MetaFilter posts tagged with 1957

A 1950s Woman's View on Women and Sex

shivohum — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:21:19 -0800

Sex and the College Girl, by Norah Johnson A view from an educated woman in the 1950s: "Two criticisms rise above the rest: people in college are promiscuous, for one thing, and, for another, they are getting married and having children too early. These are interesting observations because they contradict each other."

"The niggers are coming!"

madamjujujive — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:03:17 -0800

Through a Lens Darkly - on September 4, 1957, when 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford tried to enter Little Rock Central High, she was blocked by the National Guard and surrounded by a screaming mob of 250: "Lynch her! Lynch her!" "No nigger bitch is going to get in our school! Get out of here!" "Go back to where you came from!" Looking for a friendly face, she turned to an old woman, who spat on her. Photos. Dramatic news footage. Ernest Green, another of the Little Rock 9 recalls the first day of school. Also in 1957 A Picture Counts - recent thread by zzazazz of Dorothy Counts entering the Charlotte School system in 1957 Willie Edwards: Justice Still Absent in Bridge Death - January 23, 1957 All Through the Night - Strom Thurmond's 24-Hour Filibuster, August 29, 1957 Civil Rights Act 1957 - signed by Eisenhower September 9, 1957

"What a beautiful world this will be. What a glorious time to be free."

amyms — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:20:35 -0800

It's been nearly 50 years since the beginning of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), an 18-month period of scientific activities and discoveries that ran from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. Both the US and the USSR launched the world's first artificial satellites during the IGY (Sputnik 1 and Explorer 1). Other achievements of the IGY included the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts and the mapping of mid-ocean ridges. The IGY also inspired at least one artistic endeavor: Steely Dan's Donald Fagen wrote his 1982 solo song "I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year)" [YouTube] as an homage to 50s optimism.