I definitely have obsessive tendencies when it comes to planning our curriculum and at the moment I'm completely obsessed with audio. It started when planning literature for my high schooler next year, when I realized that there were recordings made of authors reading their own work:

Caedmon was formed in 1953 by college graduates Barbara Holdridge and Marianne Roney. Its first release was a collection of poems by Dylan Thomas as read by the author himself. The company went on to record other notable writers reading their own works, such as W. H. Auden, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and many more. The label expanded further to encompass other types of spoken word recordings, including children's stories, speeches, plus English- and foreign-language classics. (Source
More about Caedmon here.

History (Old Time Radio at Internet Archive)

To save the audio files to your computer, right-click on the MP3 link and select "Save Target As..."
  • American History Through the Eyes of Radio - An AMAZING resource!
  • Adventures in Research - Sponsored by Westinghouse, Adventures of Research was broadcast from 1946 into the 1950s. Historically accurate, these fifteen-minute shows are highly entertaining and a fantastic way to learn about scientific discoveries throughout history.
  • Biographies in Sound: An excellent hour-long documentary radio program that was produced in the 1950s - audio biographies include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis,Carl Sanburg, Thornton Wilder, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc.
  • You Are There: Dramatised events from U.S. and world history
  • Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways
Literature
Art / Architecture


Hey, Hey LBJ...Songs of the U.S. Anti-War Movement (1967 - Crisis Records, Monterey Park, CA) *Song descriptions are from the back of the album cover.
  1. Ship Ahoy - "Ship Ahoy" was provoked at an anti-war demonstration. A heckler submitted that well honed ethereal question: "Sure we want out...but how do we get out?" "By boat," replied the demonstrators.
  2. Empty - "Empty" is an on-the-spot interview with the individual citizen of Vietnam and his dilemma; which is to live in spite of U.S. aid, and Marshall Ky's ambitions. Survival is his way of life. His modern history documents that his current war has endured for a hundred years.
  3. The Dean Rusk Song - "The Dean Rusk Song" sings for itself, but its touchstone is worth reciting: New York Times, January 26, 1966, page one..."Weary, Rusk Tells of World's Mischief." "Weary looking and harried, Secretary of State Dean Rusk offered the House Foreign Affairs Committee this wry comment on the troubles that beset him: 'The world is round. Only one third of the human beings are asleep at one time, and the other two thirds are awake and up to some mischief somewhere.'"
  4. Hitler Ain't Dead - "Hitler Ain't Dead" was generated durin gthe Dominican crisis. LBJ received a rousing hand from 4,000 labor leaders, when he quoted a 19th century Senator, George Frisbie Hoar: "I have seen the glories of art an architecture, and mountain and river. I have seen the sunset on the Jungfrau, and the full moon rise over Mont Blanc. But the fairest version on which these eyes ever looked was the flag of my country in a foreign land."
  5. Just Another Day - "Just Another Day" is a heart-blow in the solar region. Student demonstrations forced the Board of Trustees to get the University of Pennsylvania out of the Germ Warfare research business. The song grew out of the two year fight.
  6. R. and R. - "R. and R." is G.I. jargon for 'Rest and Relaxation.' The G.I. in this song has a few comments to make, apropros of the status quo.
  7. Hands Off - "Hands Off" is dedicated to the G.I.'s couragous enough to oppose the war and take the consequences. Privates Petrick, Johnson, Mora, Samas, and Capt. Levy...and the many more to come.
  8. Quiet Sound - "Quiet Sound" has an evocative and haunting melody. Bill's mother participated in a silent WSP demonstration in February, 1965 when the bombings of North Vietnam began. Since then the silence has declined.
  9. And Freedom Too - "And Freedom Too is a Groove In. President Eisenhower, in 1953, confided: "Now let us assume we lost Indo China. If Indo China goes, several things happen right away. The peninsula, the last bit of land hanging on down there, would scarcely be defensible. The tin and tungsten that we so greatly value from that area would cease coming. So when the U.S. votes $400,000,000 to help that war, we are not voting a giveaway program. We are voting for the cheapest way that we can prevent the occurence of something that would be of a most terrible significance to the U.S.A., our security, our power and ability to get certain things we need from the riches of the Indo-Chinese territory and from South-East Asia."
  10. Exploitation Blues - "Exploitation Blues" is what they have all over the world where the U.S. exports freedom and justice, and an equal opportunity to be napalmed in your yard.
  11. Hey, Hey LBJ - "Hey, Hey, L.B.J." is an offspring of the chant punctuating the April 15th Spring Mobilization in New York and San Francisco
  12. How Far We Have Come - Sums up 200 years of American history.
The songs linked to above are also included in this excellent playlist by the Vietnam War Song Project: Vietnam Protest Songs.

 
Other popular songs from the Vietnam War era:
  1. Where Have All The Flowers Gone - Kingston Trio (1961)
  2. Masters of War - Bob Dylan (1963)
  3. Eve Of Destruction - Barry McGuire (1965)
  4. With God On Our Side (He'll End the Next War) - Manfred Mann (1965)
  5. It's Good News Week - Hedgehoppers Anonymous (1965)
  6. I Ain't Marching Anymore - Phil Ochs (1965)
  7. For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield (1966)
  8. Universal Soldier - Donovan (1967)
  9. People Got To Be Free - Rascals (1968)
  10. Sky Pilot - Eric Burdon and The Animals (1968)
  11. The 'Fish' Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag - Country Joe and The Fish (1969) 
  12. War - Edwin Starr (1969)
  13. Give Peace a Chance - John Lennon (1969)
  14. Bring Them Home - Pete Seeger (1969)
  15. Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)
  16. Tricia, Tell Your Daddy - Jay and the Americans (1970 - Written for Tricia Nixon)
  17. Imagine - John Lennon (1971)
  18. Bring Our Brothers Home - Covered Wagon Musicians (1972)


Compiling these playlists was an educational experience, to say the least! I had no idea there were so many Cold War-themed songs out there (here is a categorical list) - and covering such a range of genres.
 
  1. Intro CONELRAD Radio Alert 'Real Thing' (WBEN AM, Buffalo, NY)
  2. Slim Gaillard Quartette: Atomic Cocktail (background)
  3. Fay Simmons: You Hit Me Baby Like An Atomic Bomb (background)
  4. The Kavaliers: Get That Communist, Joe (background)
  5. The Buchanan Brothers: Atomic Power (background)
  6. Groucho Marx: Civil Defense Spot: Excellent Chances
  7. Amos Milburn: Atomic Baby (background)
  8. Doris Day: Tic, Tic, Tic (background)
  9. The Five Stars: Atom Bomb Baby (background)
  10. Carson Robison: I'm No Communist (background)
  11. Civil Defense Spot: How Much Time Do We Have (Keep Working)
  12. The Talbot Brothers of Bermuda: Atomic Nightmare (background)
  13. Skip Stanley: Satellite Baby (background)
  14. Wanda Jackson: Fujiyama Mama (background)
  15. Bill Haley and His Comets: Thirteen Women (And Only One Man) (background)
  16. Bob Hope: Civil Defense Spot: Pattern of Survival
  17. Hank Williams: No, No Joe (background)
  18. Hawkshaw Hawkins: When They Found The Atomic Power (background)
  19. Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup: I'm Gonna Dig Myself A Hole (background)
  20. Josephine Premice: Leave De Atom Alone
  21. Dennis James (Announcer); Leo Hoegh (Civil Defense Director)
  22. Billy Chambers: Fallout Shelter (background)
  23. Sheldon Allman: Radioactive Mama (background)
  24. Teresa Brewer: Satellite (background)
  25. Walker Edmiston as Barky: I Dreamt I Saw Khrushchev (In A Pink Cadillac) (background)
  26. Art Linkletter: Civil Defense Spot: Don't Use the Phone!
  27. Al Rex: Hydrogen Bomb (background)
  28. Jackie Doll and his Pickled Peppers: When They Drop The Atomic Bomb (background)
  29. Sir Lancelot: Atomic Energy (background)
  30. Homer Harris (with Muddy Waters): Atomic Bomb Blues (background)
  31. Eddie Hill: I Changed My Mind
  32. Lowell Blanchard and the Valley Trio: Jesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb (background)
  33. Floyd Tillman: This Cold War With You (background)
  34. Civil Defense Spot: Take The Step (Grandma's Pantry)
  1. Civil Defense Spot: CONELRAD 'Test Announcement'
  2. Dick 'Two Ton' Baker: Bert The Turtle (The Duck And Cover Song) (background)
  3. Sheldon Allman: Crawl Out Through The Fallout (background)
  4. Karl and Harty: When The Atom Bomb Fell
  5. Jim Eanes: They Locked God Outside The Iron Curtain
  6. Sammy Salvo: A Mushroom Cloud (background)
  7. Tony Bennett: Civil Defense Spot: Nuclear Attack
  8. H-Bomb Ferguson: Rock H-Bomb Rock (background)
  9. Roosevelt Sykes: Sputnik Baby (background)
  10. Sonny Russell: Fifty Megatons (background)
  11. Linda Hayes with the Red Callender Sextette: Atomic Baby (background)
  12. Civil Defense Spot: Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow (Short film, 8:58 min) 
  13. Ray Anderson: Stalin Kicked The Bucket (background)
  14. Warren Smith: Uranium Rock (background)
  15. The Louvin Brothers: Great Atomic Power (background)
  16. Fred MacMurray: Civil Defense Spot: Family Fallout Shelter Booklet
  17. Tommy James: The Commies Are Coming
  18. Tom Lehrer: We'll All Go Together When We Go (background)
  19. The Cuff Links: Guided Missiles (background)
  20. Ray Anderson and the Homefolks: Sputniks And Mutniks (background)
  21. Civil Defense Spot: CONELRAD, Sounds Pretty Complicated
  22. The Goldwaters: Down In Havana
  23. Marty Robbins: Ain't I Right (background)
  24. The Commodores: Uranium (background)
  25. Civil Defense Spot: Take the Step (Four Wheels To Survival)
  26. Jack Holden and Frances Kay: The Fiery Bear (background)
  27. The Crown City Four: Watch World War Three (On Pay TV) (background)
  28. Al Rogers and his Rocky Mountain Boys: The Hydrogen Bomb (background)
  29. Elton Britt: The Red We Want Is The Red We Got
  30. Pat Boone: Civil Defense: Warning Signals
  31. Mike Fern, Mike (aka Mike Fernandez): A Bomb Bop (background)
  32. Carl Mann: Satellite No. 2 (background)
  33. Mike and Bernie Winters: Fallout Shelter (background)
  34. Hank King with Bud Williams and his Smiling Buddies: Your Atom Bomb Heart (background)
  35. Civil Defense Spot: In Time Of Emergency (Not Contagious) (Short film, 25 min) 
  1. Civil Defense Spot: How much time do we have? (Disaster on a Big Scale)
  2. Dr. Strangelove and the Fallouts: Love That Bomb (background)
  3. Glenn Barber: Atom Bomb (background)
  4. Elton Britt: Uranium Fever (background)
  5. Spencer and Spencer: Russian Bandstand (background)
  6. Boris Karloff: Civil Defense Spot: Protect Your Home
  7. Swan's Silvertone Singers: Jesus Is God's Atomic Bomb
  8. The Pilgrim Travelers: Jesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb
  9. Sam Hinton: Old Man Atom
  10. The Sons Of The Pioneers: Old Man Atom
  11. Roy Acuff: Advice To Joe (background)
  12. Civil Defense Spot: In Time of Emergency
  13. Dore Alpert: Fallout Shelter (background)
  14. Fred Kirby: When That Hell Bomb Falls (background)
  15. Hal Block with the Tony Borrello Orchestra: The Senator McCarthy Blues
  16. Ann-Margret: Thirteen Men (background)
  17. Mitzi Gaynor: Civil Defense Spot: 640-1240
  18. The Buchanan Brothers: There's A Power Greater Than Atomic (background)
  19. Louisiana Red: Red's Dream (background)
  20. Little Caesar and the Red Callender Sextette: Atomic Love
  21. Arthur 'Guitar Boogie' Smith and his Crackerjacks: Mr. Stalin You're Eating Too High Off The Hog (background)
  22. Civil Defense Spot: Psychiatrist (Shelter Signs)
  23. The Spirit of Memphis Quartet: Atomic Telephone (background)
  24. The Goons (Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan): A Russian Love Song (background)
  25. Red McCoy with the Sons of the Soil: Rock And Roll Atom (background)
  26. Red River Dave (Dave McEnery): Ballad Of Francis Powers (There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere)
  27. Howard Duff: Civil Defense Spot: Remember, 640-1240
  28. Mike Russo: Agnes (The Teenage Russian Spy) (background)
  29. Bo Diddley: Mr. Khruschev
  30. Toni Fisher, and the Wayne Shanklin Orchestra: West Of The Wall (background)
  31. Chris Cerf: (My) Fallout Filly (With The Atomic Kiss) (background)
  32. Jay Chevalier: Khrushchev And The Devil
  33. Dexter Logan and Darrell Edwards: The Song Of The Atom Bomb
  34. Sammy Cahn and Paul Weston: Civil Defense March (Heads Up America) (background)
  35. Civil Defense Spot: In Time of Emergency (Brilliant Nuclear Flash)
  1. Civil Defense Spot: How Much Time Do We Have? (Fortress Main Street)
  2. Billy Hughes and his Rhythm Buckeroos: Atomic Sermon (background)
  3. Buddy Hawk and his Buddies: Death Of Joe Stalin (Good Riddance)
  4. Golden Gate Quartet: Atom and Evil (background)
  5. Tommy Duncan: Relax And Take It Easy (background)
  6. Connie Francis: Civil Defense Spot: Be Prepared Today, for Survival Tomorrow
  7. Rudy Gaddis: Uranium Fever (background)
  8. Dude Martin's Round-Up Gang: Atom Bomb Baby (background)
  9. Janet Greene: Poor Left-Winger (background)
  10. Jimmie Driftwood: The Bear Flew Over The Ocean (background)
  11. Civil Defense Spot: In Time Of Emergency (Basic Supplies)
  12. Dexter Gordon: Bikini (background)
  13. Red River Dave (Dave McEnery): Trial Of Francis Powers (background)
  14. Don Meehan: An Open Letter To Khrushchev
  15. Bradley Kincaid: Brush The Dust From That Old Bible
  16. Joni James: Civil Defense Spot: Every Living Thing
  17. Al Barkle with the Tri-Tones: Sputnik II (background)
  18. The Buchanan Brothers: (You Got To Pray To The Lord) When You See Those Flying Saucers (background)
  19. Loy Clingman: Uranium Blues (background)
  20. The Louvin Brothers: Weapon Of Prayer
  21. Announcer: Don Pardo: Civil Defense Spot: Message from Mars (CONELRAD Jingle)
  22. George McKelvey: My Radiation Baby (My Teenage Fallout Queen) (background)
  23. Unidentified: H-Bomb
  24. The Charades: Hammers And Sickles (background)
  25. Jerry Engler and the Four Ekkos: Sputnik (Satellite Girl) (background)
  26. Johnny Cash: Civil Defense Spot: Help Ourselves
  27. Harold Weakley: To Russia With Care (background)
  28. Bobby Marchan and the Clowns: Rockin' Behind The Iron Curtain (background)
  29. Prescott Reed: Russia, Russia (Lay That Missile Down)
  30. Carl Perkins: Tennessee
  31. Ferlin 'Terry Preston' Husky: Let's Keep The Communists Out
  32. Don Windle: The Iron Curtain Has Parted
  33. Bing Crosby and Ken Carpenter: Stars For Defense Outro

Ch. 40 - The Stalemated Seventies

Resources

Readings
  • A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Ch. 19: Surprises (Discussion Guide)
Nixon "Vietnamizes the War" (p. 948) 

The Nixon Landslide of 1972 (p. 954)
The Great Tape Controversy (p. 956)
The Unmaking of a President (p. 959)
Defeat in Vietnam (p. 962)

Ch. 39 - The Stormy Sixties


Resources
Readings
  • A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Chapter 18: The Impossible Victory: Vietnam (Discussion Guide)
 *A book list can be found here: 1960s

Stepping into the Vietnam Quagmire (p. 920)
The Struggle for Civil Rights (p. 923)
The Killing of Kennedy (p. 926)
Johnson Battles Goldwater in 1964 (p. 928)
Black Power (p. 932)
Vietnam Vexations (p. 935)
The Obituary of Lyndon Johnson (p. 940)

Ch. 38 - The Eisenhower Era

Resources
Readings
The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy (p. 890) 
Seeds of the Civil Rights Revolution (p. 894)
Kennedy Challenges Nixon for the Presidency (p. 905)
The Presidential Issues of 1960 (p. 906)
Changing Economic Patterns (p. 908)
Consumer Culture in the Fifties (p. 911)

Ch. 37 - The Cold War Begins
 

 
Resources
Readings
The Rush to the Suburbs (p. 864)
 
The Suburbanites (p. 868)
 
Ferreting Out Alleged Communists (p. 879)
Life in the Atomic Age (not covered by textbook)
 
The Military Seesaw in Korea (p. 884)


Music
Films

Documentaries:
  • Eyes on the Prize: Series I —America’s Civil Rights Years 1954 - 1965
  • Eyes on the Prize: Series II - America's Civil Rights Years 1965 - mid-1980s
Books

* These still need to be added!
UPPER ELEMENTARY - MIDDLE SCHOOL
HIGH SCHOOL - ADULT
Nonfiction:

Ch. 36 - America in World War II
 
 
Resources
* Watch "America: The Story of US" Episode 10: World War II (Teacher's Guide)
 
Readings
  • A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Chapter 16: A People's War? (Discussion Guide)
The Japanese
Refugees from the Holocaust (p. 814)
Building the War Machine (p. 832)
Manpower and Womanpower (p. 833)
Holding the Home Front (p. 837)

Life on the Home Front (not covered in the textbook)
The Atomic Bombs (p. 851)
Links

Ch. 35 - Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War


Resources
Hitler's Belligerency and U.S. Neutrality
Congress Passes the Landmark Lend-Lease Law (p. 820)
America's Transformation from Bystander to Beligerent (p. 825)

Films

Additional films are listed on the applicable chapter pages.
Documentaries:
Books
 
UPPER ELEMENTARY - MIDDLE SCHOOL
 
Nonfiction:
Historical Fiction:
Picture Books (for older students):
HIGH SCHOOL - ADULT
 
Nonfiction:

Ch. 34 - The Great Depression and New Deal


Resources
* Watch "America: The Story of US" Episode 9: Bust (Teacher's Guide)

Readings
  • A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Chapter 15: Self-Help in Hard Times
  • "The Radio Priest and His Flock" by Wallace Stegner (1930) from The Aspirin Age, ed. by Isabel Leighton - Father Coughlin
  • "The First Hundred Days of the New Deal" by Arthur M. Schlesinger (1933) from The Aspirin Age, ed. by Isabel Leighton
FDR: Politician in a Wheelchair (p. 777)
Creating Jobs for the Jobless (p. 783)
A Day for Every Demagogue (p. 785)
  • Watch Work Pays America: Part 1 (16:13 min.) and Part II (15:44 min.) - A short film from 1937 about "how the WPA's program of public works benefits both unemployed workers and American society."
Huey Long:
Father Coughlin:
Paying Farmers Not to Farm (p. 788)
Dust Bowls and Black Blizzards* (p. 789)
* PBS will be airing a new 2-part four-hour Ken Burns film, "The Dust Bowl" on November 18 and 19, 2012 at 8/7c.
 
If students haven't already done so, have them read "The Great Plains: Dust to Dust" by the Frank and Deborah Popper.
 
The Dust Bowl Migrants (p. 792)
Hobos:
Hobo Music:
London Challenges the Champ in 1936 (p. 797)
New York World's Fair - 1939-40
  • See World of Tomorrow from Envisioning the American Dream
  • See Welcome to Tomorrow
  • The Prelinger Archive has amazing color(!) amateur film footage of the 1939 World's Fair. Go to the Prelinger homepage and click on "A." Scroll about halfway down the page to "Amateur Film: Medicus Collection: New York World's Fair 1939-40" - there are 6 reels of footage in total.
Other:
  • Document-Based Question: Evaluating the effectiveness of New Deal programs
  • Dear Daddy: The Farm Letters - "In her 80s, Martha Linsley bought a small typewriter from Montgomery Ward, taught herself to type, and began to transcribe the hundreds of letters she, her children, and her husband James wrote to one another from June, 1932 to August, 1934. Their correspondence may very well comprise the most extensive written insight into the day-to-day lives of a family dealing with the challenges of the Great Depression."
* Aunt Molly Jackson - Biography, Library of Congress recordings

Links