Overview

Today we take it for granted that political leaders and presidential administrations will address issues related to children and teenagers. But in the not-so-distant past, politicians had little to say, and federal programmes less to do with children - except those of very specific populations. This book shows how the Cold War changed all that. Against the backdrop of the postwar baby boom, and the rise of a distinct teen culture, Cold War Kids unfolds the little-known story of how politics and federal policy expanded their influence in shaping children’s lives and experiences - making way for the youth-attuned political culture that we’ve come to expect. In the first part of the twentieth century, narrow and incremental policies focused on children were the norm. And then, in the postwar years, monumental events such as the introduction of the Salk vaccine or the Soviet launch of Sputnik delivered jolts to the body politic, producing a federal response that included all children. Cold War Kids charts the changes that followed, making the mid-twentieth century a turning point in federal action directly affecting children and teenagers. With the 1950 and 1960 White House Conferences on Children and Youth as a framework, Marilyn Irvin Holt examines childhood policy and children’s experience in relation to population shifts, suburbia, divorce and family stability, working mothers and the influence of television. Here we see how the government, driven by a Cold War mentality, was becoming ever more involved in aspects of health, education and welfare even as the baby boom shaped American thought, promoting societal acceptance of the argument that all children, not just the poorest and neediest, merited their government’s attention. This period, largely viewed as a time of “stagnation” in studies of children and childhood after World War II, emerges in Holt’s cogent account as a distinct period in the history of children in America.

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9780700619641

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In sum, Cold War Kids is a well-researched and nicely argued book that improves our understanding of Cold War political culture. American Historical Review �Marilyn Irvin Holt�s Cold War Kids is a brisk and nuanced exploration of the unexplored decade-and-a-half before the troubled and dramatic 1960s. From health to entertainment, from education to housing, and from crime to welfare--with insights into the effects of race, class, and gender sprinkled throughout--Holt covers all of the pertinent issues tentatively addressed by post-war politicians and policy-makers as they took the first steps toward re-imagining the government�s role in the lives of American families and children.�--James Marten, President of the Society for the History of Children and Youth �Marilyn Irvin Holt's Cold War Kids is a brisk and nuanced exploration of the unexplored decade-and-a-half before the troubled and dramatic 1960s. From health to entertainment, from education to housing, and from crime to welfare--with insights into the effects of race, class, and gender sprinkled throughout--Holt covers all of the pertinent issues tentatively addressed by post-war politicians and policy-makers as they took the first steps toward re-imagining the government�s role in the lives of American families and children.�--James Marten, President of the Society for the History of Children and Youth Marilyn Irvin Holt's Cold War Kids is a brisk and nuanced exploration of the unexplored decade-and-a-half before the troubled and dramatic 1960s. From health to entertainment, from education to housing, and from crime to welfare--with insights into the effects of race, class, and gender sprinkled throughout--Holt covers all of the pertinent issues tentatively addressed by post-war politicians and policy-makers as they took the first steps toward re-imagining the government's role in the lives of American families and children. --James Marten, President of the Society for the History of Children and Youth Marilyn Irvin Holt's Cold War Kids is a brisk and nuanced exploration of the unexplored decade-and-a-half before the troubled and dramatic 1960s. From health to entertainment, from education to housing, and from crime to welfare--with insights into the effects of race, class, and gender sprinkled throughout--Holt covers all of the pertinent issues tentatively addressed by post-war politicians and policy-makers as they took the first steps toward re-imagining the government's role in the lives of American families and children. --James Marten, President of the Society for the History of Children and Youth In sum, Cold War Kids is a well-researched and nicely argued book that improves our understanding of Cold War political culture. --American Historical Review Holt's book undoubtedly fills an important gap in the literature. Other authors have discussed postwar childhood, but no other author has investigated so thoroughly the numerous ways in which the federal government began to assume responsibility for children's lives in the postwar period. Holt's book also examines childhood populations that have gone largely unexamined by scholars writing about any period in American history. Among the children discussed are Native American children, war refugees, children of migrant laborers and disabled children. --Reviews in American History The book is at its best when Holt situates the work of various federal bureaus, committees, and departments within the larger cultural context. --Journal of Interdisciplinary History Throughout the book, Holt successfully highlights the things that Americans said they wanted for their children--health, education, and hope in a world of insecurities--while specifying how Cold War tensions influenced government programs in form and function. Hold convincingly argues that childhood 'achieved a new importance both culturally and politically' on the frontline of democracy in postwar America. --The Annals of Iowa Marilyn Irvin Holt s Cold War Kids is a brisk and nuanced exploration of the unexplored decade-and-a-half before the troubled and dramatic 1960s. From health to entertainment, from education to housing, and from crime to welfare with insights into the effects of race, class, and gender sprinkled throughout Holt covers all of the pertinent issues tentatively addressed by post-war politicians and policy-makers as they took the first steps toward re-imagining the government s role in the lives of American families and children. James Marten, President of the Society for the History of Children and Youth Holt s book undoubtedly fills an important gap in the literature. Other authors have discussed postwar childhood, but no other author has investigated so thoroughly the numerous ways in which the federal government began to assume responsibility for children s lives in the postwar period. Holt s book also examines childhood populations that have gone largely unexamined by scholars writing about any period in American history. Among the children discussed are Native American children, war refugees, children of migrant laborers and disabled children. Reviews in American History

Marilyn Irvin Holt's Cold War Kids is a brisk and nuanced exploration of the unexplored decade-and-a-half before the troubled and dramatic 1960s. From health to entertainment, from education to housing, and from crime to welfare--with insights into the effects of race, class, and gender sprinkled throughout--Holt covers all of the pertinent issues tentatively addressed by post-war politicians and policy-makers as they took the first steps toward re-imagining the government's role in the lives of American families and children. --James Marten, President of the Society for the History of Children and Youth

Marilyn Irvin Holt s Cold War Kids is a brisk and nuanced exploration of the unexplored decade-and-a-half before the troubled and dramatic 1960s. From health to entertainment, from education to housing, and from crime to welfare with insights into the effects of race, class, and gender sprinkled throughout Holt covers all of the pertinent issues tentatively addressed by post-war politicians and policy-makers as they took the first steps toward re-imagining the government s role in the lives of American families and children. James Marten, President of the Society for the History of Children and Youth

Holt s book undoubtedly fills an important gap in the literature. Other authors have discussed postwar childhood, but no other author has investigated so thoroughly the numerous ways in which the federal government began to assume responsibility for children s lives in the postwar period. Holt s book also examines childhood populations that have gone largely unexamined by scholars writing about any period in American history. Among the children discussed are Native American children, war refugees, children of migrant laborers and disabled children. Reviews in American History

Author Information

Marilyn Irvin Holt is an independent historian who has been a consultant for PBS documentaries and an adjunct professor. Her books include Indian Orphanages, Children of the Western Plains, and The Orphan Trains.

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