http://www.c-span.org/video/?294914-1/president-truman-speech-bombing-hiroshima

This is a link to President Truman’s speech after dropping the atomic bomb. He states, “We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake, we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war.” America had mixed signals after the bomb was dropped. Many were elated that no more soldiers would lose their life, however, others were heart broken that some of their family members have just been bombed.

Last week, Professor Blum gave us the idea to Tweet at him about the “economic affluence inequality throughout history”. In my opinion, what’s the most shocking isn’t the gender pay discrepancy throughout our past, rather it’s the present pay difference between men and women by state in the U.S.

The gender pay gap in the United States as of 2013 showed that the smallest wage gap (by state/congressional district) was in Washington D.C., where women make 91 cents to the dollar of what men make. The largest wage gap was in Louisiana, where women make only 66 cents to the dollar of what men make .

(Since I don’t have a Twitter, I used my friend’s account to spread the word.)

The sixties were a time of great change that came with the want to deviate from the social norm. It was a time that could be described as “hedonistic,” but it was also a great counter-cultural era that promoted individualism and denounced conformity. The war in Vietnam only heightened the want for peace and neither the conservatives nor the liberals were ready to admit they were wrong. I personally believe that the want to be a unique individual still exists with us today, and as a fan of the counterculture, I would like to think that the influence of the sixties remains with us in some aspects.

Vanessa Rodriguez

Section 1, Group 3

I am going to write my essay on the Vietnam War and how the media influenced the hippie movement and all of the songs based off of the war that emerged during that time. I was looking through Major Problems and in chapter 14 I was able to find a passage of a song by Country Joe and the Fish called “I Feel Like I’m Fixin To Die”. It is a war protest song in which Joe McDonald is berating the government for sending thousands of young men to fight and die in their war. There were several songs like these which were a direct reaction to the Vietnam war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuUBCF3KKxc

I recently came across this twitter page called “Lost in History.” It posts photos from all different time periods and I find myself learning something new every time they post something. I think it’s amazing how Twitter is a relatively new invention but it can be combined with history from over 100 years ago. This account has 3.4 million followers, which goes to show that people still find history interesting even when it is taught outside of a classroom setting. Some of the pictures I included from this account are a guide to men’s hairstyling in the 1950’s, an advertisement for a computer costing $6000 in the 1980’s, and a rare U.S. banknote with a Native American on it. (Christine O’Donnell Section 1 Group 2)

chlorine changed the world.

via chlorine changed the world.

A couple of weeks ago, Professor Blum told us that he didn’t want us to fully read our history book, yet he didn’t want us to skim it either. Instead, he called for us to, “Bite into the text,” and find phrases and ideas that are called upon frequently during the book. I’ve been reading a lot, but only now do I truly understand what he meant at the time. It looks delicious, doesn’t it?

-Brandon Beal

Walking to class I noticed this on the wall of one of our halls. 83 years ago this was built by the United States Works Progress Administration. Later renamed the Works Progress Administration or the WPA it was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of unemployed people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. Pretty unbelievable if you ask me.

Walking

This isn’t a hack or assignment or anything, but I just wanted to upload a couple pictures of the history sessions for next Friday and Saturday. It just took me a really long time to find all of the history sessions and I thought that it might be easier if I just put them in one place to save a little time of searching for all of them. I know that there are a few more history sessions than just the ones here, but I figured I would put the ones that were clustered together on here. Hope this helps.

-Yvette F

Today, February 27, 2015, Leonard Nimoy has passed away at the age of 83. As I am sure everybody reading this knows, he played the legendary role of Spock, a half human half Vulcan, in the original Star Trek movies along with William Shatner as Captain Kirk and Nichelle Nichols as Uhura. Nimoy and the character that he played was not only a part of Star Trek and science fiction history, but also real history. African Americans received the right to vote on August 6, 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended all state and local laws requiring segregation just three and two years before Star Trek premiered. Also, one year before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Star Trek featured Nichelle Nichols, one of the first African American, female characters on American television that did not play a servant when she played Uhura.  In chapter 12 (page 371) of Major Problems there is a picture of the original Star Trek cast showing “ethic diversity and inter-species harmony”. RIP Leonard Nimoy.