The Activist Generation

Our interview candidate, Ms. C

For Ms. C, a high school history teacher in Northern New Jersey, her forty two year teaching career has echoed her view of how life should be lived. To her, life should be lived in giving back to the community and in service to others. But where does this ideal come from? It doesn't come from religion or good parenting. Rather, it comes from her time in college which was in the 1960s, a time that was marked by protesting, and other acts of passionate service for the community.

1960's fashion

 In order to understand the implications of the 1960’s, it is important to revisit what this era was like. One aspect would be the fashion which was first influenced by the prior decade, the 1950’s, but soon lead to more freedom and expression through clothing. Specifically,
women were able to progress out of the “housewife” dress and become more expressive with shorter skirts, brighter colors and designs. Expression was
forthcoming especially within music. Popular artists such as The Supremes and Jimi Hendrix made headlines as well as British artists (The Beatles,
The Who, The Kinks, and  the majestic David Bowie to name a few). Interestingly enough, a movement called “message music” was also popular. These songs had messages of empowerment and messaged against war and advocated for peace. Bob Dylan was one artist known for his contribution to this movement as this genre of music became anthems for rallies, protests, concerts and sit-ins.

Civil Rights

 Although there was a start to freedom of expression in fashion, art, culture and music, there was also a fierce protest against infringement of rights for various races and women. Some important legislation, among others, that changed these infringements was the Civil
Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.  The Civil Rights Act made way for races to be treated equally and fairly in places of school, work and public services (such as restrooms).

Voting Rights/ Womens' Rights

Women were included within this equality as well to be treated equally legally. The Voting Rights Act disabled discriminatory actions towards voting rights which helped to alleviate some discrimination towards African-Americans and other cultures. The power of activism was one of the many reasons for the social changes and legislations created.


The Vietnam War was also a huge avenue for activism. More than 500,000 troops were sent into battle by the Lydon B. Johnson Administration,because of this college rates increased significantly since those in college were not sent into war. The United States presence in the war was due to the need to prevent the spread of communism in order to contain communism (communists allied with North Vietnam). These events along with others in the 1960’s were major causes to the rise of protests and service. Ms. C was impacted by this decade’s ability for action.

Vietnam War

In the modern age of newspaper, radio, phones, music and television, what's cool has always shaped the lives of high school and college students. Coming from a very cloistered childhood, Ms. C found it hard to relate to other kids and teenagers. It wasn't until she attended college in the 60s, the decade that was most influential in her life, that she started being able to relate to others through interaction and learning. In the 60s the cool thing to do was protest, which says a lot about the era that she grew up in. To her, protesting US involvement in Vietnam and protesting racial segregation was not just a hobby but a way of life. The generation she belonged to believed that you had to give back to society which meant that all of her friends became teachers or social workers or entered into a field or occupation in which giving back to society, in some way or another, became the overall job description.


After 42 years of teaching, Ms. C sees no end in sight. Every year she teaches she is already thinking of next year's curriculum and how it is being affected by the events of today. When asked if she had thought about retiring she said that, to her, the only thing she wants to do is teach. So retiring would mean giving up the biggest part of the past four decades in her life. She did say, however, that retiring wouldn't be too bad because she has two beautiful young granddaughters that she would love to spoil and retiring from teaching would give her more time to do
that.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the students posting.  As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own.  The director of this blog does not necessarily agree with the views and/or opinions expressed.  Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

Baseball Scores on the Wall

For our oral presentation, we had the privilege of interviewing and conversing with Ms. B. One thing that made this interview more of a fun experience and less of an assignment was the conversation between the three of us: It seemed more like a documentary that we were filming. Dorothy is a New Yorker from the city, just like us. She grew up in Brooklyn, which is literally next door to Queens; the borough that we both grew up in. She gave us personal accounts of a few crucial moments in American history, such as the Great Depression and Prohibition. Ms. B also explained to us how her husband played a crucial role in the division of the Bell Telephone Company as well as the emergence of AT&T as a major company. She also provided us with a thorough glimpse of what New York City life was like in the early and mid-1900’s. Following her descriptions and occasional narrations of moments in her life, we were able to picture the street vendors selling french fries, the above ground subway line that ran from downtown Brooklyn to Jamaica, Queens (which still runs today). When she told us about the weekly baseball scores chalked up on a building after innings as well as the forbidden movie theatre known as “The Itch,” all we could do was imagine. 

Although these things were interesting to imagine and learn about, they also made us appreciate the things that we have today: iPhones, and Netflix were not so popular back then! Nonetheless, her childhood and adolescence was slightly synonymous with ours. She witnessed the Great Depression. We are currently witnessing a recession. She grew up during World War II and the Cold War; we grew up during the Wars in Iraq. Despite our differences, there were things that we could relate to in Ms. B’s life. Overall, it was a touching experience.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the students posting. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. The director of this blog does not necessarily agree with the views and/or opinions expressed below. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

STOP JOSEPH KONY NOW: JOIN THE KONY 2012 CAMPAIGN AND SPREAD THE WORD

If you do not know who Joseph Kony is, here is a quick break down: 

1. For 26 years he has terrorized, murdered, maimed and raped Ugandan people.
2. For 26 years he has abducted children [some as young as four or five] and forced them to kill, maim, and rape. Sometimes he forces them to murder their own parents.
3. An organization called Invisible Children brought Kony and the children he targets to the attention of leaders in Washington, after 8 years of pressure, they finally decided to take action.
4. In October, 2011 President Barack Obama sent a small contingent of soldiers to help train and strategize with forces fighting against Kony.
5. Those forces could leave any minute, if we do not continue to ask our leadership to push forward. 
6. This year, people all over the world are using this film to keep the movement going:

Please join the campaign, repost the film on facebook, blogs, in emails, in twitter and help change history.

Air Raids, Nuclear War, and a Little Roller-skating

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the students posting. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. The director of this blog does not necessarily agree with the views and/or opinions expressed below. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

Ms. M had so much to share with us. We learned so many things ranging from her childhood memories, college life, how she met her husband and her favorite things to do. But maybe most importantly, how the World War II and the Cold War affected her daily life

Her life began near Rochester, New York on 80 acres of land in the country. On her family’s land were picnic groves and barns; one of her favorite pastimes when she was younger was roller-skating with music playing on the jukebox in one of the large barns.  Her father William was a wholesale grocer and her mother Edna, did the accounting work for their store. Carolyn told us that her and her sister grew up with a nanny who took care of them. Her brothers were always off working with something to do with the war and her parents were running the store.

 Because of WWII, Ms. M mentioned that her family would go through air raid drills. During these drills they would line up in the hallways, sitting down with their legs out in front of them. As a small way to help out in the war effort, the school children were encouraged to purchase stamps and eventually, victory bonds. Rationing was also in place during the war. The rations were a way for the government making sure that everyone got their fair share. Because Carolyn’s father was a grocer, her family dealt with fewer limitations. WWII ended with some of largest civilian deaths in history. Later on during the Cold War, all across America, many people were filled with fear because of the possibilities of nuclear weapons being used. Ms. M confirmed that she lived in fear during this time. 

 Throughout her life Ms. M always excelled in math. She was not like other girls who would become nurses or teachers; Ms. M had other ideas. Ms. M’s aspirations were to use her math skills to become an accountant. She attended Rochester University and completed her undergraduate degree in Economics and Business Administration. During her junior year at Rochester University, Ms. M went with a singing group to Germany. Because of the relations the United States has with Germany, the families that Ms. M stayed with would always bring up the subject of how the United States bombed Germany during the war.

Later on, Ms. M lived in Yorkville, in an apartment with her friends. While living in Yorkville, Ms. M met here husband, who had been pursuing education in the law field. They later married and moved to Queens. From Queens they moved with their baby daughter to West Nyack, where Ms. M still lives today! Ms. M was very excited to tell us about her many adventurous trips which all seemed to include outdoor activities such as camping, skiing, canoeing, tennis, and Ping-Pong. Ms. M also told us about trips to New York City where she and her girlfriends would see ballet and theater presentations together. 

"Don't Let the Bow-tie Fool Ya."

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the students posting. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. The director of this blog does not necessarily agree with the views and/or opinions expressed below. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

Hello, our names are Carly, Jordan, and Matt. For our oral history project we interviewed Richard who was part of the anti- war movement which occurred in the 1960’s. His journey began with, of course, a woman who sparked his particular interest; she got him involved with volunteer work which consisted of working with other ethnics groups. Doing so, cause him to look at the world differently and he became engulfed with expanding his knowledge. Also contributing to this was the fact that he was attending George Washington College in Washington D.C.; the center of political and protestor conflicts. Richard expanded his knowledge by attending teach-ins and reading books on the war, the past, and how war impacts home life. As he began to speak more of the anti- war movement with his family conflicts sprouted between him and his father as a result of his father being a War World Two Veteran. What his father did not understand was that being a part of the anti-war movement did not mean that he was anti- solider, movement participants were pro- solider they just wanted them to come home.

Richard’s first large demonstration was the March on the Pentagon which was said to have had somewhere between 50,000- 100,000 people involved. During these times people would knock on his door and state that they were involve with the movement and ask “Can we stay in your room?” he would reply yes. Everyone would then throw money into a hat and they would order pizza or some other kind of takeout, which was a bonding experience. 

Unfortunately, the anti- war movement took a dark turn in 1968 and assassinations such as Martin Luther and Robert Kennedy occurred. After Nixon’s inauguration more demonstrations transpired, both peaceful and violent. A peaceful example, as seen in the picture, is when protestors would put flowers into rifles. Violent examples consist of the police throwing gas canisters into the crowd and then the crowds retaliating and throwing them back at the police. Also after the police would break up the demonstrations, people would continue to act violent by vandalizing things such as throwing bricks through windows. In response to these brutal acts, Richard would sit in the shower for long periods of time meditating. He sat in there for so long for two reasons: the first is that he had to wash the gas off of him and the second is that he would feel emotionally dirty for having participated in such aggressive demonstrations.

In 1969, Richard was drafted. He knew the draft laws due to his previous experiences as a draft counselor and therefore was aware of the three options he had: he could go to jail, flee to Canada, or go to the front line. Richard visited a “friendly physician,” a doctor who is against the war and is also seen in the picture, who discovered a polinidal cyst in his lower spine. He became ecstatic with joy because this random cyst that had never bothered him before might just be the thing that saved him from going overseas.  While he was waiting to have his physical, he decided that he really wanted these people to see the ugliness of this cyst. Remember now, this was pre- AIDS days, Richard took a q-tip from a random garbage can and irritated it to the point where it started to bleed. When he went in there and showed his cyst to the doctors he heard one man go “EWWW.” Richard kept thinking “Yes! Yes! Yes!” and later received a 1- H. A 1-H meant that he was not to go overseas right now but in the case of a nuclear attack, they would call him. After a year, Richard was never bothered by the cyst and he was never called to go to war.

Years later, Richard was teaching in North Carolina when he and a few others from the history department decided to take their students for a trip to Washington D.C. On their last night there, they visited the Vietnam Wall where Richard then began to stroke the engraved names. He became engulfed with emotion repeating “Damn…Damn…” and then started to sob. Surrounding students became frightened and went to fetch other teachers but Richard was not paying attention to them, he could not shake the thoughts and flashbacks of our loss and the loss of the Vietnamese people. 

 As you can see, the anti- war movement had a huge impact on Richards’ life and it formed many views that still stick with him today. The movement had its ups and its downs but in the end he was happy to have participated in it, it just goes to show you that “the littlest things can mean a lot.”

A History of Nyack

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

When I heard that there were elephants buried in Moseley Field, I thought it was just a legend that upperclassmen had made up. My partner and I decided to dig deeper to find out the true history of this area before Nyack College came into existence. We enjoyed getting to know Ms. S. and listening to all of her stories. You know you are going to get a lot of information if you happen to interview a librarian, and Ms. S. has volunteered at the Nyack Library for 10 years so she is highly qualified to be in that category. 

Yoga in the Park

This story actually starts with Ms. S’s mother, who went to see her sister in Duluth, Minnesota and see if she could find work. She was hired as a nanny for a rich family. The children loved her so much, that the Thompsons asked if she would travel with them to Florida for the summer. She agreed to stay on with the family, and eventually the family travelled to Nyack, New York, but liked it so much they ended up staying there. That is where she met her husband, who had started off working with his father as a shoe manufacturer, then once the oil burners were invented, he began installing heating systems for the houses. This oil heating system was a big improvement to the coal furnaces, which had to constantly be replenished and they left soot and ash on the furniture and clothes. He worked all over town, and one of his jobs was to install a heating system in the famous Dr. Pierre Bernard’s elephant barn.   

Elephant balancing on beam

Dr. Bernard owned a lot of property in town and provided entertainment and new ideas from overseas. The Clarkstown Country Club (CCC) was for patrons to enjoy themselves, and also learn about eastern philosophies. There was a theatre, library full of Sanskrit literature, and even a circus with international actors. There were several acts that included the well-loved elephants, which had been brought in from India. “Mom”, a famous elephant, who was also the largest at the time, died of old-age, but she was well cared for, even in her last days. Dr. Bernard built a huge stadium, which had a baseball field and a track for dog races. Unfortunately that establishment no longer exists, for some apartment buildings now stand where the stadium once was. Dr. Bernard brought in professionals to play, but local teams could use it as well. Ms. S’s brothers played on a local team called the Wildcats. Dr. Bernard brought many ideas and philosophies from overseas, including yoga. This explains the name he was known by, “Oom the Omnipotent”. His wife Blanche DeVries, helped him run his establishment and taught yoga. "During Bernard's first year in Nyack, the townspeople summoned the state police because they saw yoga exercises being practiced on the lawn and thought that Bernard was establishing a love cult. 
Upon arrivalthe police found nothing suspicious and the matter was dropped." (New York’s Lower Hudson Valley)

Piermont Pier

Ms. S grew up during World War II. She remembers the panic of when soldiers would knock on her door asking if they could check in her chicken coop for Prisoners of War that had escaped from Camp Shanks. Camp Shanks was were the UnitedStatesian soldiers were equipped to go to Europe before being sent on their way out of the Piermont Pier, and where POWs were kept. Air raid drills were terrifying. Her parents put their coats on the kitchen windows so that she and her brothers could finish eating with the candles lit. In kindergarten, she would bring in 10¢ to get a stamp for her bond book to help with the war efforts. They also collected aluminum cans to be made into ammunition and weapons. Since her father worked in the oil heating business for Camp Shanks, he got to know a few soldiers, so Ms. S’s family would keep some of their cars in their yard until they got back.

The Clarkstown Country Club went into a financial decline and eventually had to close down during World War II. The same thing happened to the stadium. The Tappan Zee bridge was completed in 1955, since there had been a shortage of steel due to the Korean War. Ms. S said that “not that long ago she knew everyone in the area. But then after WWII, when the bridge opened up in the 1950s, the whole area changed. People came, people left...”

Victory Gardens and Comic Books

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

The Interviewee

• For the Oral History Project, our group interviewed a woman by the name of Ms. P.
•  Ms. P was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Ms. Pwas two years old when World War II began
• Ms. P moved to and spent most of her childhood in San Francisco, California
• She had two other siblings and was married at 19
• Ms. P’s father worked at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, worked nights at a mortuary and was a TA at the University of Berkley in English Literature
• Ms. P’s mother worked at the administration office at the University of Berkley and also cleaned factory offices

Contextual Research

•  World War II began in 1939, due to Hitler's invasion of Poland and Britain and France’s declaration of war on Germany.
• In 1941 the United States joined the war due to Japan’s attack of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
•  Sparked naval battles between Japan and the U.S. i.e. Battle of Midway
•  1941 Nazi Germany and its Axis Powers declared war on the U.S.
• Allied Powers: Britain, France, the U.S. and the Soviet Union
• Axis Powers: Germany, Italy and Japan
• 1944 German defeat at the Battle of the Bulge and D-Day (Allied invasion of France)
• May 7 1945 Germany surrenders to the western Allies
•  August 6^th and August 9^th1945 the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• September 2 1945 Japan surrenders officially ending the war
• 1945 Auschwitz is liberated by troops of the Soviet Union
• It is estimated that more than 55 million people died during World War II

What We Learned

Throughout the interviewing process, we learned about the importance of victory gardens in World War II.

•          Victory gardens which particularly popular in San Francisco, where our interviewee was from. 
•      Victory Gardens were planted by families to prevent food shortage and to ensure that there would be enough food for the soldiers. 
•      At the time, many had to ration foods like sugar, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, coffee, meat and canned goods

In the interview with Ms. P, we learned about the role of war bonds in World War II.

•      War bonds were established to help fund the war.
•      The government encouraged citizens to buy war bonds and in return the government promised to pay the bonds back with interest over the period of roughly 10 years.
•      War bonds were bought by purchasing stamps that were usually 10 to 15 cents each.
•      As Ms. P described one of her memorable childhood experiences, she stated, “We all bought our stamps and pasted them in the books and filled them up and turned them in. ”

Rosie the Riveter

•     Rosie the Riveter was a cultural icon, representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II
•     Rosie the Riveter is based upon an actual song and person

•      Perry described Rose as “[the symbol] of women stepping in to do what was necessary to keep the home front going and to keep the war machine going.”

Entertainment of the 1940’s:

•      World War II proved to be the Golden Age of Comics
•      Comic books during the Great Depression and World War II were established for cheap entertainment for only 10 cents. Comic books like Captain America and other Heroic Comics showed a lot of tension between America and The Nazi’s.
•      Captain America and other characters were inspirational characters that instilled hope and perseverance in the people of the U.S. states. When the characters were up against Hitler they never lost a battle showing that America can never be defeated.
•         Perry recalled attending the cinema’s once a week for 11 cents on Saturdays.
•          In addition, Perry recalled that one could only “eat one piece of bubble gum at the corner store because there wasn’t sugar being wasted on nonsense in those days.”
•      Cartoons became a big sensation during World War II
•          In 1942 Navy torpedo boats were being launched, Lieutenant E. S. Caldwell of the Naval Operations office in Washington, wrote a letter to Walt Disney in Hollywood asking Disney to design an emblem for their fleet “mosquito boats” A few days later Disney delivered this emblem and it was such a hit that every torpedo boat had a Disney mosquito, word got around in the Army about what Disney did, Disney was bombarded with requests
•        There are many major cartoons that are known today that were involved in WWII: Dr. Seuss and Loony Toons.
• 
  
•         Looney Tunes were a big hit during World War II. Bugs Bunny was the mascot for Warner Brothers. Bugs played in a lot of episodes imitating Adolf Hitler. A lot of the Looney Tunes cartoons were banned and could not stay on the air.

 Radio was a primary source of entertainment for Ms. P

•       Ms. P recalls learning to fox trot with her father to “The Way You Look Tonight” on the radio
•      Songs that Ms. P mentioned included:
•      Mairzy Doats: “Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey, a kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you?”
•      Bell Bottom Trousers: when the sailors came to town everyone sang this jingle
•       “Bell bottom trousers, coats of navy blue, she loves her sailor and he loves her too.”
•          Bing Crosby was an important singer and actor of the 1940’s
•          Bette Davis was a renowned actress of film, television and theater, known for her roles as an unsympathetic character.
•          Betty Grable was known for her pin-up shots and appearance in magazine covers.

The End of World War II:

•           At the end of World War II, Perry described that “Everybody in the whole neighborhood went out in the streets laughing and crying. And they were so happy the war was over. That was an interesting experience that was the first time I saw people pouring out of their houses with this kind of open emotion. You know, because people more or less stayed in their own yards, in their own houses the rest of the time.”

The Rise of the Great Depression:

•           Mobilizing the economy for World War II provided a helpful solution to the Depression. Millions of men and women joined the armed forces and others went to work in well-paying defense jobs.
•      As Ms. P recalls the effect of World War II on the Great Depression, she states, “the whole country came out of a serious Depression, Roosevelt was doing his best to fight with….and you know the work programs he did a lot of good, but it was really the war, the industry, the steel mills, you know that helped bring the economy of the country back.”

Conclusion

•          World War Two profoundly affected the world and the U.S. and still continues to influence us today in that this past historical event can provide a glimpse of what our future could look like or rather what we can prevent in the future.
•      This Oral History Project allowed us all to delve beyond factual information previously learned in high school and middle school and learn about the intimate relationships and characteristics revolving around those who lived during World War II.