The 1950s are often conceptualized as the stolid conformist years preceding the social disruption of the late 1960s. There is much to be said for this idea, and yet the earlier decade witnessed significant challenges to the social status quo, especially in regard to race and ethnicity.

Use this page to call our attention to any interesting discoveries you make about identity in the 1950s—not just race and ethnicity, but religion, gender, and sexual preference. Curious facts, figures, speeches, events, etc. are all welcome. You can also contribute compelling ideas from secondary sources—but I’d like to keep the emphasis here on primary rather than secondary texts.

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