Mystique, formed the group, with the help of several women. Because of her fame, Friedan traveled to talk to wom-
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en’s groups all over the country. Friedan spent quite a bit of time in Washington. There she met Catherine East and Mary Eastwood, who were advocates of the feminist movement. They encouraged Friedan to organize a group, because they felt “she was the only woman well enough known to pull other women into a new organization” (Flora Davis 1999, 53). Friedan was reluctant at first, as she felt she was more of the type of woman to be a writer than the type to be a leader of an organization. In 1966 she decided she was fed up with the government’s empty promises, and led the National Organization for Women. The group originated with about 28 members. Betty Friedan wrote the group’s mission statement, which was “…to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and
responsibilities, in truly equal partnership with men.” Like many other women’s rights groups forming in the 1960s, NOW borrowed tactics such as petitions, protests and political lobbying, from the Civil Rights Movement. Frustration is what ultimately caused the National Organization for Women to form, and frustration is what led the group to continuously grow. While larger political action groups like NOW developed within the country, other very small groups of women supporting the movement began to spring up. These smaller groups were known as “con-
em
POW E sciousness raising� groups, or CR groups. They were made up of five to ten women, and they would meet up and discuss their experiences as a woman. The groups were formed to promote women joining together in their struggles, that way women could get a better understanding of their oppressions (Carlisle and Golson 2008, 159). Typically these groups were women-only groups and would meet weekly, often at the home of one of the members. The goal was to
raise awareness and to build up empowerment in the women. Consciousness raising groups were not limited to women, though. Throughout the country there were even a few groups of men that were sympathetic to the cause. These men felt victimized by society’s demands to conform to the male stereotype (Boeckel 1973, 18). Consciousness raising groups were an impactful way for Americans to come together and express their feelings on important issues. Along with the consciousness raising groups, there were also quite a few feminist groups that were
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a lot more radical that were developing at this time. Consciousness raising groups were often composed of women in their thirties and forties, and acted as a way for them to join together and simply discuss issues. The more radical groups often contained a much younger demographic of women; they were the children of the baby boom, and they went about more aggressive and radical methods of expressing themselves (Carlisle and Golson 2008, 161). They were known for doing tons of protests and courtroom sit-ins, influenced by the activists of the
ment
E R
Civil Rights Movement. The 1960s was a decade full of protests; many young activists used this method to induce change. One of the more wellknown of these radical feminist groups was the New York Radical Women. They held one of the most famous protests. It was the Miss America Pageant protest in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On September 7, 1968, hundreds of Second Wave Women’s Movement activists gathered on the Atlantic City boardwalk. They were protesting the Miss America pageant for many reasons. They believed the pageant objectified women as
Janet Betries | Workers World Photo
sex objects. The protesters believed the pageant judged women by impossible beauty standards. They also were revolting against the double standard of the male gaze: men wanted women to be innocent and beautiful, but still appeal to male lust. The women also felt that it was unfair to influence little girls to aspire to be in pageants, as opposed to telling them they can be anything when they grow up (Ruth Rosen 2007, 279). The protesters compared the Miss America Pageant to a cattle auction, since women were paraded around and judged by their looks, the way cattle are judged for their worth. The protesters even ended up crowning a sheep as Miss America, on the Atlantic City boardwalk. At this protest, women also threw items like high heels, bras, “Playboy� magazines, makeup, and curling irons
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SEXISM
MUST be tackled first.
into a trashcan, to signify getting rid of what oppressed womankind. This is what gave rise to the common myth of feminists burning bras. Nothing was set on fire; the women simply threw away the items, in order to symbolize shedding oppression. From this protest, the Women’s Movement burst into the headlines, which was one of the reasons to hold protests. But in the same way “bra-burning” was reported, the media portrayed the activists however they wanted to portray them (Napikoski 2017). By 1969, women’s groups were making headlines regularly. Tactics became outrageous and often startling. At this time women’s groups grew immensely.
NOW grew from 3,000 members to 50,000 over the course of a few years (Patricia Bradley 2004, 123). The extent of how radical the women were varied from group to group, and perhaps this is why feminism sometimes has negative connotation and false myths associated with it. Some feminist groups believed “male supremacy was the earliest form of oppression and the root of all other forms, including racism; thus, sexism must be tackled first” (Davis 1999, 61). There was one group of feminists that took on the entire institution of marriage through writing and protests. They believed marriage must be destroyed. They invaded the New York City marriage license bureau armed with leaflets. Some of these activists even took different surnames, in order to re-
T h e S e c o n d W a v e W o m e n ’s m o v e m e n t n e v e r w o u l d have been without the
IGNITED
F i r s t W a v e W o m e n ’s M o v e m e n t o r t h e d o w n t i m e between both waves.
NY 1988 | Reproductive Freedom Week
ject the patriarchal tradition signified by taking a man’s last names. It was only a small group of activists that had this belief, but often overly radical groups would taint the image of all Women’s Movement supporters (Davis 1999, 90). The fight towards the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment was an important one. The Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in Congress by the National Women’s Party in 1923. It took about 40 years for the amendment to get passed. There were some groups of women and men that fought against the passage of the ERA. They feared things like girls being drafted like men were and the loss of the custom of women receiving custody of the children after divorce. Though the women of the Women’s Movement remained persistent in fighting for the ERA’s passage. The Equal Rights Amendment was a way to ensure that the rest of the constitution would
apply equally to both women and men. “Any legal discrimination would require strict scrutiny by the courts before being upheld” (Burke 1980, 67). Ultimately the ERA would finally end all confusion by clearly stating that women and men are equal legally and otherwise. On March 22, 1972 the Equal Rights Amendment for women was passed, banning discrimination based on gender (Rupp and Taylor 1990, 84). The Second Wave Women’s Movement happened at a dynamic time in America, and it only brought even more change to the country. The 1960s were full
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of new ideas and tenacious young adults willing to protest. It was a time women joined together and fought for what they believed in, even addressing the topics women never even imagined speaking about, and ultimately leading the country to where we are today. The Second Wave Women’s movement never would have
been ignited without the First Wave Women’s Movement or the down time between both waves. The timing was perfect for the women of the 1960s to break down barriers. Of course America has come even further since the 1960s, but the women of the Second Wave Women’s Movement set up a strong foundation for the rest of the women of the future.
THOMAS HOLSCHER
S U B U R B A M E R I C A N d r e a m
United States | Suburb
While many of my classmates and myself included have our own ideas of the suburbs from growing up in them, they are radically different from living communities prior to the Second World War. In fact, the living conditions in which immediately preceded World War Two were drastically different from the living conditions that developed shortly after the war. Economic and cultural climates in the United States of America follow-
ing the Second World War laid the groundwork for the cultural shift that was suburbanization. Surprisingly the definition of exactly what a suburb is, and how an area can classify as a suburb, has been modified and restated several times. A section of The Suburbs, by J. John Palen breaks down the change in definitions quite well. “H. Paul Douglas, perhaps the first scholar to focus attention specifically on suburbs as an aggregate,
in the mid-1920s defined the suburbs as being ‘the belt of population which lives under distinctly roomier conditions than is the average lot of city people, but under distinctively more crowded conditions that those of the adjoining open country’ (H. Paul Douglas, The Suburban Trend, Century, New York, 1925, p.6). The criterion he used
t h e b e l t o f p o p u l a t i o n w h i ch l i v e s u n d e r d i s t i n c t l y r o o m i e r c o n d i t i o n s t h a n i s t h e a v e rage lot of cit y people, but under distinctively more c rowd e d c o n d i t i o n s that those of the adjoining open countr y
was basically housing destiny; the suburbs were the middle landscape; By definition, the suburbs were residential. The definition also indirectly suggests that suburbs are more affluent by noting ‘roomier conditions’ in the suburbs. A somewhat different dictionary definition of what a suburb is that given by Webster’s New Colle-
giate Dictionary, which states that a suburb is ‘a smaller community adjacent to or within commuting distance of a city’ (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, Springfield, Mass., 1981, p.1154). This definition has the advantage of simplicity but the weakness of assuming that suburbs are by definition smaller in population, and by implication space, than central cities. Today, with central-city populations often declining to the point that they are sometimes only one-third of their metropolitan-area population, it is becoming increasingly problem-
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atic that all suburbs are by definition “smaller communities.” The definition also fails to distinguish between suburbs and satellite communities. A more widely used definition of a suburb, and one traditionally used by academics, is that a suburb is a ‘community that lies apart from the city but is adjacent to and dependent upon it’
t h e S U B U R B S
(David Popenoe, ‘The Traditional American House and Environment: Social Effects,’ in Elizabeth Huttman and Willem Van Vliet, eds., Handbook of Housing and the Built Environment in the United States, Greenwood Press, New York, 1988, p. 394). Historically, this definition fit rather well, and is still commonly used. For instance, when discussing what he calls “middleclass suburbs of privilege,’ Robert Fishman states, ‘… I shall use the words ‘suburb’ and ‘suburbia’ to refer only to a residential community beyond the core of a large city. Though physically separate from the urban core, the suburb nevertheless de-
pends on it economically for the jobs that support its residents. It is also culturally dependent on the core for the major institutions of urban life: professional offices, department stores and other specialized shops, hospitals, theatres and the like’ (Robert Fishman, Bourgeois Utopias, Basic Books, New York, 1987, p.5). Such definitions emphasize the outer area’s economic dependency on the central city and, additionally, suggest political separation from the central city. The defi-
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nition gives the basic image of suburbs being areas of urban spillover across city boundaries. This image fits many of the suburbs we will be discussing, and virtually every American would recognize the picture. It certainly fits nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century suburbs. Many North American suburbs today still are residential communities consisting of detached, owner-occupied, single-family, middle-class homes arranged in low-density and socially homogenous communities located outside the central city but within commuting distance of the city core. However, as we enter into the new century, the assumption of suburban economic
a r e
and social dependency on the central city becomes increasingly questionable. More and more suburbs are becoming the dominant metropolitan economic and social units. Definitions for contemporary suburbs that assume that suburbs are economically dependent and sub to their central cities are out of date.” (J. John Palen, The Suburbs). In the context of suburban development following World War Two, the term “suburb”, can be interpreted as a community of households slightly outside of the city center that is aimed at accommodating families with its neighborhood structure and arrangement, and focused on dining and entertainment establishments rather than corporate and industrial businesses. In short, a suburb is a community that is seen as a home in itself catered towards its residents, as opposed to a city, whose residents’ homes are in a center of business and industrial practice. The development of suburban commu-
H O M E .
nities, by definition, actually began after the Civil War. More relevantly, the suburban expansion started in the nineteen-twenties. The economic boom that occurred during the early twenties resembled the one that accompanied the economic growth following World War Two. Major developments in transportation with the automobile made it easier for people to travel medium distances without using railways and what would have been contemporary public transportation. Government funding of roads made streetcar use more common and practical, so suburbs were able to function. Imagine living in a modern suburb without cars and an intricate set of roads being standard. It simply would not be practical to walk or take a train to get groceries, as an example of an essential task. Having streetcars and roads available made communities dedicated to housing more practical. Of course, these communities were very limited in terms of who would be able to live there. With
the prices of the automobile and suburban home being significantly more expensive than the standard apartment at the time, only the wealthy could afford to live there. This would hinder the growth and practicality of the suburbs. Of course, this gap in whom could afford a suburban home would grow exponentially during the Great Depression (J. John Palen, The Suburbs). To truly Public Transportation | Highway
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understand why the suburban expansion was able to happen and why so many American citizens opted to move out of the cities, we have to examine the social and economic repercussions that came about due to the Second World War. Between nineteen forty and nineteen forty-five, fifteen million Americans joined the military and eleven and a quarter million Americans went overseas. With the shift of the American economy towards military service and the production of wartime items ranging from food to vehicles to bullets and everything, there was a massive migration of the American people towards the cities, a continuing trend that started in depression-era America. An estimated 15 million Americans made a major relocation of residence (defined as moving to another county in their
respective state or elsewhere in the country). Along the west coast of the United States alone between nineteen forty and nineteen forty - five Washington State grew by thirty-five and three tenths percent, Oregon grew by eighteen and two tenths percent, California grew by thirty-five and seven tenths percent. In particular, the population of California grew by at least nine million, eight hundred thousand residents for five con-
$12,000
secutive years, reaching its apex of growth in nineteen forty-five with thirteen million, one hundred thousand citizens relocating to the state. This mass-migration towards production-centric areas of the country paired with the abundance of jobs created by the war for all ethnicities and genders resulted in a surge in the American economy (Christopher J. Tassava, The American Economy During World War II). During the height of the Great Depression, American unemployment was up to twenty - five percent in nineteen thirty-three. This would decline to just fifteen percent by nineteen forty. Following the start of World War Two, yet before official involvement from the United States, American unemployment improved by another four and seven tenths percent in just one year from production aiding
GDP PER AMERICAN IN CONSTANT YEAR 2000 DOLLARS
DEPRESSION BEGINS IN THE U.S.
BANKS CLOSED GOLD CONVERTIBILITY SUSP
$10,000
$8,000
$6,000
$4,000 HERBERT HOOVER TAKES OFFICE
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$2,000
$0 1928
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PENDED
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GDP PER CAPITA FULL NORMAL GDP
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the allied forces. By the time the war ended in nineteen forty-five, the American unemployment percentage of the work force had decreased to just below two percent, and slightly above one percent of the entire country’s population (Christopher J. Tassava, The American Economy During World War II). Alongside the rapid reduction of the unemployment rate of American citizens, the personal income per capita increased at an astronomical rate as well. Personal income per capita is a measurement of the average income earned per person in a given area such as a city, region or country calculated by dividing the area’s total income by the area’s total population. To use Californian citizens as an example for
statistical purposes, the personal income per capita for the state of California increased from eight hundred and thirty-five dollars in nineteen forty to one thousand and seventeen dollars by nineteen forty-eight, a twenty-two percent increase. Adjusted to today’s inflation rates, these figures can be adjusted to an increase in personal income per capita from fourteen thousand and six hundred dollars to just under eighteen thousand dollars. As of two thousand sixteen, the in-
flation rate in the United States was just eightytwo hundredths of a percent. Incredibly, California actually had one of the lower increases in personal income per capita. Over the given range from nineteen forty through nineteen forty-eight, the personal income per capita in Washington increased by forty-two percent, and forty-five percent in Oregon. It is clear from these figures that the average American had a significantly higher income, and with increased factory production and improved techniques cutting the costs of goods, the purchasing power of the average American had increased dramatically
(Christopher J. Tassava, The American Economy During World War II). America, aside from the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was practically the only country involved in the war that did not have battles fought on its home soil. Every other country had substantial amounts of damage done to their cities and economic infrastructures that in some cases is still being restored to this day. The combination of wartime production, very few damages to America soil due to the war, and the Marshall Plan, an American-led initiative to kick start the recovery and economic resurgence of European Economies following World War Two, the United States of America was in a prime position to become a global economic superpower and leader for years to come. This sus-
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tained period of economic prosperity would not only have a substantial impact on the average American’s wallet, but the culture of the country as a whole (Christopher J. Tassava, The American Economy During World War II). Once World War Two ended, however, there was a massive shift and displacement of jobs and living options. Going back to the aforementioned migration of Americans to the cities to aid in wartime production, those millions of Americans overseas re-
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turned home to the United States. This caused extreme inflation and shortages in terms of housing. Following the end of World War two in nineteen forty-five, the average rent of an urban apartment reached upwards of ninety American dollars. Adjusted to 2018 dollars, that would be at least one thousand two hundred and thirty-nine dollars monthly. Many of the available options were temporary and extremely lowquality urban apartments. On top of a high cost of living and
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low quality of living options, there was an estimated shortage of over five million homes in the United States with up to one third of the families of World War Two veterans double or tripled up with other families in homes and apartments across the country. This left a huge problem for the American government to attempt to solve (Andrew Wiese, Oxford Research Encyclopedia). There were three key factors to solving the housing crisis that followed World War Two. A suburban-expansion stimulus program, the Federal Housing Administration, and the Veterans’ Administration. The stimulus program that the American government launched provided funding to several government and private agencies to construct homes, neighborhoods, roads, and most notably, the interstate highway system. Similar to how the United States government
contracted private enterprises to produce wartime goods, they contracted new industrial corporations to construct the groundwork for suburban America. This also helped in attempting to fill the gap in jobs lost from soldiers returning home from the war. The mass-production techniques used during wartime production had been carried over to accommodate the American public. Not only were there more homes available to the recently-expanded middle class of America, Suburbia | Levittown
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V I T T O W N there were now new and accessible roads and interstate highways to practically reach these newly developed areas. Not to mention mass production had expanded and flourished in the automobile market and the automobile was affordable to more Americans than ever before (Andrew Wiese, Oxford Research Encyclopedia). The most famous example of the above-mentioned stimulus plan was the Levitt and Sons’ Levittown. As many industries did as well, the Levitts learned a lot from the mass production practices from World War Two. The Levitts developed processes to mass produce houses and neighborhoods. As required by the FHA’s minimum building standards, the Levitts massproduced the “minimum house”. These houses were small yet equipped with modern appliances and features. They almost always consisted of a simple single-floor plan with two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, and kitchen. Another innovation of the Levitts was the construction and
layout of entire subdivisions and neighborhoods. The mass-production model and financial assistance from the United States government allowed the Levitts to aim higher than just building houses, but entire communities consisting purely of homes. The first Levittown to be constructed was just outside of Long Island, New York. The Levitts purchased four thousand acres of former farm land and put their mass production model to work. They would build a community that would grow to house over eighty-two thousand people in under a decade. The Levitts would build three more suburban towns with the same model in what would be the largest and most expansive private housing project in American history (Culture of Abundance). Philip Langdon, the author of the book, A Better Place To Live, described the advantages of the Levittown suburbs compared to typical apartment buildings and broke down the construction process which made them so cheap to produce, and therefore affordable to own. His analysis is stated as fol-
lows, “Built using the principles of assembly - line mass production, Levittown went from a potato field to a community of 82,000 people in less than a decade. Construction proceeded according to 27 distinct steps, from pouring a concrete slab foundation to spray painting the drywall. Trees were planted every 28 feet. Every house in the division had exactly the same floorplan; residents reported that at night they sometimes walked into the wrong house by accident. With all of these cost-saving measures, the earliest Levittown houses were only $7000, or $29 per month for a mortgage, compared to the going rate of $90 per month for an apartment in the city. Levitt and Sons also took advantage of the government support offered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veterans Administration (VA). Before the FHA, would-be homeowners had to put down an average of 58% of a home's purchase price to secure a mortgage, a nearly impossible prospect for working class families. Since the GI Bill insured veterans' mortgages, Levittown could afford to offer them unprecedented credit, in some cases
TIMES CHANGE 63 Levittown, New Jersey | two story house plans
allowing veterans and their families to move in without putting down a cent. Homeownership suddenly became possible for a broader segment of the American population than ever before.� (Philip Langdon, A Better Place to Live, Reshaping the American Suburb) The other critical government programs to aid the housing crisis were the Veterans’ Administration and Federal Housing Administration. Explained by John J.
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Palen, “The new Veteran Administration (VA) loan guarantees made loans available to veterans at low interest rates, below conventional mortgages, with no money down and with a twenty-five or thirty-year re-payment schedule. The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) similarly liberalized its lending policies for nonveterans. The government, in effect, guaranteed the lending institutions profits by agreeing to make good any loans on which the borrower defaulted. This was a truly radical change. Banks suddenly wantedto make loans to millions of middle and low-
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er-middle-class families who they previously would have spurned. Families with a steady breadwinner could, for the first time, realistically expect to get mortgages to purchase their own homes”. He would go on to explain the effects of these programs by stating “Government lending policies-whether by design or accident - actively fostered purchasing suburban over city homes. Following World War II, VA and FHA government-guaranteed loans were readily available for new homes in the suburbs. Young veterans could and did purchase new-sometimes still-tobe-built VA and FHA approved suburban subdivision homes with nothing down and mortgage White Flight | Diagram
rates below the conventional amount. The above-mentioned Levittown in New Jersey sold homes in the mid-1950s for $8,990. Veterans were required only to place a $100 good-faith deposit, which was returned at the time of closing. Nonveterans needed only $450 down. To purchase existing city homes required far larger down payment. The low housing prices, and particularly the availability of a long-term, no-moneydown mortgage, was a crucial factor for new families just becoming economically established. By 1972 the FHA alone had made some 11 million newhome loans.” (J. John Palen, The Suburbs). In short, the VA and FHA programs made
newly constructed homes funded by the Government’s stimulus incredibly affordable. This was great news for veterans in particular whom often needed somewhere to live and received the additional benefits from the VA, thanks to the GI Bill which also provided additional benefits such as funding for higher education. Unfortunately, the developing idea of the American Dream being a suburban home with white picket fence, was always just a dream. Minorities, and African - Americans in particular, found it extremely difficult to move into these newly developed areas. A movement that became increasingly prevalent with the rise of suburban residences was hypersegregation. Hypersegregation is a form of racial segregation in which racial groups are geographically grouped into certain regions of a greater metropolitan area. This developed from many whites practicing a control of the work force. After many African Americans migrated from the south to the inner city to seek opportunities working in factories and industrial jobs, there be-
came a direct correlation between whites fleeing the inner-city areas which saw an increase in minority population. This movement is known as “white flight” and is considered one of the leading socioeconomic factors to the growth of suburbia. White flight had rather obvious consequences that were evident starting in the nineteen sixties when several once-thriving urban areas became decayed “ghettos”. Once the Colorado Springs | Robert Adams
white population had fled the surrounding area, several of the prior jobs were no longer available and socioeconomic control over wages, quality of life and rent skyrocketed to keep minorities locked into these poorly maintained areas of the inner cities. Consequently, government funding turned in favor of suburban development rather than innercity improvement and maintenance. Another impact that suburban expansion had on
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quality of life and rent had skyrocketed to keep
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the primarily African-American community of minorities was that the sheer construction of the interstate highway system led to the destruction to several tens of thousands of homes in neighborhoods that minorities lived in. This led to increasingly high price control on surrounding yet available housing options which further disadvantaged the already downtrodden minority Americans. The eradication of several of these aforementioned neighborhoods was compensated with criminally-low sums of money, and the resi-
dents of these neighborhoods were often forced into federal housing projects. The federal housing projects in terms of quality were arguably the contemporary equivalent to the infamously dangerous tenement buildings that were constructed during the industrial revolution to temporarily house the people of the great migration to the cities for factory work. The construction of these tenant buildings led to the destruction of even more family homes in inner-city areas (Kevin M. Kruse and Thomas J. Sugrue, The New Suburban History). The concept of white flight was originally covered up by the US Census Bureau, yet later proved by Donald J. Bogue of the Scripps Foundation. There was direct backlash to court rulings in favor of desegregation, notably the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The following figures show that white flight and racism had not vanished due to the suburbs but
was seemingly encouraged by the newly available areas that were nearly exclusive to whites. The following paragraph summarizes this migration from inner cities in accordance to the famous Supreme Court ruling “In some areas, the post-World War II racial desegregation of the public schools catalyzed white flight. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ordered the legal termination of the “separate, but equal” legal racism established with the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case. It declared that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Many southern jurisdictions
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a v a i l a b l e a t p r i c e s m o r e a ff o r d a b l e t h a n e v e r b e f o r e mounted massive resistance to the policy. In some cases, white parents withdrew their children from public schools and established private religious schools instead. Upon desegregation in 1957 in Baltimore, Maryland, the Clifton Park Junior High School had 2,023 white students and 34 black students; 10 years later, it had 12 white students and 2,037 black students. In northwest Baltimore, Garrison Junior High School’s student body shifted from 2,504 whites and 12 blacks to 297 whites and 1,263 blacks in that period. At the same time, the city’s working-class population declined because of the loss of industrial jobs as heavy industry restructured.” (Kevin M.
Kruse and Thomas J. Sugrue, The New Suburban History).The suburban expansion in terms of construction was a continuation of wartime manufacturing practices which effectively made an incredible number of homes available at prices more affordable than ever before. This solved a national housing shortage and employed many people who would have lost their jobs after the manufacturing and production boom ended with World War Two. A government stimulus to aid the construction costs and infrastructural groundwork for suburban neighborhoods paired with the Veterans Administration and Federal Housing Administration subsidies made the
homes affordable to nearly anyone, paving the way to the cultural phenomenon and lifestyle that would be known as “The American Dream”. Unfortunately, these homes were extremely segregated by practice and unfortunately directly by those selling them. Minorities were abandoned and left to live in decaying inner-city areas and were victims of an “indirect” and increasingly poor quality of life as a result of US Government policies favoring suburban expansion.
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