Cold War Culture
Arts/Entertainment
The Other America: Poverty in the U.S.A.
Michael Harrington published this account of poverty and life in the inner urban cities. This book inspired presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to wage a war on poverty. Harrington wrote that the poor were invisible to most Americans, because they lived in rural isolations or urban slums. Because of his argument in his book, the poor are no longer overlooked because of their way of life.
The Other America Cover
The cover shown here is the image that was used on the front of his book, showing a poor kid overseen by those above him.
Michael Harrington
Author of The Other America.
The Beat Generation
Picture from several times during the beat movement.
The Beat Movement
The Beat Movement expressed the social and literary nonconformity of artists, poets, and writers. Followers were called beats or beatniks. They were shunned regular work. believe in Zen Buddhism music and use drugs. Beatniks live nonconformism lives.
They were influenced by European philosophy and religion. The beatniks and others involved in the beat movement were known especially for their use of nontraditional forms and their rejection of conventional social values.