Winter 2024

Education

THANK GOD FOR DISCO: THE 1970S | 50+ YRS Richard Bloom

The tempest that was the 1960s spilled over into the new decade from all angles, yet none more tragic than the Kent State massacre in May. The deaths of four college students at the hands of Ohio National Guardsmen remained a bloody coda to the continuing protest tragedy of Vietnam. It would take another five years to pry ourselves free from that albatross, but others awaited. So throw on a tie-dyed T-shirt, grab your bells and platforms and stroll with us as we explore a decade both defined by fashion and yet undefined by direction.

SERIES II 3/4 - 1975: Van McCoy’s “Do the Hustle” ushers in the age of disco as America shows Vietnam the door after almost 15 years and more than 58,000-plus lives. 3/11 - 1976: Millions of Americans are caught up in Bicentennial fever as the nation celebrates its 200th birthday with all sorts of doings from sea to shining sea. Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer from Georgia, defeats incumbent President Gerald R. Ford to become the nation’s 35th chief executive. 3/18 - 1977: Snow falls in Miami, Fla, on January 19 for the only time in its history, but the death of singer/entertainer Elvis Presley at his Graceland home in Memphis in August tops the year’s news. 3/25 - 1978: WKRP in Cincinnati premieres on TV as does “Garfield” in hundreds of newspapers across the country. The LBGT Rainbow flag also makes its first appearance at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. 4/1 - 1979: Firestorms continue to flare up across the country, from Three Mile Island’s nuclear accident to Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati where 11 people died at a WHO concert. 4/8 - Looking Back: We said goodbye to a president, said hello to a racist bigot and paraded about our worlds in clothes that sometimes defied reason. The 1970s would serve to help bind the wounds of yesterday while most of our attention was turned inward, politically, culturally and psychologically. TV left the “safe” sitcom in search of sharper and deeper insights into American society. Thousands of Baby Boomers flooded the workplace as the college kids of protest slowly joined the establishment. Finally, once and for all, we removed ourselves from a costly foreign entanglement, vowing not to repeat that mistake. Why didn’t we learn? 551514 A 10-11 am M 3/4-4/8 Senior Center Bldg 1, Rm 104 $30 O 6 sessions

SERIES I 1/8 - The 1970s: The decade began as a spinoff of the 1960s but eventually took on its own character. It was a decade outlined in blood, defined in culture but not confined in character. Unlike the 1960s, characterized by more anger and angst than laughter and laurels, the 1970s mixed a lot of the bitter with the sweet, the banes with the blessings. 1/22 - 1970: In April, Paul McCartney announces the breakup of The Beatles, but the news pales beside domestic tragedy a month later. When America’s invasion of Cambodia on April 29 led to the deaths of four college-age students at Kent State University on May 4. 1/29 - 1971: Charles Manson and his followers are sentenced for the Tate-LaBianca murders, Walt Disney World opens in Florida and an unidentified man known as “Dan Cooper” hijacks a plane above Washington State. 2/5 - 1972: In 1972, platform shoes, shag carpeting, and Star Wars are all the rage. Michael and Jennifer are two of the most popular baby names. In November’s presidential election, Republican President Richard M. Nixon soundly defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern. 2/12 - 1973: Martin Cooper invents the first handheld mobile phone; Walkie Talkies are popular Christmas gifts and Stove Top Stuffing first appears on grocery store shelves. The average tuition at a four-year public college is $358. 2/26 - 1974: The presidential soap opera that became known as Watergate finally concludes with the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon and his departure from Washington in August. 551513 A 10-11 am M 1/8-2/26 (skip 1/15, 2/19) Senior Center Bldg 1, Rm 104 $30 O 6 sessions

ENRICHMENT

@CityofUAPR | 614-583-5300 | parks.uaoh.net

35