The Interstate Highway System: OUR ROAD TO A STRONGER NATION

http://67395805.nhd.weebly.com/

Cody Baker and Kayla Joyner Junior Division Group Website National History Day Competition 2013

Primary Sources

Interviews

Nonis, Pete. Phone interview. 25 January 2013. Pete Nonis is a Congressional Relations Manager at the American Automobile Association. He gave us some enlightening information on the effects of the interstate on the economy and how it fits the Turning Point theme. Our interview with Pete is a primary source, because the American Automobile Association is very involved in the interstate system, and was among the first advocates back in the 1910s.

Government Documents

Eighty-Fourth Congress of the United States of America. Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. Eighty-Fourth Congress of the United States of America. Washington D.C., Eighty-Fourth Congress of the United States of America. Pg. 1-2. Print. This primary source, the Federal Highway Act of 1956, was the main focus of one of the pages of our website: therefore, it was a fundamental source for us. We referred back to the act whenever a resource gave us information about it, to verify or dispute these facts. Moreover, this artifact was included on the The Federal Highway Act page of our website to increase historical quality.

Government Reports

Study Committee on Federal Aid to Highways. A Study Committee Report on Federal Aid to Highways. 84th Congress. Washington: GPO, 1955. Print. 1 April 2013. This report, submitted to the Commission on Intergovernmental Relations in 1955, contains a study presenting the necessary facts to prove the need of highways in the United States, and discusses financing options. This resource, along with all of our subsequently listed government reports, was found at the Iowa State University Library Archives.

U.S. Department of Transportation. Americas Highways: 1776-1976. 94th Congress. Washington: GPO, 1976. Print. 1 April 2013. This 600-page report had a massive amount of pictures and was rare in that it contained information covering all areas of our topic and did not focus on a specific aspect. This made it one of the best sources that we encountered in our research, but also limited the amount of depth it was able to provide.

Dwight D. Eisenhower. A Report of the National Interregional Highway Committee, Outlining and

Recommending a National System of Interregional Highways. 78th Congress, 2nd Session. Washington: U.S. Printing Office, 1944. Print. 1 April 2013. This report, written by Dwight Eisenhower himself, featured recommendation on how highways should be built and financed. This kind of firsthand account was much more useful that other resources which merely discussed Eisenhowers thoughts without extrapolating on his reasoning.

U.S. Department of Commerce. Highways in the United States. 83rd Congress. Washington: GPO, 1954. Print. 1 April 2013. This report describes the history of highways, their effects on transportation and safety, and the flaws and positive features of the highway system active at the time. This contributed to the Early Roads page by providing information on the original system, and why it was doomed to fail.

The Bureau of Public Roads. A Preliminary Report on Highway Needs for Civil Defense. 85th Congress. Washington: GPO, 1957. Print. 1 April 2013. This report appraises the value of a cohesive system of public roads for the purpose of national defense. It explained the need of highways for evacuations from cities and presented statistics and graphs to prove this opinion.

The Presidents Advisory Committee on a National Highway Program. A Ten-Year National Highway Program. 84th Congress. Washington: GPO, 1955. Print. 1 April 2013. Through this report we got a glimpse of why the individual members of the government wanted highways and how they were debated from a firsthand account. It also detailed why the current system was inadequate and the steps that were to be taken for improvement.

U.S. Department of Commerce. Highways and Economic and Social Changes. 88th Congress. Washington: GPO, 1964. Print. 1 April 2013. This publication summarized the many Economic Impact Studies performed by the Bureau of Public Roads, and thus was helpful in developing our Economic Effects page whilst also providing statistics.

U.S. Department of Transportation. Highway Statistics- Summary to 1965. 90th Congress. Washington: GPO, 1967. Print. 1 April 2013. This report was nearly 800 pages long, and filled entirely with statistics. Although overwhelming, it provided us with information to prove our thesis statement and enhance the Effects paged of our website, to which it contributed greatly.

Federal Highway Administration. Economic and Environmental Effects of Alternative Highway System. 93rd Congress. Washington: GPO, 1974. Print. 1 April 2013. This source is an evaluation report wherein the author, Curtis Harris, discusses his projections of the economic impacts of the system in the future. Acknowledging that this report was issued during the

active years of interstate construction, we realized that, even then, citizens were anticipating its long-term effects.

Case Studies

Economics of Asphalt and Concrete for Highway Construction. Stanford: Stanford Research Institute, 1961. Print. This research summary covers the costs of asphalt and concrete, as well as compares the two. It featured explanatory statistics and graphs, which made it all the more comprehensible. Utilized on our Construction page, this source was especially helpful.

Conference Proceedings

Economic Impact of Highway Improvement. National Academy of Sciences. 1957. Print. As the title implies, this source is the transcript of a conference wherein the economic benefits of an interregional highway system are discussed. This conference listed both the factors that led to the need of highways and how they were used to convince hesitant members of the government to promote the system.

Audio Clips

Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union. MP3. Federal Highway Administration. 6 January 1955. 16 February 2013. This brief audio clip of President Eisenhower discussing the need of highways in our nation was an excellent primary source, which gave us a glimpse into Eisenhowers thought process. We were able to include this source in the Eisenhowers Role page of our website, as we thought it would prove his passion for the system.

The Presidents News Conference. MP3. Federal Highway Administration. 14 July 1954. 16 February 2013. This is an audio clip from Eisenhowers news conference in 1954, wherein he discusses the financing of the Interstate Highway System. This gave us useful understanding on Eisenhowers suggested methods of funding and how these were disputed by others involved in the project. We decided to include a clip from this source on our website to extrapolate on the systems funding by the government.

Books

Eisenhower, Dwight D. At Ease: Stories I Tell To Friends. New York City: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1967. Print. This book was an interesting read about West Point Academy and the life Dwight Eisenhower led there. It gave us excellent firsthand information on Eisenhowers experiences with German Autobahns in the war, which was used to assemble our The Autobahn and Eisenhowers Role pages.

Eisenhower, Dwight D. The White House Years: Mandate for Change New York City: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1963. Print. Contrary to the previous book we had read by President Eisenhower, this informative autobiography subsumed useful information on the interstate system itself and not merely on Eisenhowers pre-presidential experiences. Additionally, this source provided us with quotes and background knowledge on Eisenhowers life and his vital role in the creation of the interstate system.

Journal Articles

$40 Billion Highway Program in Trouble. U.S. News and World Report 48 (1959): 69-73. Print. Although brief, this article gave information on the objections and complaints made to superhighways. It also described the funding methods of the interstate and toll roads incorporated.

Are Cars Really Strangling Cities? U.S. News and World Report 53.2 (1962): 64-9. Print. This article follows an interview with Rex Whitton, an expert on highways, as he discusses the negative effects of interstates. Rex does not agree that freeways ruin cities, but offers his own insight on the topic. This helped us see both sides of the debate and come to the ultimate conclusion that interstates were a positive invention.

Coast to Coast on Four-Lane Highways. U.S. News and World Report 38 (1955): 87-9. Print. This brief journal article covered the new possibilities opened up by highways such as faster travel, broader destinations, and safer roads. This helped us see that citizens were excited to see the benefits of widespread interstates when they were first approved for government funding.

Evans, Henry K. The Roads Buy Themselves. Nations Business V. Unknown. (1954): 77-81. Print. This article contained interesting statistics regarding money and profits, which made it a necessary source for our Economic Effects page. It also listed in detail the positive effects of the interstate on American life. This information helps prove that our topic epitomizes the theme, Turning Points in History.

Green Light for Truckers. Time V. Unknown. (1954): 62-5. Time Magazine. Web. 25

February 2013. This article is about a road law that was broken by a trucker and the trucker being dismissed without charge by the Supreme Court. It helped change our view of the topic in showing that the states only have a certain amount of authority to police their own highways.

Highway Boom or Bust? U.S. News and World Report 46 (1959): 55-7. Print. This journal article covered a special message made by President Eisenhower on May 13, wherein he recommended the funding of the interstate program be carried out through increased gasoline taxes.

High Road to Control; Federal Highway. Nations Business 48 (1960): 122. Print. We learned that the interstate system is 41,000 miles long and consists of many toll roads. It was a very expensive project, costing the federal government $40,000,000. This information would later help us develop our The Federal Highway Act page by giving us knowledge on the funding of the project.

The Economy: Building a Nation on Wheels. Newsweek 42 (1955): 61-2. Print. This article explained how outdated roads fell out of favor to new highways when they were introduced. It also featured information about the problems of highways, including increased gas costs. This article was made more interesting with charts and a picture, which we considered for use on our website.

The Revolt Against Big City Freeways. U.S. News and World Report 52. (1962): 48-51. Print. This article contained relevant and unfamiliar information about the negative reactions to the interstate system. This source shaped and changed our views of the interstate system, although it displaced some of our previously acquired information on the supposed benefits of the interstate.

Races: Integration on the Rails. Time V. Unknown. (1955): 36-8. Time Magazine. Web. 22 February 2013. This article was about a law passed in 1955, stating that African-Americans who pay for interstate accommodations are entitled to them. This stressed to us just how versatile of an effect the interstate had on American life, not only directly but indirectly in ways such as contributing to civil rights and racial equality.

Weve Been Asked About Financing Road Plans. U.S. News and World Report 37. (1954): 24-6. Print. Relevant to our research was the information about toll roads, the funding of superhighways, the amount paid to construct them, and the people that needed to approve roads before they were built and funded. This was mostly familiar information, but the article gave us validation.

Why 50 Billion For Highways. U.S. News and World Report 37. (1954): 24-6. Print. This article was especially helpful, as it broke down the money and roads needed for each state individually. Furthermore, it had some well-rounded information about the creation of interstate highways. It also had a few charts that showed some interesting statistics about the interstate budget.

Letters

Eisenhower, Dwight. Letter to Chief Motor Transport Corps. 5 November 1919. Rock Island. This brief letter contains a report from Eisenhower on his travels on the convoy and what he would like to see in our countrys transportation system. It details how the trip was going and how many people were around.

Eisenhower, Dwight. Letter to The Congress. 22 February 1955. The White House. This letter provided us with information about President Eisenhowers feelings on the interstate system. It explained the of issues the nations current road system and what needed to be done to fix them.

Jones, Roger. Letter to the President. 28 June 1956. Executive Office of the President. This letter was sent to the president to explain the budget of the Interstate Highway System. It explains the effects of the cost of the interstate system, such as higher gas prices. We decided that, since this letter provided such a thorough explanation of the funding of interstates, we would include it on the The Federal Highway Act page of our website.

Secretary of Commerce. Letter to The President. 16 March 1957. Secretary of Commerce. This letter to Eisenhower explains the deficiencies in the highway system, as well as provides information on state costs of the Interstate Highway System.

Writer Unknown. Letter to President Harry Truman. 18 September 1948. Publisher Unknown. This anonymously sent letter from a Chicago businessman in 1948 showed us that, even before the Federal Highway Act of 1956, interstate construction was tearing apart the lives of citizens. We chose to include it on our website because it shows the harms of federally-funded interstate construction, which Eisenhower did not consider when signing the Federal Highway Act.

Newspaper Articles

$29 Million for Route 6 Improvement Program. The Wellsboro Agitator. The Wellsboro Agitator, 11 January 1956. Web. 6 January 2013. This article described one of many decisions made by the government to devote money to highways, specifically being a petition signed by Joseph Lawler to devote 29 million dollars to a roadway called Route 6. It helped us realize how much money and political effort was being devoted to interstates in the 1950s.

Bureau of Public Roads Recommends Interstate Highway Routes. The Telegraph Herald. The Telegraph Herald, 30 September 1955. Web. 21 January 2013. This article provided us with knowledge about a road recommended by the Bureau of Public Roads that runs through many cities in Iowa and Nebraska. This was helpful, because these towns and roads are familiar to us and helped us get a more complete picture of the roads built during the 1950s.

Hoogland, Steve. Roads Hold Historic Value. Sioux Center News. Sioux Center News, 20 September 2006. Web. 27 March 2013. The author of this article gives readers facts about the interstate system. They are simple facts, but he does talk about how it impacts our nation economically and how it was a turning point in history.

Interstate Highway System Ranks as a World Wonder. Sioux County Newspaper. Sioux County Newspaper, 2 June 1966. Web. 27 March 2013. This article informed us about the cost and mileage of the interstate system. It also contained information about speed limits and studies on fatality rates, which were most helpful in creating our Travel Effects page.

Iowa Highway Commission Announces New Five Year Construction Program. Sioux County Newspaper. Sioux County Newspaper, 21 December 1967. Web. 27 March 2013. The interstate system was still in construction at the time this article was written. It informed us about the benefits of the program and how long it was planned to take. It also gave us knowledge about the cost and the obstacles the Federal Highway Act overcame.

McCurdy, Gerri. Save Lives First... Money After. The Sioux County Capital Democrat. The Sioux County Capital Democrat, 11 December 2003. Web. 28 March 2013. The author of this article discusses the lack of troopers and how they are unable fulfill all of their responsibilities. It also explains percentages on how fatalities have increased, which, although completely untrue, were interesting for us to hear. This perspective gave us grounds for building our Adverse Effects page.

Nation to Spend Millions on Highways. Times Daily. Times Daily, 5 December 1954. Web. 6 January 2013. Through this article, we learned that Louisiana governor Robert F. Kennon suggested the funding and creation of the Interstate Highway System. This was important

information for us, as we had been searching for the person who presented the bill to President Eisenhower.

OBrien, John H. 37,800 Miles of Road Link all States. The Milwaukee Sentinel. The Milwaukee Sentinel, 1 February 1953. Web. 6 January 2013. This article defines the interstate as a web holding our country together, and lists reasons of its importance. It informed us that the interstate runs through 42 of the nation's 48 capitals and 155 of the 199 cities in the U.S. with a population of 50,000 or more. This information came in handy when we made the Travel Effects page on our website.

Passage of Road Bill Expected. The Times News. The Times News, 24 May 1955. Web. 2 February 2013. Being written right before the signing of The Federal Highway Act, this article was an especially relevant primary resource for us. It gave us information about the process that the bill would have to go through with Congress and what the act would mean for the Interstate Highway System and for the United States.

Primary and Interstate Highway Construction in Iowa. Sioux County Newspaper. Sioux County Newspaper, 19 August 1992. Web. 7 April 2013. This article contains a graph on how many roads had been paved each year. It helped fortify our understanding of the construction of the interstate system.

Roberts, J.M., Jr. A Picture of Postwar Germany. Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown Vindicator, 11 September 1948. Web. 30 February 2013. This article was interesting in that it explained what Germany looked like with Autobahns. It gives information about the beauties and benefits of the system, which helped us develop our page The Autobahn.

Simpson, Kirke L. Autobahns are Now Aiding in Hitler Defeat. The Lewiston Daily Sun. The Lewiston Daily Sun, 5 April 1945. Web. 30 March 2013. This article contains information on how the German Autobahn inadvertently played a role in Hitlers defeat by allowing for easier access to the country, and how the autobahn was important.

Transcontinental Road Completed in Utah. Around the Nation. Around the Nation, 26 August 1986. Web. 14 January 2013. This brief article described the completion of an interstate after over 30 years of construction. We realized that, even today, interstates across the countries are still being built and that the project of the interstate is ongoing.

Wilson, Lyle C. New Road Building Program Seen as Economic Booster. Star News. Star News, 3

February 1956. Web. 16 January 2013. This article gave information on the reasons the interstate was built and the money spent on it. Although we had acquired this information from previous sources, this article confirmed it.

Videos

1989 Interstate 88 Protest in Hillcrest on WBNG Action News. Youtube. Youtube, 15 February 2012. 1 February 2013. This is a clip from a news broadcast aired in 1989 describing a protest against harmful interstate construction. It helped us to understand the kind of danger interstate highways posed to small businesses and communities. We also included an excerpt from this video on our Adverse Effects page.

Building a Highway. Youtube. Encyclopedia Britannica Films Inc., 1948. Web. 3 February 2013. This video was made and distributed before interstate highways began development, and described the construction process of pre-interstate highways. This information was very important, as we used it to complete our Construction page.

Ford Model T: 100 Years Later. Youtube. Youtube. Web. 9 February 2013. This video contained footage of Henry Fords Model T driving through tough terrain. It was helpful in showing us how miserable driving conditions were during the pre-interstate era.

Rhythm of the Road, a Fordfilm Interlude. Youtube. Youtube, October 1936. Web. 3 February 2013. This video expresses the excitement that people experienced riding on roads when they were first introduced. Rhythm of the Road was originally performed at Albert Hall to promote Ford cars, but we do not think it is very biased as Ford cars are only mentioned once in the song. Additionally, listening to Rhythm of the Road was a great stress reliever for us!

Websites

Interstate Highway System. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Presidential Library System, N.p., N.d. Web.12 February 2013. This website helped advance our research by providing links to primary documents to use, many of which can be found under the Documents section of our bibliography.

Secondary Sources

Interviews

Cullen, Bob. Telephone interview. 28 March 2013. Mr. Cullen works at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. He contributed valuable information on the historical context of the system and the statistical evidence that outlines both its successes and failures. It was interesting to get an unbiased presentation of the facts behind the system, but also to hear his unique opinions on these matters.

Fraas, Matthew. Email interview. 9 April 2013. Mr. Fraas is the Education Specialist at the U.S. Army transportation museum. Thus, he provided us with interesting information on Eisenhowers military backgrounds and how these influenced his passion for the transportation industry. This interview was especially influential on our Eisenhowers Role page.

Heanue, Kevin. Telephone interview. 2 April 2013. Kevin Heanue of the Federal Highway Administration was referred to us by Richard Weingroff. This was one of our less useful interviews, since Heanue gave abbreviated responses and presented mostly familiar information rather than the opinionated responses we were craving.

Kurtz, Vince. Personal interview. 22 January 2013. Mr. Kurtz graduated from Northwest College in Orange City and trained at Camp Dodge. He currently serves as a state trooper, taking on a variety of assignments. Kurtz provided a unique perspective regarding the Interstate and its effects on crime, law enforcement, and the United States as a nation. He also referred us to some current highway issues which launched us into our research and gave us a foundation of information to build upon. We value this interview above the others not only because of the perspective Kurtz gave, but because it was the only personal interview we were able to schedule.

Weingroff, Richard. Phone interview. 11 February 2013. Mr. Weingroff graduated from the University of Maryland and currently serves as an Unofficial Historian for the Federal Highway Administration. We were excited to talk to him after reading his publications on the Federal Highway Administration website. He was eccentric and overflowing with superb information that was relevant to our topic. The subjects we discussed included the history of the interstate and the positive and negative effects it produced.

Essays

Consequences of the Development of the Interstate Highway System for Transit. Pg. 1-19. Transit Cooperative Research Program, Federal Transit Administration, 1997. Web. 14 February 2013. This lengthy essay was unique in that it gave us some negative effects of the interstate highways to use on our Adverse Effects page. We realized that the highways were not all that we were led to believe they were, and that there are always two sides to a story.

Cox, Wendell and Love, Jean. The Best Investment a Nation Ever Made. Pg. 1-28. American Highway Users Alliance. 1996. Public Prose. Web. 1 February 2013. This essay took everything we had learned about the interstate and put it into a brief, comprehensive paper that we read multiple times in preparation for starting our website. It also contained lots of statistics and listed the effects that we could use to prove how our website relates to the Turning Point theme. This essay was easy to read through while still presenting information in a thought-provoking way.

Crary, David. The Interstate Highway System: Its Development and Its Effects on the American Spatial, Economic and Cultural Landscape. Pg. 1-15. Economic History of the United States. EMICH. Web. 5 April 2005. Web. 2 February 2013. This essay helped us understand the structure of the Interstate Highway System with graphs and other visuals. It also helped with understanding the economic effects of the Interstate Highway System, and how it became a turning point in United States history.

Books

Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: The President. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 1984. Print. This book explained more about what it took to build the interstate and the people who were involved. It gave us an idea of how passionate Dwight Eisenhower was about the interstate and everything that he did to make Interstate Highways happen. This book also had visuals and an extensive list of sources.

Billington, Ray Allen. Westward Expansion. New York City: The Macmillan Co mpany, 1949. Print. This book had some interesting information about the first roads of the United States. It helped us complete the Early History page on our website, although it had little information on our topic, proving to be a rather dry resource in terms of relevant information.

Buley, R Carlyle. The Old Northwest. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1951. Print. This

book did not have any information about the Interstate Highway specifically, but it had information about the Cumberland Road, which helped us understand old roads to more of an extent and gave us some inspiration for our website, wherein we ended up including information on the Cumberland Road.

Burch, Philip H. Highway Revenue and Expenditure Policy in the United States. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1962. P. 243-58 Print. Relevant for us was the information on the history and after effects of the highway system. This book also had many charts and tables, which enhanced our level of understanding on the Interstate Highway System.

Kaszynski, William. The American Highway. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000. Print. Although lacking in information, this book included many pictures that both helped us understand our topic and gave us materials to consider for use on our website.

Leavitt, Helen. Superhighway- Superhoax. New York City: Ballantine Books, 1970. Print. This book offered a completely new view on our topic and almost convinced us that the negative impacts of interstates outweighed the positive. Leavitt offers interesting views on the interstate system, although we disagree with her opinions. We were also able to use a few quotes and pictures from this source on our website.

Lewis, Tom. Divided Highways. London: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1997. Print. This book featured both a history of the interstate system and information on the positive and negative consequences it induced. It was interesting to read about both the positive and negative effects coming from an impartial standpoint, whereas most of our sources had a bias. After reading this, we decided that we wanted our website to mimic the impartial attitude of this book.

McNichol, Dan. The Roads That Built America. New York City: Sterling Publishing Co ., 2006. Print. This book gave us knowledge about the interstate system and featured information about the condition of roads before the interstates. We found copious amounts of great pictures and factual statements that gave us a more complete perspective on our topic. This book provided the full knowledge of the interstate that we were craving.

Mowbray, A.Q. Road to Ruin. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1969. Print. This book is a detailed account of the negative effects of highways, and it discusses the harmful impacts of highways on city life, the environment, private and public properties, and the economy. Naturally, this source was vital for the completion of our Adverse Effects page.

Parmet, Herbert S. Eisenhower and the American Crusades. New Brunswick: Transaction

Publishers. 1999. Print. This book described Dwight Eisenhowers career and the decisions he made throughout his life. It gave information about how he got involved in politics and explains the type of man he was. Despite lacking information on the Interstate Highway System, this book was very useful.

Robinson, John. Highways and Our Environment. New York City: McGraw Hill Inc., 1971. Print. This book started with a description of early highways and went on to tell how they may be more of a hindrance than a help to our country. It described to us the negative impacts of interstates on our nations environment, and features many pictures, which gave us a better understanding and helped us complete our website.

Rose, Mark H. Interstate. Lawrence: Regents Press, 1979. Print. We learned of the rough path that the Federal Highway Act went through and the resistance that it received from Congress and citizens alike. This was important in building our understanding of the act, which later helped us create our The Federal Highway Act page.

Thompson, William H. Transportation in Iowa: A Historical Summary. Ames: Iowa Department of Transportation, 1989. Print. This book was relatable to us as Iowans, and contained maps of the state and its highways. Additionally, it contained a history of transportation in Iowa, which we found to be very interesting. Visually, this book was easy to read through, as it contained pictures and charts. We were also able to include five of these pictures on our website, as they related well to our topic and were historically accurate.

Sullivan, George. Built to Last. New York: Scholastic Nonfiction, 2005. Print. This book did not give us very much unfamiliar or particularly helpful information. However, it gave us two pictures which we used on our Conclusion and Effects pages.

Swift, Earl. The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways. New York City: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2011. Print. We learned about how the Interstate System was created and the workers and politicians that played a role in its upbringing. We were surprised to learn about the vast number of people who made this turning point possible. We also obtained many useful photos from this source.

Journal Articles

Keane, Thomas F. The Economic Importance of the National Highway System. Public Roads 59.4 (1996): Pages unknown. Federal Highway Administration. Web. 7 February 2013. This article explains the vast and far-reaching impact the Interstate System had on the economy

through and increase in national productivity and employment rates. Additionally, the system increased mobility and safety on the road. We were surprised to learn of the drop in mortality rates attributable to the Interstate Highway System. We had not previously realized just how much of a turning point our topic was.

Pfeiffer, David A. Ikes Interstates at 50. Prologue 38.2 (2006) Web. 23 December 2012. This article, through which we built a knowledge of the interstate, confirmed in more depth what we already knew about the invention, the journey it took to become what it is today, and the condition of American roads before the Interstate Highway System was created.

Slater, Rodney E. The National Highway System: A Commitment to Americas Future. Public Roads 59. (Date Unknown) Web. 19 February 2013. This article provided us with information on how the interstate affected our population growth and how our economy changed over time. We also gained a new perspective on why the Interstate System is important to everyday life and to our national economic well-being.

Snyder, Logan Thomas. Dwight Eisenhower and Americas Interstate Highway System. American History Magazine V. Unknown. (2006) American History Magazine. Web. 12 December 2012. Through this article, we learned that on June 25th President Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act of 1956. This led to a huge revolution in American transportation. We also learned that the National Highway Defense System is composed of nearly 50,000 miles of roads, which was shocking and interesting.

Weingroff, Richard F. Essential to the National Interest . Public Roads 69.1 (2006) Public Roads. Web. 15 December 2012. This lengthy and thorough article taught us about Dwight Eisenhowers role in the creation of the interstate, and the many years he spent fighting for its implementation. It summed up the years of Eisenhowers presidency and the results of his passion for improved transportation.

Weingroff, Richard F. Proposal for an Interregional Highway System. Public Roads 60.1 (2006) Public Roads. Web. 14 December 2012. This article explained why interstate highways were built and the journey of the bill before it was passed. It also explained how the interstate was financed, even though we knew some of that information already. This article was similar to many of our other sources, but still increased our knowledge.

Newspaper Articles

Goozner, Merrill. The Road Less Traveled In Building Highways. Chicago Tribune. Chicago

Tribune, 13 April 1997. Web. 22 February 2013. This article explains that New York is using European techniques to make its interstate highway system last twice as long as it usually does. Their goal is to reduce traffic snarls that are caused by road repairs.

Russell, Eric. Transportation Committee Passes Bill for East-West Highway Study. Bangor Daily News, Bangor Daily News, 16 Feb. 2012. Web. 7 February 2013. This article discusses a new highway that is being paid for and the effects it will have. We learned that highways are still being built around the country today and that jobs are still being created because of the Interstate Highway System.

Venkataraman, Bina. Road Hazard? The Boston Globe, The Boston Globe, 12 April 2009. Web. 14 February 2013. This newspaper article gave us some information on how automobiles come at a high risk of disease due to the pollution they produce. It explains how living near an interstate might affect your health, and that this has been proven through studies. We did not get very important material, but it did help us with the finished product.

Videos

Air Pollution Linked to Autism. Youtube. Insider Medicine, 2012. Web. 17 February 2013. This brief video explains a study that linked dangerous highway pollution to autism in children. We were shocked that the Interstate Highway System created these negative effects. Although short, we used this video on our Adverse Effects page to drive home the poi nt of pollutions risks. Federal Highway Act. Learn 360. AEA Television Networks, 2004. Web. 17 December 2012. This video informed us about the Federal Highway Act that Eisenhower signed, its effects on the economy of the United States, and what it led to. This video helped us, as it contained needed knowledge to advance our research. This was the first we heard about the act in our research, and our project would not be what it is without this source.

Freedom of the American Road. Youtube. Youtube. Web. 17 January 2013. This video helped move our research along by showing us how dangerous roads were before simple interstate highway upgrades like uniform road signs and traffic lights were implemented. This helped us realize that the creation of the interstate was not only a revolutionary invention, but a necessary one for the safety of our nation.

Give Yourself the Green Light Internet Archive. Internet Archive, 1954. Web. 24 February 2013. This video was created to convince viewers of the positive effects of highways. Although this was slightly biased, it helped us by giving us a glimpse of what roads were like before the

interstate system and telling us how it changed society. It was interesting to hear all of the positive effects coming from one source, because it reminded us how many there were.

How Its Made: Road Signs. Youtube. Youtube. Web. 10 February 2013. This video gave us a fascinating view into the process that road signs take, the steps that are carried out, and why they are important to creating safe interstates. This helped us understand the safety measures that were taken after the implementation of government-funded interstates, such as making signs reflective so that they would be more noticeable in the dark.

The Impact of Interstate Highways on Center City. Youtube. Center City District Philadelphia, 2012. Web. 3 February 2013. This video gave us information about the structure of the interstate and gave us more information about German Autobahns and how Interstates were modeled after them. We chose to include a clip from this video on our website because we thought it summed up the history of the interstate and Eisenhowers motives nicely.

The Interstate Highway System. Georgia Stories. Georgia Public Broadcasting, 2010. Web. 9 December 2012. We learned that everyone wanted to use the interstates after they were built because gasoline and car prices were cheap. Many motels went out of business because of the dirt roads that led to them. The interstate ruined some businesses because no one wanted to go down the old roads anymore. Everyone wanted to drive on the new interstates, which often went straight to peoples destinations. Today there are nearly 43,000 mile s of interstate highways in the United States.

The Interstate Highway System. Youtube. Youtube. Web. 5 January 2012. This video taught us about all the maintenance and planning that the interstate took. It also went through the positive effects of the interstate, such as providing links between rural cities, opening new areas of living, creating new jobs, letting businesses blossom in non-rural areas, and decreasing the death rate on roads. We used all this information to convince our viewers that the interstate was a turning point. This video also gave us the statistic about the US having over 65,000,000 cars in 1956. We used a clip from this video on our website.

Keep it Moving. History. History, 2010. Web. 17 January 2013. Although this video contained mostly familiar information to us, it did provide us with the fact, The Interstate Highway System is nearly twice the circumference of the earth.

The National Highway System. Learn 360. AEA Television Networks, 2000. Web. 21 December 2012. This video helped us by informing us that Germany built the first major highway system, and that President Roosevelts idea for an improved Interstate System was inspired by these German Autobahns. We would later learn that Eisenhowers interest was sparke d from the same source: the Autobahn.

President Obama Explains the Smart Grid and Economic Recovery. Youtube. Youtube, 27 October 2009. 9 February 2013. In a brief section of this video, President Obama is heard praising the interstate system and explaining its success. We chose to incorporate it into our website because we thought that the President summed the interstates admirable traits very well.

Preventing Pollution from the Existing Highway Infrastructure. Youtube. Ciria, 2012. 15 February 2013. In this lengthy video, David Walters discusses potential pollution problems of our highways and how they can be avoided. Relevant to us was the information we obtained to use on our Adverse Effects page.

The Road to Prosperity. Federal Highway Administration. United States Department of Transportation. Web. 26 December 2012. This video taught us that 90% of the cost of the interstate system was paid for by the federal government. This new interstate system meant lower cost for shippers and shoppers. Additionally, we learned of the economic effects that the interstate had. It also contained footage of a man discussing the positive impacts of the system on his business, which we chose to include on our Economic Effects page.

Traffic Pollution and Child Cognition. Youtube. Science for the Public, 2012. Web. 15 February 2013.This video gave us helpful information on the health effects of pollution as a result of the Interstate Highway System. This video contained many interesting facts and statistics proving these negative impacts, and we thought it would enhance our website if included on the Adverse Effects page.

Websites

50 Fun Facts. Milesurfer. SeaGhost Technologies Inc., 2010. Web. 14 December 2012. We learned that the interstate system took 35 years to complete and the cost estimate was $25 billion, but it ended up costing $114 billion. Despite giving us some information, this source compares poorly to others on our bibliography.

Biography: Dwight David Eisenhower. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower Foundation, 2013. Web. 6 December 2012. This gave us information about the background of Dwight Eisenhower and had some interesting facts. It gave his date of birth and information about his family. It had no mention of the interstate, but it helped us understand President Eisenhowers life in more depth.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Quotes. Brainy Quote. Brainy Quote, 2012. Web. 2 December 2012. We

used this website to help find unique quotes from Dwight D. Eisenhower to use on our website. Although we did not learn any real information from this website, it provided many quotes that help our website come together.

From Plans to Pavement: How a Road is Built. Minnesota Department of Transportation. Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2001-2013. Web. 8 February 2013. We learned how road plans are made and designed, the materials used for building roads, how roads are paved, and how much work it takes to prepare a road for interstate traffic. This information reinforced and strengthened what we had already learned about interstate construction.

Highways Timeline. Greatest Achievements. National Academy of Engineering, 2013. Web. 2 February 2013. This website helped us understand the journey that the Interstate took to become a reality and the order of events that took place. Furthermore, through the Sponsors page on this website we contacted a woman who referred us to some potential interviews.

How Do You Address Environmental Concerns While Building Interstate Road and Bridge Projects? Federal Highway Administration, Federal Highway Administration. Web. 14 February 2013. This website gave us information about the National Environmental Policy Act and described it as being a turning point, which we thought was an excellent quote to include in our website.

Interstate FAQ. Federal Highway Administration. United States Federal Highway Administration, n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. We built a basic substratum of information about the interstate system, including a knowledge of the rules of the road, the cost of the interstate, and what the first interstate was.

Linking the Power of the Past to the Promise of the Future. Interstate 50th, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 2006. Web. 7 February 2013. This website was somewhat lacking in real information, but referred us to other resources which were most essential to the completion of our project.

Materials in Use in U.S. Interstate Highways. United States Geographical Survey, United States Geographical Survey, October, 2006. Web. 3 February 2013. This website, in addition to an abundance of information on the construction of the interstate, provided us with a graph that helped us complete our Construction page.

Moving the Goods: As the Interstate Era Begins. Federal Highway Administration, Federal Highway Administration, 2013. Web. 12 February 2013. This page had much information on how the interstate helped the freight industry and, consequently, every industry in The United

States. Among other things, it describes the history of the interstate and its impact, which helped us develop our Effects pages.

National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956). Our Documents. Our Documents, 2013. Web. 2 February 2013. We learned that the movement behind the construction of the interstate launched in the 1930s by Franklin D. Roosevelts passion for the project, which he acted upon to reinforce the U.S. economy following the Great Depression. Later, when Dwight D. Eisenhower took over presidency, only 6,500 miles of it had been completed. On January 7, 1954 Eisenhower made it clear in his State of the Union Address that he was ready to start focusing on our nations highway problems.

On the Interstate. America on the Move, National Museum of American History, 2010. Web. 3 February 2013. This website did not provide quite as much information as most of our sources, but it did contain a graph about the growth of freight. This helped show us how the interstate system impacted the freight industry.

Quotations. Federal Highway Administration, Federal Highway Administration. Web. 12 February 2013. This page gave us many useful quotes to contemplate for use on our product, and gave us an idea of how people reacted to the interstate. This website, although containing no factual information, proved helpful.

The Great Paving: How the Interstate Highway System Helped Create the Modern Economy. CNN Money. CNN, Fortune and Money. 26 January 2004. Web. 2 February 2013. The information on this website was mostly useless to us, but we used a quote from it on our Economic Effects Page. CNN, being a very commercial company, was somewhat biased in delivering information, but still helped us in the end.

The History Behind Americas Interstate Highway System. The Daily Circuit. MPR News. Minnesota Public Radio, 7 June 2012. Web. 12 December 2012. We learned that Thomas McDonald served for 34 years as the Head of the Federal Bureau of Public Roads, although not many have heard of him. We also learned that the interstate system cost more than $150 billion, making it one of the most expensive, but also one of the most vital, public works projects.

The U.S. Highway System. Fact Monster. Fact Monster, 2007. Web. 6 December 2012. This website explains that Congress passed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1944, which charged state highway agencies and the Department of Defense with planning nationwide routes that could connect the major cities and industrial centers. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1954 set aside 175 million dollars for the highway system: later changed to 25 billion dollars.