“Young in America” – U.S. Youth Culture in the 20th Century

Syllabus and Survival Guide

History 579 – Fall 2009

Thursday 7:00 pm – 9:45 pm, Sierra Hall 186

 

Instructor

 

Dr. Thomas W. Devine

Phone: (818) 677-3550 Email: tom.devine@csun.edu

Office Hours: Sierra Tower 624, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30 – 1:30 pm and by appointment gladly given.

 

Reading

 

The following books – listed in the order in which we will read them – are available at the Matador Bookstore or, more cheaply, on line.  All other readings will be provided in class.

 

  David Nasaw, Children of the City: At Work & At Play, (Oxford , 1986)

 Stephen Lassonde, Learning to Forget: Schooling and Family Life in New Haven 's Working Class, 1870-1940, (Yale, 2005)

  Lisa Jacobson, Raising Consumers: Children and the American Mass Market in the Early Twentieth Century, (Columbia , 2004)

  Paula S. Fass, The Damned and the Beautiful, (Oxford , 1977)

  Jennifer Ritterhouse, Growing Up Jim Crow: The Racial Socialization of Black and White Southern Children, 1890-1940, (North Carolina, 2006)

  Kriste Lindenmeyer, The Greatest Generation Grows Up: American Childhood in the 1930s, (Ivan R. Dee, 2005)

  Eduardo Obregón Pagán, Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon: Zoot Suits, Race, and Riot in Wartime L.A., (North Carolina, 2003)

  James Gilbert, A Cycle of Outrage: America ’s Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s, (Oxford , 1986)

  Eric C. Schneider, Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings: Youth Gangs in Postwar New York , (Princeton , 1999)

  Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi, (Dell, 1968)

  Melton McLaurin, Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South, (Georgia, 1988)

  Edward K. Spann, Democracy's Children: The Young Rebels of the 1960s and the Power of Ideals, (Scholarly Resources, 2003)

  Peter Stearns, Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America, (NYU, 2003)

 

Spirit of the Course

 

From Horatio Alger to Hanson, Americans have long been obsessed with youth – heralding it, romanticizing it, protecting it, clinging to it, and, at times, exploiting it.  Today, just as one hundred years ago, we as a nation are seemingly preoccupied with “what is to become of the young.”  Yet in our public discussions, we typically have no historical context – no awareness that each generation before us argued and worried over many of the same issues, often operating under the same dubious assumptions that we continue to hold decades later.  In hopes of providing some historical context, this class will offer an overview of what it was like to be young in America over the course of the twentieth century and how young people (and adults’ preconceptions and obsessions about young people) shaped the broader contours of U.S. history. 

 

To the greatest extent possible, we will approach our topic from the perspective of the young people themselves.  By looking at the experiences of various kinds of youth – rich, poor, black, Latino, white, college bound, privileged, and powerless – we will challenge the very concept of a singular “American youth culture.”  We will also consider how adult-created assumptions about race, gender, ethnicity, and popular culture played out in children’s lives.  Finally, we will examine how adults reacted to the behavior of their children.  Specifically, we will focus on how they sought to keep the nation’s youth from being “corrupted” and how young people responded to their efforts.

 

Though such considerations will not dominate our discussions, we will also explore some methodological questions:  How does one capture accurately the “voices” of subjects who left few written records?  How does one use public records, reports, and other primary sources created by adults to understand the experiences of young people?  How does one demonstrate and assess connections between trends in popular culture and trends in behavior?  What role does memory and the distance of time play in distorting or clarifying historical actors’ (and our own) views on youth?

 

I have made a special effort to assign readings that represent the latest (if not always the most widely held) views on various topics, though I have also included a few “old chestnuts” that have stood the test of time.  You will notice that the readings throughout the course come from various ideological and methodological perspectives.  I encourage you to be critical of both the readings and what I say in class when you find the arguments expressed to be unpersuasive. (More often that not, what I’m saying is meant to provoke a critical rejoinder and I will eagerly defend the most outrageous positions just for the joy of playing devil’s advocate.)

 

Grading

 

Class Participation                                                      --35%

Oral Presentation/Analytical Essay                            --10%

Semester Project (Due December 6)                       --30%

Final Essay (Due December 13)                              --25%

 

Explanation of Requirements

 

Completing the Reading

There’s no getting around it – this class requires a lot of reading.  But, as a Masters level seminar, it is supposed to.  To succeed in this course, you will need to complete the reading, but you will also need to have given it some thought.  Read with a pencil in hand – take notes in the margins.  Record terms that are unfamiliar to you or that you don’t understand, points that you find interesting or surprising, arguments with which you strongly agree or disagree, methods of research or analysis that seem especially creative or insightful (or misguided and silly), or ideas that connect to things we’ve talked about in previous classes.  Also, read smart – don’t read every single word of the first 4 chapters and nothing thereafter because you ran out of time. If you catch the argument the author is making, don’t sweat all the details or supporting examples – skim over them and get on to the next major point.  It is more important to have gotten the gist of an entire book than to master every aspect of the first one-third of it.

Finally, figure out how many pages you can read in an hour. Based on that, calculate how many hours it will likely take you to read a 185 – or 200- or 240-page book. This will allow you to manage your time more effectively and keep you from deluding yourself that you can read an entire book in the few hours before class.

 

Participation in Discussion

This is a seminar-style course in which active participation in the weekly discussions is crucial to the class’s success and each individual student’s success.  Our meetings will be conversations – free, open, and informal exchanges of ideas based on the assigned readings – and I expect everyone to take part.  I will do my best to insure each student has ample opportunity to contribute, but, ultimately, it will be up to you to make certain that you remain an active participant rather than a passive observer.  If you have concerns about the quantity and quality of your participation, do come to see me during office hours so we can discuss these concerns.

 

Leading Discussion

One person will be responsible for leading the discussion each week.  That person will compose a list of 7-8 questions that address the major themes and issues raised in the reading. Each student should meet with me briefly at some point during the week before you lead discussion to go over your questions. (If need be, this exchange can be done over email.) Optimally, the discussion leader will have finished writing the questions at least 24 hours before the seminar so I can distribute them to everyone via email attachment. If you have not led a discussion before, I recommend setting up an appointment with me so we can go over some strategies for leading effective discussions. Your leading of discussion will not receive a grade per se, but will be taken into account in the calculation of your participation grade.

 

Précis

One person will be responsible for producing a single-spaced 2-page précis of the readings for each week.  This assignment is meant to be a summary rather than a review, though you may give an overall evaluation of the book in the final paragraph.  The person who writes the précis should email it to me as an attachment at least 3 hours before class so I can proofread it and make copies for the rest of the class. This assignment, too, will not receive a grade per se, though in calculating your participation grade, I will take into account the quality of and amount of effort you appear to have put in to your précis.

 

Oral Presentation/Analytical Essay

Each week one person will be responsible for completing some additional reading on our topic. Often, though not always, this reading will present arguments or interpretations that run counter to those in the assigned reading. At some point during class, usually right after the break, you will have the floor to present a summary and assessment of the supplemental reading.  As part of your presentation, you should explain how the reading you have done relates to the common reading – how does it add to or challenge the perspective of that week’s book? You should allow a few minutes at the end of your presentation to field questions from the class. Do not extend your presentation beyond 15 minutes and do not read your presentation verbatim from a prepared text. Keep in mind that no one likes to sit through a boring presentation or one that is disorganized because it has been thrown together at the last moment. Out of respect for your classmates, allow yourself enough time to prepare a polished presentation. I will evaluate your presentation based on organization and content as well as on the quality of your delivery.  Within a week, you should email me an essay of no more than 1500 words based on the content and analysis of your oral presentation.

 

Semester Project

Select a topic from the period covered in the course that you find to be of interest and do some outside reading on it.  Your choice of focus need not be directly related to the material covered in the course.  Indeed, this is your opportunity to investigate a subject area that the course may neglect.  I recommend drawing on a variety of book chapters and articles.  After your reading has made you an “expert” on the topic, summarize your findings and offer your own insights and analysis in a double-spaced 10-12 page essay. The paper should be analytical rather than narrative – that is, it should make an argument rather than tell a story.  The more sources you incorporate, the more thorough your essay will be. There are no hard and fast rules regarding the number of sources, but anything under five major sources will likely produce an inadequate paper. Also, since this is a semester project, not a “last two weeks of the semester project,” your final product should reflect a semester’s worth of work and will be evaluated accordingly.  So as to prevent you from putting this assignment off until the last moment (and confronting the dreaded “incomplete”), we will approach this in a three step process.  At week five, I will ask for a tentative annotated bibliography. During weeks ten and eleven, I will hold extra office hours so each student can meet with me to discuss his or her topic. At this point, you should have completed nearly all of the reading for your project and be well on your way toward completing a first draft. I highly recommend submitting a complete draft by the end of week 12 (two weeks before the due date). Though submitting a draft is not required, having the chance to respond to my comments is likely to improve the finished product.

 

Final Paper

In a double-spaced 10 page paper, you will choose a theme from the course that is of particular interest to you and compose an essay demonstrating how various course readings address or develop that theme. We will discuss potential themes throughout the semester, but, ultimately, the choice of theme is yours. I recommend that you complete each week’s reading with the final essay in mind – take notes that indicate how different aspects of the assigned works fit into the theme you are considering for your final essay.

 

Bringing Food

On one occasion during the semester, each person will bring food for the entire class to enjoy at the break. Optimally, your culinary contribution will be related in some way to that week’s discussion topic. Creativity and originality are always appreciated.

 

Surviving History 579…

 

Doing Well

The key to success in any graduate course is time management.  You should have a clear sense of how long it will take you to complete a task and then act accordingly.  You should also spend time on a task in proportion to the significance of the task.  Don’t spend more time writing the précis than you did reading the book.  Start reading on the side for your semester project as soon as possible – week two is not “too early.” In the early part of the semester, set aside two hours a week devoted exclusively to reading on your semester project topic and gradually increase that time with each successive week.  Take notes each week specifically geared toward helping you write your final paper.  If you can, start reading the next week’s book as soon as you get back from class – if only for 30-45 minutes before going to bed.  You’ll find this preempts procrastination (and you won’t arrive at class the next week not having read the last 20 pages of the book!) Try to discipline yourself to devote that occasional free half hour to reading another chapter of the book rather than watching a Roseanne re-run on Nick at Night.

Attendance

It is important, and it is expected, that you attend every session and be engaged in the discussion.  Inevitably, an occasion may arise when you are unable to attend.  Out of fairness to your classmates who do attend every week, however, each absence past the first two will bring down your final grade.  Any absences beyond four will put you in jeopardy of failing the course. Also, given the heavy weight placed on in-class discussion, any absence is likely to detract from your participation grade.  To make up for a missed class, you may turn in a précis of no more than 1500 words summarizing the reading for the class you missed.

 

The “Sabbatical” Option

The occasion may arise, due to some emergency or unforeseen event, when you simply didn’t have time during a particular week to begin, let at alone finish, the assigned reading. If you’re managing your time well, this shouldn’t happen. But, if it does, I will offer you a one-time use only fallback of a “sabbatical.”  Rather than skip class because you are completely unprepared, come to class but let me know the situation ahead of time. I will consider that week your “sabbatical.”  That way you can sit and learn from what others have to say without stressing over the fact that you’re not participating yourself.  This is not a built in “week off” – your participation grade will suffer, but it will suffer less if you are honest with me than if you try to “fake it” by trying to discuss a book you’ve barely skimmed. (N.B., no matter how good you think you are at “faking it,” your professors – just like your classmates – know what you’re doing; we rarely say anything, but rest assured, inside we’re smiling and rolling our eyes at you.)

   

Problems

I appreciate that most CSUN graduate students are stretching themselves quite thin, often working full time while taking classes at night.  If you are feeling overwhelmed, find yourself falling behind, or are having any problems outside of class that are adversely affecting your performance in class, be sure to let me know.  Do not wait until the end of the semester when it will be too late.  I am more than willing to work with you to insure you “survive,” but I need to know you are having difficulties.  You will find that as long as you keep me up to speed, I will be very sympathetic.

 

Discussion Topics and Assignment

 

1. Aug. 27       Youth and Youthful Obsessions – An Introduction

 

Reading:

Randolph S. Bourne, “Youth” from the Atlantic Monthly (1912)

Jane Addams, “The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets” (1909)

Grace Palladino, Teenagers, Introduction (1996)

                        D. James Romero, “Adulthood? Later, Dude!” from the Los Angeles Times (1997)

                        Mike Males, “For Adults, ‘Today’s Youth’ Are Always the Worst” from the Los Angeles Times (1999)

 

2. Sept. 3        Neglected Waifs or Future Entrepreneurs? – Urban Youth at the turn of the Twentieth Century

 

                        Reading:

David Nasaw, Children of the City

 

PRECIS

 

3. Sept. 10      Turning Up the Heat on the Melting Pot – Immigration, Assimilation, and Public Education

 

Reading:

Stephen Lassonde, Learning to Forget

 

PRECIS

 

4. Sept. 17      Youth and the Emergence of a Consumer Society

 

                        Reading:

Lisa Jacobson, Raising Consumers

                       

                        PRECIS

 

                        ORAL PRESENTATION

 

5. Sept. 24      “Ain’t We Got Fun?” – Flaming Youth in the 1920s

                       

Reading:

                        Paula Fass, The Damned and the Beautiful

 

6. Oct. 1          Youth and the Social Construction of Race

 

Reading:

Jennifer Ritterhouse, Growing Up Jim Crow

 

 

7. Oct. 8          A New Deal for Youth” – Young People, Depression, and the State

 

Reading:

Kriste Lindenmeyer, The Greatest Generation Grows Up

Thomas Hine, The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager, Chapter 11

 

PRECIS

 

8. Oct. 15        “Wars at Home” – Minority Youth Countercultures During the Second World War

 

Reading:

                        Eduardo Obregón Pagán, Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon

                        Robin D. G. Kelley, “The Riddle of the Zoot: Malcolm Little and Black Cultural Politics during World War II”

 

9. Oct. 22        Crisis or Panic? – The “J.D. Scare” of the 1950s

                       

                        Reading:

                        James Gilbert, A Cycle of Outrage

                         

10. Oct. 29      NO CLASS

 

 

11. Nov. 5       Masculinity, Violence, and Class – New York’s Postwar Gang Culture

 

Reading:

Eric C. Schneider, Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings

 

12. Nov. 12       “A Movement Led by the Young” – Southern Youth and Civil Rights

 

Reading:

Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi

Melton McLaurin, Separate Pasts

 

13. Nov. 19     Baby Boomers, Youthful Idealism, and the Troubled Sixties

 

                        Reading:

                        Edward K. Spann, Democracy’s Children

                        Allen Matusow, The Unraveling of America

                                                  Chapter 10 “Rise and Fall of the New Left”

                                                  Chapter 11 “Rise and Fall of a Counterculture”

 

                        PRECIS

 

                        PRECIS II

 

Nov. 26           THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

 

 

14. Dec. 3       “Sound Effects” – Music and Youth Culture Through the 20th Century

                       

Reading:

William Howland Kenney, Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History 1904-1930, Chapter 4

Lewis Erenberg, Swingin’ the Dream: Big Band Culture and the Rebirth of American Culture, Chapter 2

Robert Pielke, You Say You Want a Revolution: Rock Music and American Culture, Chapters 8-9

            “Elvis and the Negation of the Fifties”

            “The Beatles and the Affirmation of the Sixties”

Kevin Mattson, “‘Did Punk Matter?’ Analyzing the Practices of a Youth Subculture During the 1980s” American Studies 42:1 (Spring 2001): 69-97.

 

 

15. Dec. 10     “Just Checking….” – Parenting in the Twentieth Century

 

                        Reading:

                        Peter Stearns, Anxious Parents