Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: AMAZING GROWTH:

CALIFORNIA AFTER WORLD WAR II

THE GREAT MIGRATION• World War II brought population boom• 13 M newcomers 1940 - 1970 --Increase alone exceed most state populations--Exception nation's most populous state, New

York --New York record fell 1962--California nation’s most populous state

• 1940-1950, + 2/3 pop growth internal migration

--Most newcomers settled in So Cal--1940 pop 3.5 million --1950 pop 5.5 million --1960 9 million

• By 1960, 90 % in metropolitan areas--Largest population--Most urban population• Arrived for usual reasons--climate --opportunity

• many WWII veterans--+ 300,000 servicemen, -women took

discharges in Cal--Trained in Cal--Stopover on way to Pacific --GI Bill facilitated home ownership, education

• Gay, lesbian community emerged in post-war Cal

--1950 veteran Harry Hay founded Mattachine Society in Los Angeles

--1955 Phyllis Lyon, Del Martin organized Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in San Francisco

• Police persecution led to activism--San Francisco police routinely raided Black Cat

Café --Popular with Beat poets, musicians, gays

--club owner sued when liquor license revoked --1951 California Supreme Court sided with

owner--homosexuals had same right to congregate in

public as heterosexuals• leaders focused on source of harassment--1950s pressed for "consenting adults"

legislation--California Assemblyman Philip Burton, others

introduced bills

--Legislature voted down• Turning point 1959 mayor's race --Incumbent Mayor George Christopher--Challenger tax assessor Russ Wolden --Wolden blamed Christopher for homosexuals

in SF--Christopher defended himself, alienated gay,

lesbian voters --Began organizing voters' bloc

POSTWAR ECONOMIC GROWTH• Cal survived short postwar economic slump• Growth in population helped--GI Bill loans financed building boom--home, highway construction--real estate, automobile, consumer goods--savings, pent up demand

• Federal defense spending continued• Postwar economy more diverse --Before, centered on agriculture, oil, movies,

tourism--Remained important after--New fields: electronics, footwear, clothing,

frozen foods

• National companies opened Cal plants--technical instruments--autos--tires and tubes--chemicals--cosmetics

• Women wage earners key to new economy--##s women workers continued to grow--Before WWII, 1 in 4 women over 16 worked--By 1960, 2 in 5--By 1970, + 1 in 2

• Demographics of women workers changing--More likely to be married--More likely to have young children--1940, 15% of married women worked--1950, 21% "" ""--1960, 30% "" "" --1970, 40% "" ""--1980, + 50% "" "" • Clustered in low-paid, pink-collar jobs

• Wives' wages pulled families into "middle class"

--Wages helped with mortgage payments--Cars, appliances, vacations--College tuition for children• Working wives changed family dynamics--Wives empowered by economic contributions --Expected role in family decision making--Sexism in home, workplace radicalized some

THE DEFENSE AND AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES• New economy based on WWII military

spending• Soviet-American relations deteriorated after

1945--US policy of containment evolved into Cold

War--Prevent Soviet expansion --Fund massive build up of nuclear, conventional

weapons

--Wait until Soviets collapsed under expense of keeping up

--Went both ways: Soviet satellite program terrified US

--Countered with National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Apollo program

--Soviet collapse came 1990s • WWII technological developments

emphasized aircraft, missiles, electronics

• California directly benefited from Cold War spending

• Fed had existing relationships with research universities

--California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley expanded R & D facilities

--Facilities, $$ brought top talent to Cal

• Douglas, Lockheed, North American, others adapted to aerospace

--intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), other missiles

--military and commercial jet aircraft--space equipment--By 1960, 70 % San Diego’s industrial workers in

aerospace--"" "" 60 % Los Angeles, Orange industrial

workers

• Overall Cal dominated federal defense spending

--25 % of national defense expenditures --42 % of Defense Department research

contracts --50 % of NASA budget

• Aerospace industry made Cal vulnerable to cuts in defense

--1968, 1973 cuts hurt --Esp painful in So Cal, parts of SF Bay Area--Hit elite, well-paid technicians, engineers,

other skilled workers--By 1970s aerospace industry less important to

Cal economy

• "New" economy more balanced --Benefited from high-technology R & D,

manufacturing --Products included computers, semiconductors,

communications equipment, computer software

--Firms concentrated in Santa Clara Valley near San José

--Eventually called Silicon Valley

THE HOUSING BOOM• Population growth continued after WWII--Pop increased by 50% 1940s--"" "" "" 50% again 1950s--1940-1970 pop nearly tripled, about 1500/day

• Natural increase another factor--Marriage, birth rates declined 1930s--Marriage rates increased postwar --"Baby boom" 1947 - 1964--1940 fertility rate 79.9 per thousand women--1957 peak rate 122.9 per thousand women• Growing families increased housing demand

• Builders adapted WWII mass production techniques

• Result communities of suburban “tract” homes

--Floor plans identical, nearly identical --Separate crews for foundations, framing,

roofing, interiors--Prefabrication, assembly-line methods sped

construction--Tracts home to 2/3 of newcomers

• Tracts spread out from urban centers--Land cheaper beyond city limits --Housing filled in outskirts of San Francisco, San

José, Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino counties

• Builders, municipalities struggled to keep pace--Restrictions on developments--lot size, streets, drainage systems, sidewalks--Required parks, schools

• Builders popularized California ranch-style house

--Most popular style of 1950s, 1960s--Single story, shake-roofs--Developers emphasized “California living” --Outdoor spaces, swimming pools, entertaining

• Suburbs, shopping centers paved over agriculture land

--3 m acres 1950s, 1960s--Farmland near suburbs increased in value--Property taxes followed--So Cal growers sold out--Citrus industry shifted to San Joaquin Valley

• Municipalities couldn't keep up--Water, gas, electric, sewage-treatment

inadequate--Telephone service sometime + 12 mos beyond• Growth of suburbs changed urban centers--White, middle-class families moved to new

suburbs--Restrictive covenants excluded people of color--Poor, ethnic minorities left behind

--Mexican, African American neighborhoods grew crowded

--Hunters Point, the Fillmore district, West Oakland, Richmond, LA's Japantown

--Mexican districts grew in San Diego, Los Angeles counties

• Quality of life deteriorated in urban centers--Inferior housing--high unemployment--dependence on welfare--de facto segregation of schools--poor police, garbage collection, other services

• state, federal government services expanded--governmental office buildings--courthouses--correctional facilities • Big cities height restrictions removed, relaxed--#s high-rise commercial buildings, office

towers increased--City skylines transformed

TRANSPORTATION• Pop boom strained transportation systems• Car ownership grew through 1920s--Suburban dwellers pressed state, fed for

improved roads• Legislative response Collier-Burns Act --Huge state construction program --Built + 12,500 miles freeways, expressways--Funded by gasoline tax $0.07/gallon

--Funds earmarked for road construction,

maintenance

•1950s fed also launched highway programs --Additional funding for Cal highways--Provided 90 % $$ for interstate freeways --"" 50% funds for other federal highways in state--Los Angeles transformed

• By 1970 12 million autos registered in California

--2x any other state• California car culture had widespread impacts--Strip malls, shopping centers killed downtown

shopping districts--Motels challenged downtown hotels--Fast-food drive-ins threatened restaurants--Drive-in movies "" theatres

• Shipped goods moved by trucks, not trains --1970 trucks moved 90 % percent of goods in

state --Trucking payroll $8 billion • Smog in Los Angeles by mid-1940s--Causes initially unclear--Early research isolated chemicals produced by

automobiles--Spawned first national movement to regulate

auto emissions

• Private automobiles replaced public transit systems

--LA's Pacific Electric phased out--San Francisco's Key System "" ""--Busses took over routes• Pollution, rising oil prices renewed interest

1970s--1974 Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART)

system completed --first electric rail system built in US in 25 years

--criticized as too expensive --sponsors insisted system be self-supporting--fares too high --service limited, connected suburbs to

downtown San Francisco, Oakland--couldn't lure commuters out of cars

• community leaders criticized uncontrolled freeway construction

--freeways took path of least resistance--razed low-income housing--divided neighborhoods--destroyed historic landmarks• citizen groups organized protests--mid-1960s San Franciscans revolted--left Embarcadero Freeway half finished (torn

down after Loma Preita quake)

--proposed freeway through Golden Gate Park killed

--Laguna Beach, Pasadena groups halted proposed freeways

--North Coast conservationists blocked freeway through redwoods

EDUCATION• Pop boom put pressure on schools--Classroom, Teacher shortage--Suburban schools ran double, triple sessions• Municipalities floated construction bonds --Residents approved--Schools built through 1950s, 1960s--Demand fell in 1970s

• Colleges, universities expanded--Baby-boomers reached college age 1960s--##s high school students college-bound

increased 50 %--Leveled off mid-1970s • California led nation in free public higher

education--legislature launched community college

system --by 1975 106 two-year institutions built

--financed by local property taxes--limited to under-graduate courses, vocational

programs--funneled undergrads to 4-years• public state colleges expanded role --initially teacher training institutions --evolved into 4-year liberal arts colleges --granted baccalaureate, master’s degrees

• University of California system grew --U of C at Los Angeles (UCLA) expanded--Adopted Santa Barbara State College,

agricultural programs at Davis, Riverside--Built campuses at San Diego, Irvine, Santa Cruz• state colleges and university system rivals for

state funds--1950s legislature studied system--Result 1960 Higher Education Act of 1960

--"Master Plan" differentiated between each segment

• University of California system at top--Cal's research and professional training

institution--Open to top 12.5 % high school graduates --Grant master's, doctorate degrees

• state colleges organized into California State University system

--governed by new board of trustees --accepted top 1/3 h.s. students --could grant baccalaureate, master’s degrees--community colleges maintained original

function--taxpayers, legislatures, governors supported

public higher ed through 1970s

OUTDOOR RECREATION• Forests, beaches, parks popular postwar

destinations --Beaches, forests, Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings

Canyon, Lassen national parks attracted newcomers, tourists

--1940 Forest Service reported14 million visitor days/year

--1970 "" "" 60 million

--Cal increased investment in park system--Cities, towns developed urban park sites• Postwar pop strained recreational facilities--Cars, trailers, off-road vehicles--Campers, backpackers, sightseers--Litter, water pollution, noise--Brought attention to environmental issues• Recreation market attracted entrepreneurs--Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farms

--Private summer camps opened for travel trailers, motor homes, RVs

--Boise-Cascade, Fibreboard, others built RV parks--Music Corporation of America (MCA) took over

Yosemite's Curry Company• Commercialization sped assault on

recreational areas--MCA proposed high-rise visitor facilities for

Yosemite --"" "" tram from Valley to Glacier Point

THE NEW HOLLYWOOD• motion picture industry suffered postwar--federal government considered theatre chains

"trusts"--1948 compelled major studios to sell movie

theatres--Higher taxes, independent producers,

directors, stars raised production costs--Film companies explored "on location" filming--Sold off studio lots

--New stars demanded share in film revenues--Meant end to old "contract system"--Foreign films cut into Hollywood monopoly• Television bolstered So Cal entertainment

industry, undermined studios--Cut into weekly ticket sales--Some studios kept films, branched into

television--Good example Walt Disney

• By 1960 Hollywood rivaled New York for television programming

• LA music recording industry grew• WWII brought European talent to Hollywood--émigrés escaping war--potential to broaden So Cal's cultural

perspective

POST-WAR POLITICS AND THE ANTICOMMUNIST CRUSADE

• Cold War, then Korean War brought new wave of “red scares”

--National politicians built careers on search for “un-American” activities

--E.g. Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy

--Attacked New Deal administrators--Claimed but never produced proof

• California's Richard M. Nixon employed red-scare tactics

--1948 Republican candidate for Congress --Successfully challenged Democratic incumbent

Jerry Voorhis --Campaigned on Voorhis’s loyalty --charged labor supporters with ulterior

Communist motives

• 1949 Nixon gained seat on House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

--Targeted former official of the U.S. State Department Alger Hiss

--Hiss convicted of perjury --Gave Nixon national reputation as Cold

Warrior

• 1950 Nixon elected to U.S. Senate--Campaigned against former New Dealer Helen

Gahagan Douglas--Hollywood star, wife of actor Melvyn Douglas--Linked Mrs. Douglas to subversive groups --No proof of communist sympathies

• 1952 gained place on Republican presidential ticket

--Republicans divided into liberal, conservative camps

--Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower represented liberal wing

--Nixon helped secure Republican victory

• California created own Un-American Activities Committee

--state senate formed 1947 --state senator Jack B. Tenney chaired--Tenney parleyed red-hunt into political power--Call to testify usually disastrous for witnesses--unsubstantiated suggestions of disloyalty

enough to ruin reputations

• 1947 HUAC held hearings in Hollywood--Searching for communist messages in film--Script-writer Dalton Trumbo refused to answer

key question --“Are you now or have you ever been a

member of the Communist Party?” --Claimed First Amendment right to avoid self-

incrimination--Trumbo, others indicted, jailed

--Group ultimately known as "Hollywood Ten"--Hollywood blacklisted uncooperative witnesses--Careers of hundreds of writers, actors, directors,

producers ruined• 1949 University of California officials adopted

loyalty oath --Trying to ward off Tenney committee

investigation --Required employees to declare loyalty to state

constitution, deny membership in subversive organizations

--Divided Regents, faculty --Most faculty refused to sign as unconstitutional,

violated academic freedom • California Gov. Earl Warren intervened in UC

controversy--Pressured Regents to rescind loyalty oath--Opposed by Regent Amadeo P. Giannini--1950 regents fired 46 non-signing faculty• 1950 Cal legislature passed Levering Act--Required loyalty oath from state employees

• April 1951 state court heard Tolman v. Underhill

--decided for faculty, against Regents--oath a violation of tenure, unconstitutional• regents appealed to California supreme court--court sided with faculty, ordered reinstatement--meanwhile Chief Justice Earl Warren moving

Supreme Court left--invalidated legal foundations for loyalty oath--invalided state's 1950 Levering Act

• 1949 state senate abolished Tenney committee

--Tenney accused uncooperative legislators of communism

--Impaneled new, less aggressive committee --Committee staff built dossiers on state

senators--1970s committee abolished

GOODWIN KNIGHT MOVES LEFT• Lt. Gov. Goodwin J. (“Goody”) Knight elected

1946--lawyer, businessman, radio commentator,

popular guest speaker--Centrist Earl Warren endorsed • After election aligned with conservative

Republicans--Knight opposed Gov. Warren on key issues

-- medical insurance--fair employment legislation• 1950 re-elected Lt. Gov.--cross-filed with Republican, Democratic parties --first, last lt. gov to win both nominations• 1953 took over for Earl Warren--Moved left to hold liberal Republican support--Endorsed mental health programs, increases in

unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation, old-age pensions, child-care centers

--opposed right-to-work legislation--endeared Knight to Cal labor groups--1954 helped elect as governor --Cross filed with both parties--Nearly won Democratic nomination in

primaries

• After 1954 Knight embroiled in Republican party power struggle

--caught between Richard Nixon and William F. Knowland

--Vice President, U.S. senator respectively--Retired before 1958 elections

CALIFORNIA CULTURE IN TRANSITION• Boosters continued to promote 1950s

California as promised land--Magazines, movies, television glamorized

"California lifestyle"--Supposedly carefree, informal--supported year-round leisure activities

• 1950s culture transitional --1930s, 1940s cataclysmic decades--Californians, Americans yearned for safety,

stability--Traditional values competed with "modern"

tastes

• Swing, jazz, big-band music remained popular--Music of 1930s, 1940s--Reached new audiences in 1950s--Black performers, clubs brought white crowds --E.g. SF Fillmore district--California's Dave Brubeck popular --Monterey Jazz Festival attracted national,

international audiences

• Rock ’n’ roll new popular music style--Black, white artists merged blues, jazz --Combined elements of folk, country and

western styles• Social criticism shaped 1950s film--Writers, directors joined discontents of 1920s,

1930s --Rejected materialism, conformity of popular

culture

--"Film noir" drew on 1930s fiction--Eg Double Indemnity, The Blue Dahlia, The

Postman Always Rings Twice --Illustrated dangers of modern, urban life• Other Hollywood filmmakers continued

traditions of 1930s--Disney studios' Mary Poppins, The Absent-

Minded Professor--family-oriented television programs like I Love

Lucy

• Literature equally mixed--Universities produced remarkable writers--Stanford's Wallace Stegner published Mormon

Country (1942), Big Rock Candy Mountain (1943)

--Berkeley's George R. Stewart explored nature in Storm (1941), Fire (1948)

• Same time new poets, writers rejected traditional forms

--"Beat" writers of 1940s, 1950s drew on jazz music

--Criticized postwar suburban culture--Allen Ginsberg, writer Jack Kerouac key Beat

figures

• Many Californians happy with postwar suburban culture

--1950s great for white, MC Californians--GI Bill, expanding economy meant high wages--working wives propelled many families into

middle-class--had time, funds for skiing, surfing, boating,

hiking, camping--Recreational activities boosted economy--Required recreational paraphernalia

• Ranch-style architecture epitome of California lifestyle

--Similar to Mexican rancho --Blended modern principles--Design should flow from site, blend indoor,

outdoor space--popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright, Cliff May,

others

• So Cal culture influenced by European writers, artists, musicians

--Financed, promoted fine arts--1960s, 1970s led to new museums, art schools,

performance halls

The Coming of the Freeways. The Hollywood Freeway, looking east to Los Angeles Civic Center, 1956. © California Department of Transportation.

Bayshore Freeway entering San Francisco from the south, 1955. © California Department of Transportation.

Looking southeast along the Santa Ana Freeway, as subdivisions encroach on orange groves, 1955. © California Department of Transportation.

The Nimitz Freeway, which opened southern Alameda County agricultural lands to subdivisions, 1959. © California Department of Transportation.

Mickey Mouse jokes with Walt Disney, 1935© General Photographic Agency/Getty.

Jack KerouacCourtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California,Berkeley.