Last year, the Wayne County Public Library hosted a film-and-discussion series on the Post-War Years of American history. With the guidance of Dr. Alan K. Lamm, a history professor from Mount Olive College, participants examined the late 1940s and the 1950s and discussed the repercussions of cultural and political events of that time.
Many of the events of this era laid the ground-work for a society steeped in tradition and conformity, and those traditions and conformist ideals would eventually be challenged in what is often considered the most turbulent—no doubt the most controversial and arguably the most memorable—decade in American history: the 1960s.
In the early part of this decade, the Civil Rights Movement demanding racial equality and an end to legal segregation would grow in support. Average citizens became more cognizant of foreign involvement in American politics—and the involvement of America in foreign politics. The cultural unrest experienced by America’s youth would find a voice in rock-and-roll and the Beat movement.
As the sixties progressed, causes for rebellion increased, shattering what remained of the consensus and complacency of the Post-War Era. At times, the very survival of American society seemed threatened; not from nuclear holocaust as in the previous decade but from the violent dissatisfaction experienced by segments of America’s own population. The wide-spread conflict gave birth to images that remain vivid in our collective memory: the horrifying succession of assassinations, urban rioting, and masked police in fogs of tear gas; campus buildings under siege and masses of sprawling youth at rock festivals; the haunted faces—soldiers and civilians alike—of the Vietnam War. The United States was experiencing a massive breakdown: a breakdown of faith in its ideals, its institutions, and its prospects.
Clearly Americans experienced the decade in strikingly different ways. The vast majority of people did not engage in protest and many were offended by the rhetoric and actions of the activists. Moreover, the sixties fell far short of becoming the total political and spiritual revolution some believed it to be. But the explosion of creative energy that defined the decade was more than an adolescent outburst or an orgy or permissiveness. It was a clarion call to change.
It’s only fitting that the Library follow-up last year’s popular study of the 1940s and the 1950s with a look at this turning point in American history and culture. The Sixties: A Film History of America’s Decade of Crisis and Change will be held at the Main Branch in the Gertrude Weil Auditorium. The film series will be six sessions: one session each Sunday beginning on April 15 and ending on May 27. Each session will last from 2 to 4 PM.
As with last year’s series, Dr. Alan K. Lamm will be leading the discussion that follows each film. Dr. Lamm is a former Army Chaplain and Army Historian. He holds degrees from Mount Olive College, UNC-Greensboro, Duke University, and the University of South Carolina.
All patrons all welcome to participate, but space is limited for this program. To sign-up or for more information, feel free to call the Reference Desk of the Main Branch at 735-1824 and ask to speak to Matt Bolen.
