Spectators outside the Newport Casino at the 1954 Jazz Festival. P5200, NHS collection.
Dizzy Gillespie and his band performing at the Newport Casino during the 1954 Newport Jazz Festival. P5201, NHS collection.
Three lawyers confer at the Supreme Court, 1953. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (98)
School Integration, Barnard School, Washington, D.C. Photo by Thomas J. O’Halloran, May 27, 1955. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.03119
A 1959 protest against school integration at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark. John T. Bledsoe for USN&WR.
(From left) Lawyers George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James M. Nabrit, Jr., celebrating outside the U.S. Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., after the Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, May 17, 1954. AP Images, from Britannica.
A Salk polio vaccine field trial takes place in New York City, 1954.
March of Dimes, taken from CBS News.
Dr. Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine, is seen in the Virus Research Lab at the University of Pittsburgh, 1954.
March of Dimes, taken from CBS News.
General view of the plenary session in the Palais de Nations, Geneva, July 21, 1954, after the signing of the Indo China Truce Agreements. Left to right: the Soviet delegation and the British. Next table: the Laotian, French and Vietnam delegations, and with backs to the camera, the Cambodia delegation and, left, the United States delegation.
AP-Photo/sm/stf.
Description From U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian
French paratroops land near a blockhouse to help defend Dien Bien Phu, Indo-China, March 23, 1954.
AP Photo.
Description From U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian
General Vo Nguyen Giap who commands the Communist-led Vietminh forces currently waging war against French Union Troops in Indochina,
AP Photo.
Description From U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
Our Place in Time: 1954
Let's take a moment to orient ourselves in the time this globe was manufactured. 1954 was an influential year for the world, and many major and notable events took place at this moment. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were engaged in a globe-spanning rivalry known as the Cold War, and yet the death of Joseph Stalin the previous year had caused significant changes in the Soviet Union. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "domino theory" speech formed U.S. international policy for decades to come. The Brown v. Board of Education case saw the Supreme Court unanimously declare segregation on the basis of race in schools to be unconsitutional. This year saw the progression and end to the First Indochina War, and as a result of the war and The Berlin Conference and 1954 Geneva Conference, the states of North and South Vietnam were formed, setting the stage for the Vietnam War. There were notable innovations in science and technology such as the first mass vaccination of children against polio in the U.S. in Pittsburgh, and significant cultural moments such as the publishing of The Lord of the Rings in three volumes, among others.
Continue exploring below to learn more about this fascinating year in world history!
The making of history, or historical narratives, is a process that happens every time a piece of history is told. Just as any history book, article, video, or other piece of media is made by people with certain biases and values, this webpage has been put together by myself, a person with certain biases and values. No telling of history is "objective" and without input by the teller, who decides what stories are told, from what perspective, what those stories might mean, and more. Even before that, history is created and silenced at the moment it happens or is recorded, by it being written down or not, by what voices and materials are preserved, by what voices and materials are not preserved, and by who tells the initial story. In light of this, I recognize that this overview of 1954 encompasses only a small fraction of the events that happened that year, and reflects my own limited knowledge, biases, and selections.
Click on the next tab over to review some resources on the making and silencing of history.
This video examines the history of history-making. How people over time saw and studied history, what history was considered important, and how society shapes perceptions of history.
Detroit in 1954 was a city in an economic upturn, a "postwar boom" resulting from automotive manufacturing following World War II. During the war, Detroit's factories had churned out war machines for the U.S. military. At this time, however, the factories turned back to automotive production. It was a time of economic revival but also uncertainty as steady jobs were hard to come by in the industry, and racist practices and ideas created disparities. At the same time, the Northland Center, the largest shopping mall in the world, deputed this year. A new Vernor's Ginger Ale plant was created in Detroit as well. Stevie Wonder moved to Detroit with his family, later to become a famous musician under the Motown record label which was founded five years later in 1959. Lastly, the Islamic Center of America in Detroit had its beginnings this year.
Check out the tabs above to dive deeper into Detroit in 1954 and related information.
Encompassing such events as U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Domino Theory" speech, the condemnation of senator Joseph Mccarthy, a CIA-coordinated coup in Guatemala, the 1954 Berlin and later Geneva Conference, the First Indochina War and the Battle of Bien Dien Phu, 1954's political landscape was one that saw the end to, beginnings, and unfolding of important changes to the Cold War arena and the world.
Check out the tabs above to dive deeper into some of 1954's political and international events.
Giving a brief glimpse into some of the cultural and societal changes that took place in the year 1954, this section covers events such as the Brown v. Board of Education decision that outlawed segregated schools at the federal level, the first Newport Jazz Festival, the release of Elvis Presley's first single "That's All Right (Mama)", and the first published versions of The Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Flies, and Sports Illustrated. The resources included in this section attempt to give a more in-depth look at some of these important happenings.
Check out the tabs above to dive deeper into some of 1954's cultural and societal events.
Video narrated by Clint Smith, an educational video about the Brown v. Board of Education case from Crashcourse Black American History.
A description of the themes of William Golding's 1954 novel The Lord of the Flies. Some spoilers follow.
Recording of Elvis Presley's first single released 1954, a cover of "That's all Right (Mama)".
Delving into the history of science, technology, and medicine in 1954, we find many significant changes. The Georgetown-IBM experiment demoed machines' ability for use in language translation, and hopefully looked to a future where language would become less and less of a barrier. The polio vaccine trials conducted by Jonas Salk this year was one of the largest and most publicized clinical trials ever undertaken. It tested the new vaccine and a placebo on 623,972 children in 11 states. A year later Salk found an 80-90 percent success rate in the trials. The first atomic power station was put into operation in Obninsk, the first kidney was successfully transplanted, and the rollout of the first commercial transistor radio made media more portable than ever.
Check out the tabs above to dive deeper into the history of science, technology, and medicine in 1954.