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| 1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 |
| FACTS about this decade. Population: 204,879,000 Unemployed in 1970: 4,088,000 National Debt: $382 billion Average salary: $7,564 Food prices: milk, 33 cents a qt.; bread, 24 cents a loaf; round steak, $1.30 a pound Life Expectancy: Male, 67.1; Female, 74.8 |
The chaotic events of the 60's, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70's. Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration. Many of the "radical" ideas of the 60's gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture. Amid war, social realignment and presidential impeachment proceedings, American culture flourished. Indeed, the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade. To see the whole picture, we encourage users to browse all the way through this page and then visit the suggested links for more information on the decade. We feel the best way to immerse oneself in a topic is to use both Internet and the library. The real depth of information is best read in books. More photographs, more information, more depth. Then, there is information that will be found only on the Internet; a journal from someone, photographs like those on our pages. If you can add a valuable site or information to this page, we invite you to write. Thanks for the visit. ENJOY!
The purpose of this web and library guide is to help the user gain a broad understanding and appreciation for the culture and history of the 1970s. In a very small way, this is a bibliographic essay. While there is no way we can link to everything, we have attempted to find areas of special interest and to select information that we hold dear today - movies we watch, songs we sing, events that move us, people we admire.
Seventies art reflected a slowing and refinement of some of the avant-garde trends prominent in the Sixties. Earth art, a movement that combined environmental and minimalist ideas on a large scale, was promoted by artists such as Michael Heizer, Walter de Maria, Robert Smithson, James Turrel, Alice Aycock, Claes Oldenburg, and Richard Serra. Massive earthworks such as Smithson's Spiral Jetty, challenged all the rules regarding mass, time, size, and space. Land art and environmental art, variations of earth art, were also prominent. Other notable schools of art were illusionism, which sought to surprise viewers and cause them to question their interpretation of reality, and photo realism and hyperrealism, which imitated
photography, created by such artists as Richard Estes. 
Pop Art was still represented by artists such as Andy Warhol and David Hockney; and George Segal continued to sculpt his white plaster, such as Three Figures on Four Benches (1979). The influence of the women's movement was represented by Lynda Benglis, Jackie Winsor, and Judy Chicago, who created the feminist art exhibition, The Dinner Party. Performance art challenged the traditional, stationary aspect of art. Andrew Wyeth began painting his Helga pictures.
In architecture, the "modern movement" retreated and there was a gradual move toward architectural humanism and a renewed respect for traditional and historical design. Increasingly architects attempted to consider the needs and feelings of the people who would use their buildings. The historical element is evident in the pyramid form of San Francisco's Transamerica Building (William L. Pereira, 1972) and the classical Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans (Charles Moore, 1979). Houston's Pennzoil Place (Philip Johnson and John Burgee, 1976) combined modernism with humanism utilizing an eight-story atrium to connect two trapezoid-shaped towers. Architect Paolo Soleri, advocated Arcology, a new theory of architecture embodying the fusion of architecture with ecology. Modernism survived in buildings such as the Frank Gehry House in Santa Monica, California (1978), and the Dallas City Hall , designed by I.M. Pei (1978). Other noteworthy structures of the decade include:
LINKS
BOOKS
N6490 .L792 1997 Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century | History of art in the 20th Century which includes all art forms and architecture. Arranged chronologically by decade.
Ref N6512 .A578 1985 American Artists: Illustrated Survey of Leading Contemporary Americans | Reviews and biographical data on more than 1,000 living American artists.
N6537 .C48 A2 1996 Beyond the Flower: the Autobiography of a Feminist Artist | Autobiography of Judy Chicago.
N6537 .W86 W55 1987 Andrew Wyeth: the Helga Pictures | Photographs with criticism and interpretation.
N6797 .H57 A4 1993 Hockney, David. That's the Way I See It.
NA712 .L4 1993 20th Century American Architecture | Photographs and discussions of 200 key buildings.
NA712 .R86 1989 Architecture and Design, 1970-1990 | Discusses architectural trends as a reflection of the times.
NA737 .J6 A4 2002 The Architecture of Philip Johnson | includes almost 400 photographs of Johnson's creations with detailed building descriptions.
NA737 .K32 B73 1992 Kimbell Art Museum | Architecture in detail, an examination of the building with photos, drawings and discussion.
NB237 .S44 H86 1989 George Segal | Essay and 132 photographs of his true-to life sculptures, which often capture the pulse of the time.
NB237 .S46 A4 1998 Richard Serra: Sculpture | Retrospective study of more than 100 of his works.
Many of the books published in the 70's revolved around a general theme of man's alienation from his spiritual roots. John Updike portrayed characters trying to find meaning in a society spiritually empty and in a state of moral decay. Joyce Carol Oates wrote of the search for spiritual meaning in the contemporary world, and Kurt Vonnegut explored the loneliness of contemporary society and the power hungry materialism that pervaded it. One of the strongest literary voices to emerge from this decade was Toni Morrison, who examined the Black American experience as never before. The poetry of Rod McKuen was immensely popular. No playwright dominated this decade of both social and artistic unrest. Among the most acknowledged were Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson, David Mamet, Christopher Durang, and Neil Simon.
LINKS
Books That Define the Time
| Newbery Award Winners - Began in 1922 (most distinguished book of the previous year) 1970: Sounder by William H. Armstrong 1971: Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars 1972: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien 1973: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George 1974: The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox 1975: M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton 1976: The Grey King by Susan Cooper 1977: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor 1978: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson 1979: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin | Caldecott Award Winners - Began in 1938 (most distinguished picture book of the previous year) 1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig 1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley 1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian 1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel 1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach 1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott 1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold by Verna Aardema 1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove 1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier 1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble |
LINKS
BOOKS LA 216 .C73 1990 American Education : The Metropolitan Experience 1876-1980 History of education. Other titles by Lawrence A. Cremin also may be helpful. Ref LB15 .E47 2003 Encyclopedia of Education Eight volume set with more than 850 signed articles examining institutions, processes, roles, and philosophies. Also includes brief biographies of influential educators and relevant Supreme Court cases. Ref LB15 .H57 1999 Historical Dictionary of American Education Contains more than 350 alphabetically arranged entries on the development of American elementary and secondary education. LA11.L8 1972 Our Western Educational Heritage The final long chapter contains a history of the American educational system.
Mood rings, lava lamps, Rubik's cube, Sea Monkeys, smiley face stickers, string art, and pet rocks all captured the imagination of Americans during this decade. The wildest fad surely was streaking nude through very public places! Families vacationed in station wagons and everyone wanted an RV. 
LINKS
BOOKS Ref E169.1.P19 1991 Panati's Parade of Fads, Follies and Manias Arranged by decade, includes fads, dance crazes, radio, TV, popular books and songs. E169.1.S9733 1984 Culture as History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century Excellent source for this topic. Events which transformed the social, political and cultural face of America in this century. GT510 .B6713 1987 20,000 Years of Fashion Chapter XIII covers 1960-1983. With illustrations and photographs. GT605.H35 1992 Common Threads: A Parade of American Clothing Includes an overview of the 20th century, then chapters on contributors to changes in fashion. TECHNOLOGY
The floppy disc appeared in 1970, and the next year Intel introduced the microprocessor, the "computer on a chip." Apollo 17, the last manned craft to the moon, brought back 250 samples of rock and soil. Unmanned space probes explored the moon, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Venus. The U.S. Apollo 18 and the USSR's Soyuz 19 linked up in space to conduct joint experiments. Atari produced the first low-priced integrated circuit TV games, and the videocassette recorder (VCR) changed home entertainment forever. Jumbo jets revolutionized commercial flight, doubling passenger capacity and increasing flight range to 6,000 miles. The neutron bomb, which destroys living beings but leaves buildings intact, was developed. In medicine, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology was developed to help in diagnosis. The discovery of recombinant DNA technology in 1973 led to research in genetic engineering. This was soon halted pending development of safer techniques. The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born, developed from an artificially inseminated egg implanted in the mother's womb. Other noteworthy developments of the 1970s included these inventions or innovations: email (1971), first retail barcode scanned (1974), the laser printer (1971), and the first space lab (USA Skylab, 1973). Additionally, the electronic book was invented in 1971, eventually resulting in Project Gutenberg, the largest collection of online books.
LINKS
BOOKS
During the 1970's the United States underwent some profound changes. First a Vice President and then a President resigned under threat of impeachment. The Vietnam War continued to divide the country even after the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973 put an end to U.S. military participation in the war. Roe v. Wade legalized abortion. Crime increased despite Nixon's pledge to make law and order a top priority of his presidency. Increased immigration followed passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, which reformed an earlier policy that favored western Europeans. People from Third World countries came to this country in search of economic betterment or to escape political repression. Women, minorities, and gays increasingly demanded full legal equality and privileges in society. Women expanded their involvement in politics. The proportion of women in state legislatures tripled. Women surpassed men in college enrollment in 1979. However, the rising divorce rate left an increasing number of women as sole breadwinners and forced more and more of them into poverty. African-Americans also made their presence felt as the number of black members in Congress increased, and cities such as Los Angeles, Detroit, and Atlanta elected their first African-American mayors. Affirmative action became a controversial policy as minorities and women asserted their rights to jobs and quality education. Native Americans began to demand attention to their plight. In 1975 the Indian Self-Determination Act encouraged Indians to take control of their own education and promote their tribal customs. Presidents: Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974), Gerald Ford (1974-1977), and Jimmy Carter (1977-1981).
Houston's U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan gained national prominence with her eloquence during the Watergate investigation and hearings which resulted in impeachment proceedings against Nixon.
IMPORTANT HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL EVENTS
| 22 April 1970 | First "Earth Day" celebrated as environmental movement launched. |
| 4 May 1970 | Four students killed when National Guardsmen opened fire during anti-war demonstrations at Kent State University in Ohio. |
| 28 June 1970 | First Gay Pride march held in New York City commemorating the first anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, considered to be the beginning of the moderm GLBT movement. |
| 24 April 1971 | Huge anti-war march in Washington, D.C. |
1971 | Daniel Ellsberg leaks the Pentagon Papers, massive collection of top-secret government documents, whose publication helps to discredit the Vietnam War policies of the Nixon administration. |
| 17 May 1972 | Republican agents burglarize Democratic headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. |
| 29 May 1972 | Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) signed by U.S. & Soviets. |
| 5,6 September 1972 | Nineteen killed in terrorist siege at Munich Olympic Games |
| 1973 | Arab oil embargo causes severe shortage and energy prices skyrocket |
| 22 January 1973 | Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizes abortion |
| 10 October 1973 | Amid charges of corruption and scandal, VP Spiro Agnew pleads no contest to income tax evasion and resigns from office. |
| 6 December 1973 | Gerald Ford, congressman from Michigan, becomes the new vice president. |
| 1974 | Economy in worst recession in 40 years. |
| 9 August 1974 | Ford becomes the thirty-eighth president after Richard Nixon, facing impeachment charges, is forced to resign. |
| 1975 | United Nations declares International Year of the Woman. |
| 30 April 1975 | South Vietnam falls to Communist forces of North Vietnam. |
| 4 July 1976 | The country commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with a spectacular bicentennial celebration. |
| 1978 | Residents of Love Canal, NY, evacuated due to dangerous toxic chemicals buried in the area. |
| 19 November 1978. | American religious cult leader Jim Jones and 900 People's Temple followers die in mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. |
| 28 March 1979 | Radioactive leak at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. |
| 4 November 1979 | Iranian militant students seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran capturing 66 hostages and setting off an intense standoff that lasted 444-days. |
PEOPLE
| Cesar Chavez | Organized farm workers to demand higher wages, health insurance, and other benefits for migrant workers in California. |
| Shirley Chisholm | First African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives; ran for the office of President of the United States in 1972. |
| Patty Hearst | Granddaughter of newspaper mogul, William Randolph Hearst, kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, and subsequently participated with the SLA in an armed robbery of a San Francisco bank. |
| Jesse Jackson | A leader in the civil rights movement who founded PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) in 1971. |
| George McGovern | The senator from South Dakota was shot five times while campaigning to be the 1972 Democratic Party nominee for President in 1972. |
| Karen Silkwood | An employee of the Kerr-McGee nuclear processing plant who was killed in a car crash on the way to a meeting with a New York Times reporter to reveal evidence of unsafe and illegal practices at the nuclear plant. |
| Benjamin Spock | A pediatrician, author, and social reformer whose permissive philosophy in his influential book, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, was blamed for a wide range of social problems in the 1970's. |
| George Wallace | Governor of Alabama; shot and paralyzed from the waist down while campaigning for the presidency in 1972 on an anti-bussing, law and order platform. |
| Andrew Young | First African-American voted into the U.S. House of Representatives from the deep South since 1898. |
LINKS
BOOKS
| Ref E174.D52 2003 | Dictionary of American History | From very brief to multi-page signed entries on topics in American History. |
| Ref E169.1.A471872 1995 | America in the 20th Century | 1970-1979 is covered in volume 8. Typical of Marshall Cavendish publications, this encyclopedic set is accessible and gives easy to use background information for this decade. Covers from art to transportation. |
| Ref E173.A793 | The Annals of America | Volumes 19 covers the early part of this decade through 1973. Set contains essays and excepts from important writers and on important topics of the time. Most valuable for this research. |
By the 1970's, the term "rock & roll" had become nearly meaningless. This decade saw the breakup of the Beatles and the death of Elvis Presley, robbing rock of two major influences. Pop music splintered into a multitude of styles: soft rock, hard rock, country rock, folk rock, punk rock, shock rock - and the dance craze of the decade, disco! But whatever sub-genre(s) you preferred, rock music was big business. LINKS
| Ref ML200.H15 1996 | A Chronicle of American Music 1700-1995 | Arranged by year, historical highlights, world cultural highlights, American art and literature, music - commercial and cultural. |
| Ref ML197.S634 1994 | Music Since 1900 | Arranged by day, includes important premiers and musical events. |
| Ref ML390.S983 1986 | Show Tunes 1905-1985 | Features important composers. Lists their shows and the published music for each show. |
| Ref ML3470 .M36 | Illustrated History of Popular Music | 20 volumes covering the music, events, and people of Rock. |
The Seventies was the decade of the big comeback for the movies. After years of box office erosion caused by the popularity of television, a combination of blockbuster movies and new technologies such as Panavision and Dolby sound brought the masses back to the movies. The sci-fi adventure and spectacular special effects of George Lucas's Star Wars made it one of the highest grossing films ever. 
Other memorable movies were the disaster movies, Towering Inferno, Earthquake, Poseidon Adventure, and Airport. Sylvester Stallone's Rocky reaffirmed the American dream and gave people a hero with a "little guy comes out on top" plot. The Godfather spawned multiple sequels. There also was the terror of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the chilling Exorcist, and the moving Kramer vs. Kramer. There was a definite public yearning for simpler, more innocent times as evidenced by the popularity of the movies, American Graffiti and Grease, which both presented a romanticized view of the Fifties. Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta fueled the "disco fever" already sweeping the music and dance club scenes; and the nation's experience in the Vietnam War and its aftermath influenced the themes of several movies, including Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, and Apocalypse Now. 
Television came of age in the Seventies as topics once considered taboo were broached on the airwaves for the first time. Leading the way was the humorous social satire of All in the Family, which had plots on many controversial issues such as abortion, race, and homosexuality. Saturday Night Live also satirized topics and people once thought of as off limits for such treatment, such as sex and religion. Nothing was considered sacred. 
Television satellite news broadcasts from the frontlines of the conflict in Vietnam continued to bring the horrors of war into the homes of millions of Americans and intensified anti-war sentiment in the country. The immensely popular TV miniseries Roots fostered an interest in genealogy, a greater appreciation of whites for the plight of blacks, and an increased interest in African American history. Happy Days, which followed the lives of a group of fifties-era teenagers, was TV's primary nod to nostalgia, while The Brady Bunch comically presented the contemporary family. The relatively new publicly funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting gained viewers and stature with such fare as Sesame Street for children, and live broadcasts of the Senate Watergate hearings.
LINKS
BOOKS
Library of Congress browse area: PN1700 - PN230
| Ref PN1992.18 .E53 2004 | Encyclopedia of Television | A comprehensive examination of the people, organizations, technology, and productions that have made television a major influence of the 20th Century (4 vols.). |
| Ref PN2189.L65 1983 | Twentieth Century Theatre | A theater buff's bible. This book lists and describes by year premiers, productions, revivals, events, births/death/debuts in both America and Great Britain. Vol. 2 covers 1948-1979. |
| PN1993.5 .U6 H55 | History of the American Cinema | Volume 9 covers 1970-1979. |
Big Business dominated the sports world in the Seventies. Television had opened the door to major changes during the Sixties, and business sought ways to exploit and profit from the new sports market. Library of Congress browse area: GV
Professional athletes, previously "owned" by their teams, demanded and received the right to "free agency," whereby they would be able to market themselves to the highest bidder. By 1979, baseballer Pete Rose was able to negotiate a $1 million per year contract. Before 1970 only a few athletes earned more than $100,000 per year; at the end of the decade hundreds did. Additionally, professional atheletes substantially increased their worth by appearing in television and print advertisements and endorsing products. In one of the more interesting television commercials, famed New York Jets quaterback Joe Namath appeared in women's pantyhouse to promote Beautymist hosiery.
This decade also saw the rise of "Ping Pong Diplomacy," as the Americans faced the Chinese in a series of highly publicized matches.
Notable Sports Events of the Seventies
March 13, 1971 – Legendary race car driver Mario Andretti won the Grand Prix of South Africa, his first Grand Prix victory. In 1978, he won the World Championship of auto racing.
1972 – U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz won an unprecedented seven gold medals at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.
1972 – A.J. Foyt made racing history by winning the Indianapolis 500, 24 hours of Le Mans, and the Daytona 500.
1973 – Secretariat won the Triple Crown of horse racing, winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and then the Belmont.
1973 – Roberto Clemente was the first Latin American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sept. 20, 1973 – Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the much-hyped "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match.
February 18, 1973 – Stunt driver Evel Knievel jumped across 50 cars stacked four deep in the Los Angeles Collesium.
April 8, 1974 –Hank Aaron slammed in the 715th home run of his career, topping the previous record set by Babe Ruth.
1975 – Martina Navratilova turned pro, setting off one of the major rivalries in women's tennis with Chris Evert. Of the 80 times they faced other, Martina won 43 and Chris 37.
February 5, 1977 – Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner won the first of four consecutive national U.S. Figure Skating titles.
February 25, 1978 – Kurt Thomas became the first American man to win a medal at the World Gymnastics Championships, taking a first-place gold in the floor exercise.
LINKS
A Century of Sports | The top athletes, teams, games, moments, and achievements are listed and ranked on an impressive site created by "huge sports fan" Craig Warner
National Football League History,1971-1980 | Major events and players in the history of the NFL, by decade and year
The SI Vault | Sports history from Sports Illustrated
The Vault from SportingNews.com | Sports history of the 20th Century
Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers | an online exhibition of American sports history from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Sports123.com | Lists the top three finishers in world championships for almost every sport, as well as the Olympics, Pan American Games, and other major international meets
BOOKS
Copyright © 1999 [Kingwood College Library] Pictures from Sue Goodwin, Peggy Whitley and Pricilla Milam.
Design by: Peggy Whitley Written by: Charles Gillis Updated: 08/09 cg. 
Research Guides Twentieth Century Decades Nineteenth Century Decades
Lone Star College - Kingwood