Tag Archives: history

Of Bullets, Germs and ‘Numbing Pomposity’

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Ken Dowell

Most Americans, even if you exclude those who don’t read at all, don’t read American history. It’s a result of their upbringing. They were subjected to enforced exposure to some of the dullest, ugliest, least imaginative textbooks in existence. James … Continue reading →

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Growing Up in the 50’s: My First Concert

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Ken Dowell

My first concert was at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. The Steel Pier was an entertainment complex, with various shows, including an aquatic show of some type at the end of the pier. At one time I think that … Continue reading →

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Rockwell as Chronicler of the Civil Rights Movement

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Ken Dowell

If you are in the New York/New Jersey area you have a couple more weeks to catch the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Newark Museum. I would encourage you to do so. I found the exhibit to be a revelation. … Continue reading →

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A Growing Up in the 50’s Book Review: Ike and Dick

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Ken Dowell

Prior to reading Jeffrey Frank’s book my opinion of these two men was that Eisenhower was probably a decent man and fairly good president. Nixon, on the other hand, was Tricky Dick. I was half right. If your image of … Continue reading →

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Growing Up in the 50’s: Thinking in Ethnic Slurs

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Ken Dowell

I often wonder what idiotic backward thinking might still be lodged in the recesses of my brain based upon what I was exposed to growing up. My father ranked high among the most prejudiced men on the face of the … Continue reading →

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Growing Up in the 50’s: Tricky Dick on Main Street

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Ken Dowell

It’s 1956. I’m in first grade at Washington Park Elementary School in Totowa, N.J. It must be in the fall, shortly before the presidential election that year, and one day my whole class was lined up and marched in formation … Continue reading →

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Growing Up in the 50’s: Bomb Scare!

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Ken Dowell

Like most suburban houses built in the 50’s, ours had a stairway to the basement in the center of the house. Under the stairway was an empty space with progressively lower head room, since the ceiling was in fact the … Continue reading →

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Growing Up in the 50’s: Baseball

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Ken Dowell

For an American boy growing up in the 50’s there was one sport, baseball. For a substantial part of my childhood I played baseball every day. Day after day, I would eat breakfast, pick up my glove and head out … Continue reading →

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