For all the work you have done on this. And, since he showed up, mark who is retired from the central plains, i o have a special thank you. Over the years, i have done a lot of research at the national archives. Back when you were at [indiscernible] and the archivist always seem to know what i was interested in. Or have suggestions for what i ought to be interested in. And mark called me when i was working on cold war kids and said, you know, there is this collection are my be interested in. Well, yes, i was very much. And it became part of a chapter in a book. So, thank you, mark. Now, for tonights discussion. What do School Lunch Programs the indian adoption project, polio shots, and comic books have in common . You are going oh, obviously, your first guess would be, yes, they all have something to do with the postwar years. But to they are also examples of the uptick and an unprecedented uptick in the federal intervention in childrens lives between 1945 and 1960. When i was writing the book, one of the crestons questions i hoped to answer was why this increase occurred. Now, you cant point to one single event, but i think a good place to start is with the government sponsored white house conference on children. On december 3 1950, 6000 delegates from across the nation converged on washington dc to for the white house conference on children and youth. It was also called the midcentury conference. Participants represented racial class, religious age, and diversity, leading to what truman called, quote, a unique demonstration of our democracies concern for children and prove that our american tradition of Free Exchange of fact and opinion is a living, working force. End quote. For five days, delegates participated in panels and workshops, discussing, quote, the mental, emotional, and spiritual qualities essential to a childs individual happiness and his development as a responsible citizen. End quote. Such conferences were not new. They had been held at roughly 10 year intervals since president Theodore Roosevelt convened the first one in 1909. The early conferences were mainly concerned with the nations poor and marginalized children. Particularly children of immigrants and living in city slums. In 1950, however, the discussions went beyond the neediest and most dependent. To include children of all socioeconomic, regional, and racial backgrounds. And i really want to emphasize that word all. Because instead of just talking primarily about the immigrants they talked about native American Children africanAmerican Children, the children of migrant farmers. They talked about the middle and upper classes. And that was extremely new. Something that had never been done before. As importantly, the 1950 conference and its final report concluded that the federal government should play a bigger role in the lives of americas children by initiating new programs, expanding old ones, and giving Financial Support to state and local governments to deal with the social and economic problems that were directly affecting children in their particular cities, regions, areas. Now, it may be hard to believe today that there was a time when the federal government largely ignored the world of kids. And there was a time when the public did not automatically consider government as the obvious appropriate choice when it came to solving large problems. That certainly changed after the war. Both truman and eisenhower, along with congress, began to talk about children and teenagers as a distinct segment of the american population. One reason was increasing numbers of children. Nu almost 60 million were bornmbe betweenr 19s of children 46 between 1946 almost 60 million were born between 1946 and 1950. It was obvious that the nations schools, hospitals, and juvenile delinquency programs were over or about to be. Local State Government found themselves unable to handle the overload and begin to turn to the federal government for more assistance. Creating a shift in the state to federal balance of power. Policymakers also spent more time talking about teenagers and baby boomers as one big group because america was in the cold war. The soviet union tested its first atomic bomb in 1949. In the months preceding the 1950 white house conference on children and youth, Julius Rosenberg were accused of being soviet spies. The next year, there were executed. Mccarthy was making his accusations of communist sympathizers in and out of government. And just days before the white house conference convened, the Chinese Communist launched a surprise counteroffensive in korea driving your enforces, including u. S. Troops, into retreat. The korean conflict would not be over by christmas, as general Douglas Macarthur had previously , very confidently predicted. From the adult point of view excuse me americas youth were part of the Nations Defense in the cold war against communism. Time and again, the rhetoric about what was good for kids in the country was couched in cold war terms. People had to be educated, mentally prepared, healthy, and physically fit to ensure that america remained democratic, economically sound and secure against its enemies. Federal legislation using cold war language appears in several places, but the first one comes from the truman administration. I will sit again. The National SchoolLunch Program sometimes called the hot Lunch Program. In 1946, this was established by georgia democrat richard russell. Russell was a conservative considered to be one of the most powerful men in the senate. And he championed the program because if we do two things. First of all, it would boost of america anchor american agriculture by giving subsidies to farmers for their surplus products. Things like raisins, nuts, rice, and cheese. Secondly, it would guarantee a hot Balance School lunch that would in turn safeguard the health and wellbeing of children. A well child was a better student. But a subtext in the argument to this program was that a wellnourished child became a more physically fit adult and less likely rejected from military service, should world war iii happen. Many at the upper levels of government, including truman and secretary of defense martial believed that it was a very real possibility. The u. S. Would need physically ready comparisons. Another example of cold war rhetoric as the debate at the 1958 National Defense education act. Notice the word, defense. After the soviets launched sputnik in 1957, the country went a little nuts. How did the soviets get ahead of the United States . It was unthinkable. Mike told the public that there was, quote, no reason to get hysterical. End quote. But there was an uproar and many people blame schools for not doing their jobs. But in their defense, one spokesman for the National Education association asked how any nation that paid its teacher and average salary of 4200 a year could expect to be the first into space. Lawmakers responded to sputnik with the National Defense education act. This put billions of dollars into training teachers, Funding College scholarships, putting modern equivalent into classrooms, and expanding site and math curriculums. Gallup polls of the time show that a majority of americans believed that it was up to students to work harder and to compete against the soviet counterparts at all grade levels. In retrospect, jim wright, who was elected to congress in 1954 and would eventually become speaker of the house, wrote in his autobiography, quote, the cold war dominated and in some ways distorted our whole national outlook. The most common argument for the passage of the National Defense education act was not the need to improve learning opportunities for the sake of our kids, but the fear that the russian schools were doing a better job than ours and competing preparing their youth for the spaceage. Baby boomers and teenagers whether they knew it or not were not just cold war kids. They were being prepared to be the next generation of cold war fighters. Although, i cant imagine that my brother with his David Crockett hat and cape, or me with my Hopalong Cassidy six shooter, or what adults meant when they talked about defending democracy and the american way of life. But that message was implicit. Little did we know at the time that the postwar generation would be fighting communists but not along the iron curtain as many would have expected. But in vietnam. Im a baby boomer. But this is not a book in my reminiscences. You wont find a cape or the six shooters in the pages. And you wont read about the eightyearold me who got to be on television with my two sisters and my brother. We were part of the peanut gallery on the local television stations version of howdy duty. We had her 15 minutes of fame really early. I didnt use that; however, i did use other kids voices to talk about their memories and their experiences. When they talked about the atomic bomb and their fear of it, they talked about home bomb shelters, the thrill of the television in their living room, rock n roll, and more homework after sputnik. But the main goal was to look at the federal response to the postwar generation and how that may have differed from the governments very limited role during the war. What i found was that the governments role did increase and not necessarily because congress and the president always thought that it should. But because local and State Governments, as well as the general public, believed and sometimes demanded that the federal government had to be more active. At the 1950 white house conference on children and youth, and the one that followed in 1960, the conclusion was that the federal government, quote must become a more effective partner. End quote. In efforts to improve the lives of americas young people. That doesnt mean that every program was approved. For example proposals for governmentfunded daycare similar to that provided to women working in defense plants during world war ii, went nowhere. This was despite lobbying efforts from private organizations and from the federal u. S. Childrens bureau and the u. S. Womens bureau. Still, both truman and eisenhower, one dedicated to expanding the programs under the new deal, and the other a fiscal conservative determined to balance the budget both supported programs that reached a broader spectrum of americas young than any that had come before. I would interpret eisenhower as more in line with the earliest 20thcentury progressives when it came to child issues. Now, that might sound like a stretch, but the progressive reformers and activists of the earliest 20th century, people like jane addams, teddy roosevelt, they felt local state, and federal governments should do more, not less, for children. And like doesnt seem like ike doesnt seem like a very good candidate to put in that company, especially if youre talking about him being a reformer. But i would argue that he had the instinct of a progressive. When it came to children. And the polio vaccine is a good example. In 1955, it was announced that the vaccine was safe and effective. To head off the possibility that this action would end up on the black market and send prices skyrocketing the government took control of production and distribution. Eisenhower insisted that the polio vaccine be made available to all free of charge. This was not without some controversy within his administration. The head of the newly created department of Health Education and welfare opposed federal funding. She considered it to be socialized medicine. But according to the Surgeon General ike gave her her marching orders to get the job done. Congress approved the funding with no fuss. This was an entirely different scenario from trumans attempt to enact National Health insurance. Which was met with fierce and steady resistance. In hindsight, truman may have gotten congress to agree to Health Insurance for all children. That proposal was excellent on his desk. But he went for the whole package, kids and adults alike, and he lost. That is what is remembered. What is not remembered is that during trumans time in office, the federal government put 75 million into state grants for Hospital Construction projects that included community hospitals, nonprofit hospitals for the chronically ill rehabilitation centers, and nursing homes. In addition, the federal government, under trumans direction, funded more research into tuberculosis and into finding cures for cancer. He also approved federal legislation that made grants money available for training Mental Health workers and for clinical psychiatric research. Earlier, i mentioned the adoption project. Remember back to it all these things have in common . The indian adoption project was initiated by the bureau of Indian Affairs in 1958. It was intended to, quote, stimulate adoption of indian children who were in the care of state agencies. End quote. The progress was not too successful and it wasnt too wellreceived. Especially in the native american community. But it was created within the framework of societies societys new interest in and acceptance of adoption. During the 1950s, the number of adoption petitions filed in u. S. Courts averaged between 90,000 and 95,000 a year. Adoption by a stepparent, a relative made up about half of these. The remaining were adoption by nonrelatives. Including in the latter were International Adoptions something that had become a phenomenon. And something that had never been seen before in the United States. Following world war ii, the displaced persons act of 1948 allowed European Children orphaned and displaced by war to come to america as adoptees. I should add that the youngster cannot just be in orphaned, as if that wasnt enough, the child had to also be displaced. For example, a family in the United States wanted to adopt a child relative in greece. The girls father had died in the labor camps. Her mother died when the knot teas firebombed a church. Clearly, she was an orphan. But since she still lived in her home village, she was not displaced. And therefore, she did not qualify under the displaced persons act. A happy outcome where the parents who wrote to president truman. Thank you so much, the nice things you have done, wrote the board. My life has changed like magic. I am beginning to forget the bad things that happen to me in the war. To include chinese, japanese and korean orphans. It would without saying that these youngsters were facing dire, even lifethreatening situations, yet even in the humanitarian language and giving children a chance at Stable Family life, there was this cold war subtext. Youngsters displaced from countries in Eastern Europe were actually lucky. They wouldnt have to live under the thumb of the soviet union. And it was the communists who made the Korean Children orphans. And the victims of war. At home, the government was engaged in another kind of war. A war against juvenile delinquency. Now, this wasnt a new problem. But in the postwar years, it seemed to be reaching epidemic proportions. During the war, juvenile crime spiked. In fact, it was expected to spike because that is what had happened during world war i. That is exit what happened during the civil war. So, people who paid attention to these things, social workers child care advocates, reformers like jane addams, they expected this to happen. As a matter of fact, in 1942 the Childrens Bureau warns that quote increased delinquency was a natural function of war. End quote. You might want to check on the internet. I have seen it on youtube. It is a movie short called, as the tragus spent. As the twig is bent. To advise parents on what they could do to protect their children. Now, many expected that when peace came, delinquency would drop. As it had in the past. Instead, the number of adolescence and older teenagers adolescents and older teenagers almost doubled. Now, partly this was the result of stricter enforcement of juvenile laws, but it was also emblematic of social change. Delinquency was generally believed to occur among the lower social economic classes to occur in a poor immigrant urban communities. But suddenly, it seemed that delinquency had moved into the middle class. And the upper class. You have all seen the movie, Rebel Without a cause. Ok. The characters in that movie are all part of the financially comfortable white middle class. But, said the Childrens Bureau that was the new reality. There had to be a way to curb delinquency wherever it was occurring. And to eliminate circumstances that created it. But what exactly caused juvenile delinquency . No one seem to be able to put the finger on just one cause or a cluster that you could identify. Was it poverty and bad neighborhoods . A lack of spiritual leadership . Rock n roll . A lot of people thought rock n roll. Or was it to just poor parenting . Whatever it was senator Robert Hendrickson announced that quote, not even a communist conspiracy could devise a more effective way to do, confuse and destroy the United States. 202 7458002 for end quote. For the next three years they heard testimony about community and state intervention programs. It hurts statistics on Crime School Dropout rates, underage drinking, underage use of drugs. It also heard about the ethnic and racial makeup of gangs, the influence of mass media, including television, and receiving particular