Martin Van Buren High School - Futura Yearbook (Queens Village, NY)

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LE X 'elses 1. ., .A ls! ' ' Q5 if - my flaluu 'uiiiftiz ,luis A ' WW! ' 111111 1 ll WI 0 , F' 1 'li ill K 1 ...-if f 1 i - . ' ,L -s lil 1 s :si F my 'll g' itil . M - 1 . nf- 75- t V I V X shi? . ll' lf l EE l I-'twig .-gasatiss'-Wg n u n ' ll' Ill' E'-5 't5I 25 gn gs 'mmm I-1 , Q-,. ill' 1'- ggll!,,n.n:'jn' H l D535 , fl QQ , Nw' gf 14 U16 Erucible The students who will graduate from Martin Van Buren in 1959 are largely products of the Fifties. lt is in this decade that we will have spent most of our formative years. The trends, the events, the character of the times have made an indelible imprint upon us. lt was in this decade that we started and completed the bedrock of our formal education. When the decade began we were children, as it ends, we cross the threshold of adulthood. What this decade has given us, and what we have taken from it, will profoundly influ- ence our lives. The international political events of the Fifties were ominous in portent. This was a decade marked by the emergence of two armed camps-one despotic, one democratic-each pressing to establish its own political phi- losohpy. lt saw the continuance of a strong tide of nationalism which had begun in 1776 and was now storming the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In some areas of the globe, old empires disintegrated, some of the fragments to be engulfed by the newly constituted Communist imperialism. This decade began under the shadow of war as had the previous one. Only this was a different kind of war-a war small in size but fought against a background of weapons that could make the world uninhabitable. The Korean war was a contained conflict, a iet of flame bursting forth at a point where the cold war had grown hot. lt was a testing ground and a time of calculation, of miscalculation, of brinkmanship, resulting in large shifts in the balance of power in Indo-China and the Middle East. ln 1952, for the first time in twenty years, a Republican became President. ln Dwight D. Eisenhower the G.O.P. had found a leader whose popularity approached that of Franklin Roosevelt. With General Eisenhower as their leader, the Republican Party gained control of both houses of Congress. How- ever, the sentiment of the nation remained predominantly Democratic as evi- denced by the regaining of Congressional control by the Democrats in 1954. Another significant political change was wrought by the third branch of the government when, in 1954, the Supreme Court declared segregation in the public schools unlawful. To the South this meant a maior social upheaval, an upheaval that is still continuing on political, social, and economic levels. Little Rock took its place among the historical symbols that are created when the old order changeth, yielding place to the new. Many of the political developments in the Fifties gained significance be-

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l Peace forever! shouted Renard. Hooray! Peace! Hooray! echoed the foxes. Work together! cried Leonard. I . f 1' s K, 4? , Hooray! Together! Hooray! echoed the foxes. gff' Q. And they all went home, The fable is not yet ende d. lt has three possible conclusions. The first and second are much alike in essence: Both camps of foxes were clever. Both traps must be, each side knew, well camouflaged, expertly hidden. So once they were in their own homes, they did not dare to venture out, for lear of being caught in an enemy trap, even though the enemy had declared that his traps would be destroyed. After all, everybody knew that foxes were sly and not to be trusted. Thus, both the red foxes and the silver foxes perished of inaction and starvation. In the second ending: The foxes all realized th-at they had to trust each other. But iust to make sure, each refrained from destroying 1is own traps until the sincerity of the opponent should be proven. So they stepped cautiously out of their abodes, ready to spring back at any moment. And the red foxerz and the silver were all killed by each other's traps. But the fable might end like this: The red and the silver 'ioxes went home, surrendering themselves to trust as their only salvation. And in the days that followed, no trap stopped their steps. They lived out their normal lives with iust a shadow of fear as they walked through the forest, and sometimes a start at the unnatural cracking of a branch. But their children grew up free of the taint of fear. Red and silver children worked together to liberate them- selves from the menace of hunters and from nature's pitfalls. And they lived happily ever after. As the Fabulous Fifties come to a close, we look ahead to the future. Will we discover that we have been cast in molds of distrust and preiudice? Will we step fearfully out into life, only to be ensnared by a trap? Will the Fabulous Fifties give way to the Sinister Sixties, or will the coming decade be remembered as the Secure Sixties? Surely the teachings of past years, and the exigencies of the present will iolt civiliza- tion out of its prolonged and turbulent adolescence into a rich and rewarding maturity. JOYCE GARTER 1 X'-ti K .L ls: e -A. 1, , fp if ff N15 lax 1 lhgwx -If 'rf J 5 l F rt .Nil 7 gg Ny t . .XQX F .LJ ef 1 ff f lflxx Q , 5 1 12 f f ,,t'5 '. ,- we f'f T75 4 ff' 17 J C7 r - ,ff -I .Y 'j, , A .f 1----3. - if 'IWW Z T f ' fi f 1 KM . , :'1-'2fTP- , .FZ kxxxx ,le x ,,-1 .- Q, X -A f ...Q-55-'f. ,x-M .f ' l SN- A I4 Q xx fm N ' g N . N is ' 4 f' 1 1 XX ffgf' ll1,'ll't'XQS f '- - lr - s , X id - - Q. lv Lx 'IN M r st' 2 9.-: -Sx E 2 'wqwgx nb, X 's A I' lrxxxxwa- xcxx Q Q xwx N ,M Q'-:'.,-59' T5 he 2,-v-riffs K I g'l'h.,NNE We I . X - R . lvmga' I T h ffl x ,fl All M.E 13

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cause of scientific advances. The atomic era had begun in the previous decade, but it was in the Fifties that it began to come of age. The force that had made the Korean War so ominous now metamorphosed itself into more productive forms. ln Shipping- port, Pennsylvania, the first reactor to be used for the production of commercial elec- tricity was built. The atomic reactor also proved to be the ideal unit for powering ships both above and below the surface of the sea. The great destructive power of the atom was recognized not only in the form of a blast but in invisible fallout, and efforts were made to curtail the testingof atomic weapons. However, not all the advances in technology were confined to the military. lndustry took giant strides in automation, and civilian electronics came to the fore. We began what may well be called a second industrial revolution. Another revolution occurred in the field of consumer goods. There was increased mechanization in the kitchen, a car and a television set for every five people, and air conditioning in many homes. The burden of the housewife was lightened with the introduction of new methods of packaging and the increased use of frozen foods. Maior breakthroughs also occurred in the field of medicine with the development of the vaccine against infantile paralysis and the discovery of more powerful antibiotics. Encouraging progress was made in the field of atomic medicine in approaching a cure for cancer. The Fifties were a decade of economic prosperity and expansion. Industry grew rapidly as indicated by the increase in national income from S277 billion in 1950 to over S360 billion in 1958. A large measure of this growth was due to a rapid increase in population from 150 million people in 1950 to 175 million in 1958. This increase of 25 million in eight years compares with one of 9 million in the decade 1930 to 1940. The labor force grew from 40 million in 1950 to 66 million in 1958, because of large population gains in the Forties. The nation grew rapidly and an atmosphere of optimism was generated, as indicated by the increasing birthrate. This feeling of optimism was further strengthened when the economic growth trend proved strong enough to easily overcome two minor recessions which occurred in 1953-1954 and 1957-1958. ln essence, in this decade the world was vastly different from that which had con- fronted returning veterans after World War ll. It was a time of rapid industrial develop- ment and of an upsurge in economic optimism. There was an atmosphere of vigor and of looking toward the future with confidence. It was a decade of great scientific achievement, both pure and applied. Man learned new means of lessening the burdens of life and of eliminating life completely. Perhaps these scientific achievements created more problems than they overcame, for if this decade lacked, it lacked in the social and political areas. It lacked in not being able to find solutions for the problems it posed, it did not teach man to live in peace with himself. Such was the decade in which the class of '59 obtained its education. The full influence that the Fifties have had on our lives is as yet indeterminate. Future decades will tell the story, a story whose recurrent motif will be- The Fabulous Fifties. STEVEN RINNER