Stay Here With Me: Coming of Age In Rural, Small Town America In the Late 1960s and Early 1970s

American Studies 10+ day unit combining literature (Robert Olmstead’s memoir Stay Here With Me) and many diverse historical sources.

I. Introduction

Most historians agree that the late 1960s and early 1970s represented the epicenter of twentieth century societal and cultural change. Although there are numerous films, texts, and web sites which shed light on these tumultuous years, there are relatively few sources which involve a sustained voice of a young person who is coming of age during that period.

This unit is designed to acquaint students with both the major players and events in American history during that period and with the challenges and confusion of one individual’s coming of age in the summer of his high school senior year in 1972. Robert Olmstead’s short memoir (207 pages) Stay Here With Me provides a remarkable window into the heart and mind of an eighteen year old who struggles with more than a few challenges: the draft, the lure of drugs, first love, an alcoholic father, a planned post-graduate prep school year, the contemplation of college and vocation, and an indomitable grandfather who wishes his grandson to remain with him on the family farm which has been in the family since the 1760s.

In addition to the primary text Stay Here With Me, other materials include newspaper and magazine articles, web sites, films and photographs. Historical events or topics include: The Vietnam War, the draft, the Johnson and Nixon presidencies, political assassinations, the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the revolt of youth, the sexual revolution, and the development of a distinct counterculture.

II. Guiding Questions

1. What events in the 1960s helped shape a new American culture and society?

2. Who were the individuals who were the architects of this profound change?

3. How was growing up complicated by the enormous social and political upheaval of

these times?

4. What were the other personal/ unique problems and challenges that the narrator had

to wrestle with in the summer of 1972?

III. Learning Objectives

After completing lessons in this unit, students will be able to:

• Identify the various components of cultural and societal change in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
• Describe the evolution of the Civil Rights Movement.
• Understand and write about the polarization in America that resulted from the Vietnam War, political assassinations, the Civil Rights Movement, and the development of a youth culture.
• Become familiar with the confusion and pain of youth during that time period.
• Identify the conflict between rural, small town middle class values and the emerging “new” American cultural values of this time period.
• Observe the connection between the individual and his personal history and the compelling and headline-making events of this era.
• Recognize that growing up/ coming of age often involves confronting major challenges and complex problems.

IV. Preparing to Teach this Lesson

It is recommended that the “macro”/ national material be covered first. If students develop a familiarity with the “raging” national issues of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Olmstead’s memoir can be better understood. In a sense, the unit has three layers: national events and cultural shifts, regional (small New England town) events and traditional values, and Olmstead’s unique experience of coming of age.

Specific preparation for teachers would involve reading Olmstead’s memoir carefully, reviewing the many web sites noted here, and developing a working knowledge of the important historical and political events of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although there are many excellent texts which cover this timeframe, William H. Chaffe’s book The Unfinished Journey: America since World War II offers a very comprehensive and scholarly analysis. Teachers also should familiarize themselves with the various photographs of Olmstead’s hometown – Westmoreland, New Hampshire.

Links to important background materials include:

Cheshire County Civil Rights Culture/ Counterculture Health

1968 Democratic National Convention Political Activism Political Figures

Political Issues Protests Vietnam Women’s Rights

V. Descriptive Sketch of Activities

Day 1

• Introduction and overview
• Teachers share with students the various components of the two week interdisciplinary unit (please note that this lesson plan is designed for a block schedule of 85 minutes per class.)
• Brainstorming activity – have students work in small groups to brainstorm various images/ important people and events/ ideology/ popular culture etc. of the late 1960s and early 1970s. As groups report out, write the student ideas on the board. Discuss.
• Activity: Seeds of the Sixties handout

Video resources: PBS film “Seeds of the Sixties” from the series “Making Sense of the Sixties.” http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/SenseSixties.html

Web site resources: Culture/ Counterculture Political Figures Civil Rights

Day 2

• Scavenger hunt activity on various components of the late 1960s and early 1970s American culture and history.
• Scavenger hunt handout
• Clarify/ expand upon issues raised in the scavenger hunt.

Web site resources: All

Day 3

• Polarization of American society
• Escalating war in Vietnam
• Growth of anti-war movement
• Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy
• Rioting in American cities
• Video resources: PBS film “In a Dark Time” from the series “Making Sense of the Sixties.”
• Activity: In a Dark Time handout
• Read the Keene Sentinel article about Eliot Guild

Web site resources: Political Issues Protests Vietnam Civil Rights Political Figures

Day 4

• Development of a counterculture
• Students in small groups should generate a list of what they perceive to be mainstream/ traditional American values and a second list of countercultural values.
• View PBS film “Breaking Boundaries, Testing Limits” from the series “Making Sense of the Sixties.”
• Students in small groups should generate a list of those countercultural values that have worked their way into the mainstream American value system and are now embedded in our culture.
• Activity: Breaking Boundaries handout

Web site resources: Culture/ Counterculture

Day 5

• Introduce concept of initiation/ rites of passage/ coming of age.
• Overview of New England history/ role of agriculture.
• History of Chickering family in Westmoreland, NH (grandfather in text is a Chickering.)
• View photos of Westmoreland, NH/ places referred to in Robert Olmstead’s memoir. A Photo History of Westmoreland, The Chickering Family, and Robert Olmstead
• Begin to discuss the text

Web site resources: Cheshire County Chickering Family History

Day 6

• Explore theme/ concept of family in text.
• Students should create a chart of the main characters. The chart should include the characteristics of main characters.
• Discussion question. Small groups. Is Olmstead’s family a dysfunctional one?
• Examine carefully grandfather’s advice to Olmstead to “stay here with me.”

Web site resources: Chickering Family History . A Photo History of Westmoreland, The Chickering Family, and Robert Olmstead

Day 7

• Explore theme/ concept of substance abuse.
• Impact of father’s alcoholism on Olmstead.
• Focus on how Olmstead’s family dealt with or did not deal with the problem.
• Small groups which discuss substance abuse issues in 2004.
• Guest speaker – A local substance abuse counselor

Web site resources: Health Issues

Day 8

• Explore theme/ concept of death in one’s family.
• Grandfather’s illness
• Olmstead’s friends’ death
• Father’s death
• Suicide of Afton’s father
• Journal entry (each student craft a journal entry which might have been written by Robert Olmstead.)

Web site resources: Health Isuues

Day 9

• Field trip (to Westmoreland, NH or other rural small town.)

Web sites to visit: . A Photo History of Westmoreland, The Chickering Family, and Robert Olmstead for a virtual experience of the setting for Stay Here With Me.

Day 10

In class essay (6 paragraph.) Focus of paper should be the issues/ problems/ challenges/ conflicts that Robert Olmstead wrestled with. Four paragraphs in the body of the paper – two must deal with Olmstead’s personal issues and two with the macro/ national issues that were plaguing him.

VI. Assessment

• Scavenger hunt (day 2)
• Guided questions from films/ videos (days 3 and 4)
• Character chart ( day 6)
• Journal entry (day 8)
• Final six paragraph essay (day 10)

VII. Reviewed Web Resources Used in this Lesson

Web Site Resources

VIII. Additional Information

This interdisciplinary unit is designed for 11^th or 12^th grade American studies, English, humanities, or U.S. history classes. Because Robert Olmstead’s memoir Stay Here With Me deals with sensitive subject matter – alcoholism, teenage sex, drug abuse, death in the immediate family – this curriculum unit is not recommended for younger high school students. The unit is designed for ten 85 minute blocks; the unit could be modified somewhat so that slightly more or less time could be utilized. Skills emphasized in the unit include reading comprehension, historical and literary analysis, composition, creative writing, and critical thinking. Standards which are emphasized include:

National Council for the Social Studies Curriculum Standards (thematic strands):

This interdisciplinary unit:

• Includes experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity.
• Includes experiences that provide for the study of the way human beings view themselves in and over time (time, continuity and change.)
• Includes experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments.
• Includes experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity.
• Includes experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions.

National Council of Teachers of English Standards for the English Language Arts

This interdisciplinary unit follows the following guidelines:

1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

3.  Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4.  Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

5.  Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

6.  Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.


8.  Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

9.  Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

11.  Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Web Site Resources

American Indian Movement

AIM

http://www.aimovement.org/

Cheshire County

Cheshire County web site

http://www.co.cheshire.nh.us/

 History of the Cheshire County Farm

http://co.cheshire.nh.us/CountyInfo/

USGS Map of Westmoreland Area

http://docs.unh.edu/NH/keen58nw.jpg

(1958)

http://docs.unh.edu/NH/keen35nw.jpg

(1935)

 More Cheshire County Farm Info

http://co.cheshire.nh.us/Farm/index.html

 About Westmoreland

http://www.state.nh.us/municipal/westmore.htm

Civil Rights

Martin Luther King Jr.

http://thekingcenter.com/tkc/index.asp

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Ed. (Busing Issue)

http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/374/

 Key events in school desegregation

http://www.detnews.com/2004/specialreport/0405/17/a13-153991.htm

Riots 1967 (Newark/ Detroit)

http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/index.htm

Critical Thinking

 Critical Thinking and Web Resources

http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm

Culture/ Counterculture

Definition of Hippie:

http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/h/hi/hippie.html

 Psychedelic '60s

http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/sixties/

 Web Generation 1970

http://www.wgeneration.com/1970.html

 Cold War Culture

http://www.conelrad.com/

Democratic National Convention 1968

Democratic National Convention 1968

http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/1/19/1968_democratic_national_convention.html

Environmental Issues

Rachel Carson - Environmentalist

http://www.rachelcarson.org/

http://www.ecotopia.org/ehof/carson/

Government Statistics

Compensation in the 1970s (US Dept. of Labor)
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar05p1.htm

Health

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/booklet.htm

The Pill

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/

Suicide Prevention and Facts

http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/suicideprevention/fivews.asp

Substance Abuse

http://www.health.org/

Media

 Saturday Morning Commercials 1960-1970

http://www.tvparty.com/vaultcomsat.html

 Movies of the 70s

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/movies1970s.html

http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/70/70movies.htm

War, Propaganda, and the Media

http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Media/Propaganda/Vietnam.asp

Music

Woodstock 1969

http://www.woodstock69.com/

Jefferson Airplane official web site

http://jeffersonairplane.com/home.html

Songs about pot through the years

http://www.ukcia.org/potculture/references/record3.html

When Nixon Met Elvis

http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/when_nixon_met_elvis/index.html

Political Activism

Black Panthers

http://www.stanford.edu/group/blackpanthers/index.shtml

 SNCC

http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/

Stokely Charmichael

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/carmichael_stokely.html

Angela Davis

http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm

Chicago 1968

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1553/

Abbie Hoffman

http://foia.fbi.gov/hoffsum.htm

Testimony of Abbie Hoffman

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/Hoffman.html

The Chicago Seven

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/chicago7.html

Yippie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_International_Party

Political Figures

LBJ Resources

http://www.nv.cc.va.us/home/nvsageh/Hist277/DanielFiles/LBJ.html

Nixon and Vietnam

http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/20th/nixon-vietnam.html

John Kerry Then: Hear Kerry's Historic 1971 Testimony Against the Vietnam War

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/20/1535232

Hubert Humphrey

http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/FAQs/humphrey/HHH_home.asp

 Spiro Agnew

http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/001400/001486/html/msa01486.html

Streets of Fire: Governor Spiro Agnew and the Baltimore City Riots, April 1968

http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000061/html/t61.html

Henry Kissenger

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1973/kissinger-bio.html

Robert F Kennedy

http://www.rfkmemorial.org/RFK/

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rfk.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy

Political Issues

Watergate

http://watergate.info/

Pentagon Papers

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB48/

Roe vs Wade

http://www.roevwade.org/

http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/334/

SALT Treaty (Federation of American Scientists)

http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/salt1/text/salt1.htm

 SALT II

http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/salt2/

Silent Majority

http://chnm.gmu.edu/hardhats/silent.html

CREEP (U.S. Dept. of Energy web site) Other info about energy issues through the '70s

http://web.em.doe.gov/timeline/the70s.html

Protests / Anti-War Movement

Kent State Shootings - May 1969

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Kent%20State%20shootings

http://members.aol.com/nrbooks/chronol.htm

Good Resources on the Anti-War Movement

http://www.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/Anti-WarMovement.html

Boston Protests May 1971

http://www.ellsberg.net/writing/Boston_1971.htm

Lexington Oral History Projects

http://www.lexingtonbattlegreen1971.com/

The Anti-War Movement

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/vietnam/antiwar.html

Space Travel

 The Apollo 15 Flight Journal

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ap15fj/

Soviet Space Stations

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/soviet_stations/SP22.htm

Sports

Muhammad Ali - (you need to register with NY Times to get to the articles, but it's free)

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/specials/ali.html

A great many resources on Ali at this site

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000738/

Vietnam War

 Selective Service Lottery Picture and Info

http://www.sss.gov/lotter1.htm

Other Info about the draft

http://www.landscaper.net/draft.htm#How's%20your%20"Luck%20of%20the%20Draw"?

 ThinkQuest Site about Vietnam

http://library.thinkquest.org/25909/html/content/vietnam_war_affects.html

 Images of the Vietnam War and Public Opinion

http://home.sandiego.edu/%7Ehhaynes/

Modern American Poetry - About the Vietnam War (1960-1975)

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/vietnam/vietnamwar.htm

Vietnam Timeline

http://www.polytechnic.org/faculty/gfeldmeth/chart.Vietnam.html

My Lai Courts Martial

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/MYLAI.HTM

Library of Congress - Federal Research Division
THE VIETNAM-ERA PRISONER-OF-WAR/MISSING-IN-ACTION DATABASE

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pow/powhome.html

Women/ Women’s Rights

Timeline of Key Events in American Women's Rights Movement and Info about ERA

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html

http://www.now.org/issues/economic/cea/history.html

http://www2.worldbook.com/features/whm/html/whm018.html

African American Women 1951-2000

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/aframer19511999/

Additional Teacher Resources

Lesson Plan - Student Protest in the 1960s

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/2/79.02.03.x.html

Civil Rights Movement Lesson Plan

http://www.africana.com/blackboard/bb_his_000156.htm

Other Links to explore

http://www.eserver.org/

http://www.iupui.edu/~anthpm/links.html