BOOKS:
Catcher in the Rye
Our Town
VIDEOS/LECTURES:
The Early History of Rock and Roll
David Halberstam's The 50s
Pleasantville
Supplemental Reading will be given throughout the unit.
Literature is a series of stories and stories are our collective history.
Stories are the things that hold us together as a community and as human
beings. Holden Caulfield tells his story in his own distinct voice and
in Thorton Wilder's Our Town it is the exploration of our lives
that the reader focuses on. We are using the past to give us insight into
our present lives -- the stories we live, versus the stories we are told.
UNIT OBJECTIVES:
Commerce
Consumer Culture/Advertising
Women's Issues -- Memoir of homemakers, working women?
History of Local Theatres
Local Music
Growth of Ann Arbor (Urbanization)
Minority Issues/Civil Rights
History of University of Michigan (any facet, football, marching band,
a department --as a side note there were interesting military research
projects going on at the u)
The U of Michigan and the cure for Polio
History of Ann Arbor Public High Schools (as Huron/Pioneer weren't
around as we know them today--but the Frieze Building…)
Architecture
Beatniks
Detroit Music Scene (In. Motown)
Toys
Medical History--Mental Health, Psychology, Medicine
American dream--Death of a Salesman--Arthur Miller at the U
Beatniks/Subculture
Television
Korean War
McCarthyism
Communism
Cold War (Precautions in A2)
Ann Arbor teachers from the 50s/any grade
Drive In Theatres in A2
Dating
"Peyton's Place"/Ann Arbor
Milltown antidepressants
Space exploration
You may also opt to volunteer at the Veterans Hospital and write about your experiences working there helping vets…
Week 1--March 6 Discuss 50s Topic Selection
Week 2--March 13 Declare Topic; Groups (if you're in one)
Week 3--March 20 Research; Prep Interview; ?s
Week 4--March 27 Do interviews; Transcribe Interviews
Week 5--April 3 Begin Creative Synthesis
Week 6--April 10 Drafts; In Class workshops
Week 7--April 17 Due Presentation
You are historical investigators, and story hunters…This will be your performance, show, idea, project. You may not have groups larger than three or you may investigate alone…
Head to the Ann Arbor public library. According to historians at the Bentley Historical Library, the best way to get a feel for an era is to read the newspapers -- The Ann Arbor Public Library carries the News from the 1950s -- Start hunting there.
Research the general issues with the big picture of your project in mind.
Begin locating people or events that would be meaningful to you and
help you make a connection to a person or place in the past. What kind
of people might be able to direct you to the type of story you are looking
for?
3 Nights of Presentations (one for each hour).
YOU are to use your interviews for any of the following. You need at least a written and visual component for each piece.
Round table interviews may be really cool…three nights of presentations…
A Dateline 20/20 Investigative Video Report
Photo Essays
Journals
Short Stories
Plays
Music Videos
Comic Strips
Poems
Sitcom
Interactive Media
Design Game
Newpaper Article/News Feature
Essays
Website
Places:
Dawn Treader Bookstore on Liberty carries many old magazines at inexpensive
prices
Kaleidoscope--funky toy store on State. The people who work there know
tons. They also have old mags.
Dascola Barbers on Liberty by the Michigan Theatre. There are many
stories to tell…
Local Nursing Homes (look in your phone books)
A2 Public Library--994-2333
345 S. Fifth Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Glacier Hills Nursing Home
Bentley Historical Library--http://www.umich.edu/bhl
Kathy Marquis (Kmarquis@umich.edu)
Search their catalogue through Mirlyn, but be sure to limit the search to the Bentley's collection. That way whey you go to view their collection (which can not leave the library) you will know what you're looking for--They have an extensive collection of personal papers, photos, and pre
Animated map of the changing boundaries of Ann Arbor. Base maps
from Mallett's Creek Management Plan, February 2000, Mallett's Creek Association,
Ann Arbor, MI.
Street map of Ann Arbor, 1999. City of Ann Arbor base map.
Map produced in ArcView GIS, v. 3.2 (ESRI software).
Parcel map of Ann Arbor, 1999. Smaller parcels are shaded in lighter
colors; larger ones in darker colors. Parcel boundaries have been
removed to show pattern. City of Ann Arbor base map. Map produced
in ArcView GIS, v. 3.2 (ESRI software).
Find where you live and where your oral history contacts live!
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