American Cultural
History
FACTS about this decade.
Population: 204,879,000
Unemployed in 1970: 4,088,000
National Debt: $382 billion
Average salary: $7,564
1970 - 1979
Food prices: milk, 33 cents a qt.;
bread, 24 cents a loaf; round steak,
The chaotic events of the 60's, including war and
$1.30 a pound
Life Expectancy: Male, 67.1;
social change, seemed destined to continue in the
Female, 74.8
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.
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.
ART & ARCHITECTURE
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).
BOOKS & LITERATURE
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.
Books That Define the Time




All the President's Men - Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations
by Christopher Lasch
The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality - Shere Hite
I'm OK, You're OK - Thomas A. Harris

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
Children's Book Award Winners of the seventies:
Newbery Award Winners Began in 1922 (most
distinguished book of the
previous year)
Caldecott Award Winners - Began in 1938
(most distinguished picture book of the
previous year)
1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by
1970: Sounder by William H.
William Steig
Armstrong
1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated
1971: Summer of the Swans by
by Gail E. Haley
Betsy Byars
1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by
1972: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats
Nonny Hogrogian
of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by
1973: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel
Craighead George
1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by
1974: The Slave Dancer by
Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach
Paula Fox
1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott
1975: M. C. Higgins, the Great
1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears,
by Virginia Hamilton
illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold
1976: The Grey King by Susan
by Verna Aardema
Cooper
1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions,
1977: Roll of Thunder, Hear My illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text:
Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Margaret Musgrove
1978: Bridge to Terabithia by
1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier
Katherine Paterson
1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by
1979: The Westing Game by
Paul Goble
Ellen Raskin
EDUCATION
Two trends not directly related to education nonetheless heavily
impacted the nation's schools and campuses during the Seventies.
Social movements, particularly the anti-war movement, were highly
visible on college and university campuses. The Kent State massacre
was the most devastating event, with four students gunned down by
Ohio National Guardsmen attempting to stem the anti-war
demonstrations. Mandatory busing to achieve racial school integration, particularly in
Boston and other Northeastern cities, often led to violence and a disruption of the
educational process. On a positive educational note, Congress guaranteed equal
educational access to the handicapped with the Education of All Handicapped Children
Act of 1975.
FADS & FASHION
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.
The fashion influence of Sixties hippies was
mainstreamed in the Seventies, as men sported
shoulder length hair and non-traditional clothing became the rage, including bellbottom
pants, hip huggers, colorful patches, hot pants, platform shoes, earth shoes, clogs, Tshirts, and gypsy dresses. Knits and denims were the fabrics of choice. Leisure suits
for men became commonplace, and women were fashionable in everything from anklelength grandmother dresses to hot pants and micro-miniskirts. The movie Annie Hall
(1977) even inspired a fashion trend with women sporting traditional men's clothing
such as derby hats, tweed jackets, and neckties worn with baggy pants or skirts.
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.
EVENTS AND PEOPLE
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.
The senator from South Dakota was shot five times while
George McGovern 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.
MUSIC
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.
Among the top names in popular music were Aerosmith, the Bee Gees, David Bowie,
Jackson Browne, Alice Cooper, Eagles, Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake &
Palmer, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Pink Floyd,
Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart,Three Dog Night, and The Who. "Easy
listening" regained popularity with groups such as the Carpenters, and Bob Marley
gained a huge core of fans in the U.S. performing Jamaican reggae music. Even though
Michael Jackson was only 12 years old in 1970, his career as a solo performer
skyrocketed during this decade.
THEATER, FILM, & TELEVISION
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.
SPORTS
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.
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.