5. Migrant Mother
After the outbreak of World War
I, the United States pursued a policy of non-intervention, avoiding conflict
while trying to broker peace. When a German U-boat sank the British liner
Lusitania in 1915, with 128 Americans aboard, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson vowed,
“America is too proud to fight” and demanded that Germany end the attacks on
passenger ships. In January of 1917, Britain’s secret Royal Navy cryptanalytic
group, Room 40, intercepted a German coded message to Mexico, which suggested
that Mexico should declare war on the United States with the help of Germany.
U.S.
President Woodrow Wilson released the information to the public to gain
support for the war. He realized that a U.S. conflict was imminent, after
German submarines sank numerous U.S. merchant ships.
The United States officially entered World War I on April 6, 1917.
After the end of the war, the U.S. moved into the Golden Age of media, with the
establishment of public radio and the first major broadcast networks. However,
by the end of the 1920s, the U.S entered the Great Depression, which was the
longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century. The Great
Depression originated in the United States, starting with the plummet of the
stock market. The depression had devastating effects in virtually every
country. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while
international trade plunged and unemployment in the U.S. rose to 25%.
Tensions
quickly elevated in major settlements around the United States and this era in
U.S. history is full of dark and depressing pictures.
The
Photograph
Dorothea Lange was an influential American documentary
photographer, best known for her Depression-era work. Lange’s photographs
humanized the tragic consequences of the Great Depression and profoundly
influenced the development of documentary photography. Her best known images
were taken in 1936, when she captured a set of pictures that would become known
as the Migrant Mother collection. In March 1936, after picking beets in the Imperial
Valley, Florence Owens Thompson and her family suffered car trouble near the
city of Nipomo, California. Florence Thompson’s husband and sons took the car’s
radiator to be fixed and she set up a temporary camp with her small children.
While the family waited for the men to return, Dorothea Lange
approached Florence and took a collection of famous images. One of the pictures
shows a close-up portrait of Florence Owens Thompson and her children. The
image was published in newspapers all over the United States and has since
reached near mythical status, symbolizing, if not defining, this entire era in
U.S. history. It was not until the late 1970s that Thompson’s identity was
discovered. She was quoted as saying “I wish she hadn’t taken my picture. I can’t
get a penny out of it. She didn’t ask my name. She said she wouldn’t sell the
pictures. She said she’d send me a copy. She never did.” As one of the most
powerful photographs of the Depression era, Migrant Mother reflects the victims
who suffered the most in the United States during the 1930s.
4. American Soldiers Storm
Normandy
In 1939, Nazi Germany and the
Soviet Union invaded Poland marking the beginning of the Second World War. In
1940, the Selective Service Act was passed in the United States. The law
required that all men between the ages of 21 and 35 register with the U.S.
draft board. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy
conducted a surprise attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor. The next day,
the U.S. declared war on Japan resulting in the entry into World War II.
Over
the next four years of war, 418,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in battle. On
January 16, 1945, the Red Army breached the German front and entered the city
of Berlin. May 8, 1945, is officially Victory in Europe Day, when the Allies
formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. August 14, 1945,
is Victory over Japan Day in the United States.
After the end of the Second World War, the Korean Peninsula, which
was ruled by Japan since 1910, was divided along the 38th Parallel, with U.S.
troops occupying the southern portion and Soviet troops occupying the north. In
1948, government officials failed to hold free elections on the Korean
Peninsula and this deepened the division between the two sides. The North
established a Communist government and the 38th Parallel became a political
border between the two Koreas. On June 25, 1950, the conflict escalated into
open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea. This event marked
the beginning of the Korean War (1950-1953). The U.S. came to the aid of South
Korea, while China and Russia joined the communist north. The conflict ended
after the threat of nuclear war was made and the Korean Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ) was formed, which is a 2.5 mile (4.0 km) wide buffer zone between the two
Koreas. Today, the DMZ is the most heavily militarized border in the world.
The
Photograph
A number of famous American photographs were taken during the
Second World War. The three most referenced images include the Conference of
the Big Three at Yalta, which shows Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Premier Josef Stalin in February of 1945.
The Flag Raising on Iwo Jima is probably the most well known American photo in
existence, while the picture taken of a happy couple celebrating the end of the
war with a kiss in New York City is iconic. For this article, I have selected a
war photo that was captured on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), as American soldiers
swarmed the beaches of Normandy.
The Normandy landing was the largest amphibious invasion of all
time, with over 160,000 Allied troops entering France on June 6, 1944. This
famous image shows American soldiers as they leave the ramp of a Coast Guard
landing boat and enter the frigid waters off Normandy. At the time that the
picture was taken, these men were under heavy Nazi machine gun fire. They were
forced to travel through the heavy tides and deep water holes, searching for
solid land. Looking at this image, you can feel the wetness in the air and
smell the gunpowder that looms over the battlefield. This photograph was taken
under the intense pressures of war and gives a historic glimpse into the
conflict.
3. Martin Luther King Jr.
Assassination
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Earl Warren made a historic ruling. He granted the children of Oliver
Brown the right to attend an all white school, striking down the “separate but
equal” concept that was prevalent in the United States. Warren ruled that
segregation violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The decision
led to the African-American Civil Rights Movement. During this time, acts of
nonviolent protest and civil disobedience produced crisis situations between
activists and police. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 granted equal access to
public accommodations for everyone regardless of race, religion or national
origin. The enactment of the law resulted from numerous demonstrations designed
to show the hardships of segregation in America.
The United States also experienced a youth movement during the
early 1960s, known as the hippy subculture. These people practiced the
principle of free love, harmony with nature, communal living, world peace,
artistic expression, and in many cases widespread experimentation with
mind-altering substances. During this time, music grew in America like never
before and Beatle Mania expanded.
Bob Dylan emerged as a lyricist. Many of the
pubic demonstrations included speeches in strong opposition to the U.S. involvement
in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a conflict that lasted from 1955-1975.
The war was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies,
and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the U.S. and other
anti-communist nations. The conflict ended with the fall of Saigon on April 30,
1975, and the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The
Photograph
Serious Steps is an award-winning image that was captured in 1962.
It shows President John F.
Kennedy and former Commander-in-chief Dwight D.
Eisenhower walking together. Two notable pictures that document the Vietnam War
are titled Tank Commander and Dreams of Better Times, each of these images was
awarded the Pulitzer or World Press honor. On May 4, 1970, four students were
killed by the Ohio National Guard in the Kent State shooting. A photograph
showing the lifeless body of 20-year-old Jeffrey Miller won the 1970 Pulitzer
Prize. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most famous leader of the American civil
rights movement.
In 1964, King became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was staying in room 306
at the Lorraine Motel, which is located in Memphis, Tennessee. While standing
on the balcony of the hotel, King was fatally shot and wounded from a single
gunshot to the head. After the shooting, Martin’s friends quickly rushed to his
side and desperately tried to stop the bleeding. They were also pointing in the
direction of an old run down hotel across the street. The moment was captured
by photographer James Louw. The image has since become one of the most famous
in U.S. history. It shows the fatally wounded Martin Luther King Jr. laying at
the feet of his friends, while they yell for help. It is a descriptive photograph
that shows what the scene was like when King was assassinated. You can see his
leg propelled up against the balcony bars, with large pools of blood forming.
In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was established as a United States holiday,
only the fourth Federal holiday to honor an individual, with the other three
being in honor of Jesus of Nazareth, George Washington, and Christopher
Columbus.
2. America Walks on the
Moon
On July 20, 1969, the United
States Apollo 11 space flight landed on the moon. It was the third lunar
mission of NASA’s Apollo program and the vessel was crewed by Commander Neil
Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz
Aldrin Jr. The event was a historic moment in United States history and
represented a victory for the U.S. in the Cold War Space Race. By the early
1970s, the cost of the Vietnam War and the NASA space program increased
domestic spending and accelerated inflation in America. During this time, the
U.S. began to amass a federal deficit for the first time in the 20th century.
In 1971, the U.S. government, under Richard Nixon, printed an excess of
American currency in order to pay for the nation’s military spending and
private investments. These policies shifted the United States economic status
and ultimately led to an event known as the Nixon Shock. On August 9, 1974,
Richard Nixon resigned as the President of the United States, becoming the
first and only U.S. President to step down.
The
Photograph
A number of famous photographs were taken during the Apollo 11
space mission. The pictures of the American flag on the moon and of the first
human footprint are lasting. I was going to include the photograph of the first
step on the moon, but Armstrong’s leap was not documented. There is a
famous picture of Buzz Aldrin jumping from the Command Module to the
moon. The photograph that I have selected was taken from the Apollo 15
mission, which was the fourth flight to land on the moon. The picture
gives a panorama view of the crew’s space vehicles and the American flag.
In the picture, Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin can be seen giving a salute to
the people of the world. It is a revealing photograph and shows the
technical equipment used to travel to the moon and back. If you look closely,
the moon’s surface can be viewed with human footprints scattered around. This
image represents an incredible achievement in the history of the United States.
1. September 11, 2001
In 1975, Bill Gates founded
Microsoft and the U.S. was launched into the age of technological advancement.
In 1977, the first home personal computer, Commodore PET, was released for
retail sale. By the 1990s, the Internet was beginning to take hold. The basic
applications and guidelines that make the Internet possible have existed since
the 1960s, but the network did not gain a public face until the 1990s. The
estimated population of Internet users is 1.97 billion as of July 2010.
On August 2, 1990, the Gulf War began in the Middle East. The
conflict was waged by a U.N. authorized coalition force from thirty-four
nations, led by the U.S. and United Kingdom, against Iraq.
On September 11,
2001, the United States faced the biggest terrorist attack in history when 19
individuals hijacked four U.S. planes and crashed them into the World Trade
Centers, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing nearly
3,000 people and injuring over 6,000.
On September 11, all civilian air traffic was suspended for three
days. It was the first time that an unplanned air flight suspension had
occurred in the United States. In response to the terrorist attacks, the U.S.
and U.K. declared war on Afghanistan and invaded the country on October 7,
2001. The United States government reported that the reason for invading
Afghanistan was to find Osama bin Laden and to destroy the organization of
Al-Qaeda. As of 2011, the United States is still at war in Afghanistan with no
current leads regarding the location of Osama bin Laden. On March 20, 2003, the
United States and United Kingdom invaded and occupied the country of Iraq,
starting the Iraq War. Recently, top U.S. military commanders in Iraq have said
they believe all U.S. troops will be out of the country by the end of 2011. The
two separate wars have become a controversial subject in the United States,
especially since the economic status of the nation has greatly declined since
2008.
The
Photograph
The most famous image to emerge from the September 11 attacks is
titled Ground Zero Spirit and shows firefighters raising the American flag
against a tangle of iron and debris at Ground Zero in New York City. For this
article I have selected a picture that was taken by Bill Biggart. Bill Biggart
was the only working photojournalist to die on 9/11. After the World Trade
Centers were attacked, Bill Biggart traveled to the buildings to document the
event. He had three separate cameras, one being digital. As the South Tower
collapsed, Biggart snapped a famous collection of four photographs. He was
killed when the North Tower came down. However, his camera bag was miraculously
discovered in the wreckage. Most of his pictures were unsalvageable, but the
flash card in the digital camera was saved and some photographs were retrieved.
This image shows one of Biggart’s pictures as the South Tower collapsed to the
ground. You can see the burning North Tower still standing, a building that
would later fall, killing Biggart. In the picture, look at the destruction and
large pieces of debris traveling with the slide. Bill Biggart will always be
remembered for his bravery.
