N a m e _________________________________D a t e _________________P e r i o d __________

The 1950s Elvis & Rock N Roll Culture In The 50s

____ 1. According to Glenn Altschuler, there was an “official ideology” of the 1950s. The
ideology was that the United States was a, “happy, homogenous, ___________________________ nation.

2. What were the “fears” of the 1950s? ____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

3. According Jerry Schilling, what was the only way a white person knew an African American in the ‘50s?
_________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Sam Philips of Sun Records, was looking for a white person who “could put the feel of a black person on a
phonograph record.” Who did he find? __________________________________________________________

5. What was the landmark Supreme Court verdict of 1954? ___________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

6. According to Pete Daniel, Elvis represented a “low class Southerner, who was singing _________________ music.

7. What was the importance of cars for the American teenager? ________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

8. What type of clothes did Elvis wear while performing? _____________________________________________

9. What was the “bad behavior” parents feared about juvenile delinquents? _______________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What did conservative adults and religious leaders fear about Rock and Roll? __________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Elvis was the first great musical artist who used the new media of the 1950s. What was that new media?
_________________________________________________________________________________________

12. Why was Elvis criticized when he appeared on the Milton Burl Show? ________________________________

13. What was the biggest variety television show in the 1950s? _________________________________________

14. What percentage of the American population with TVs, watched Elvis in his first appearance of the Ed Sullivan
Show? ___________________________________________________________________________________

15. George Klein claims that Elvis changed pop culture. What did he change? ______________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

16. What movement was linked to the Rock N Roll explosion? _________________________________________

17. An old friend of Elvis said that life before Elvis(in the 1950s), “wasn’t bad, but it was just___________________.

*“ Every generation remembers its own . . . generation to its own particular teenage life.” If you had a soundtrack
to your life, what would be the songs, bands, or artists, and genre of music? What stories would they tell, or
represent in your life? What memories or events would the music elicit when hearing these songs?
© 2017 All Rights Reserved.
 KEY V id e o F o u n d a t : https://youtu.be/WuiYi08PchQ

The 1950s Elvis & Rock N Roll Culture In The 50s

1. According to Glenn Altschuler, there was an “official ideology” of the 1950. The ideology was the United States
was a, “happy, homogenous, __ prosperous_______ nation.

2. What were the “fears” of the 1950s? __Cold war and atomic annihilation_____________________________

3. According Jerry Schilling, what was the only way a white person knew an African American in the ‘50s?
If they worked in their yard, house of picked up the garbage

4. Sam Philips of Sun Records, was looking for a white person who “could put the feel of a black person on a
phonograph record.” Who did he find? ___Elvis

5. What was the landmark Supreme Court verdict of 1954? Segregation in public schools is unconstitutional
OR Brown vs Board Education

6. According to Pete Daniel, Elvis represented a “low class Southerner, who was singing ___black music
music.

7. What was the importance of cars for the American teenager? Possible Answer - it gave them freedom from
their parents’ supervision - another possible answer - First time American teenagers could realistically
have and drive cars

8. What type of clothes did Elvis wear while performing? ____the clothes that black entertainers wore________

9. What was the “bad behavior” parents feared about juvenile delinquents? rough, casual about sex and
thinking and doing dirty stuff all the time_____________________________________________________

10. What did conservative adults and religious leaders fear about Rock and Roll?___Rock was corrupting
American youth OR causing kids to be more promiscuous

11. Elvis was the first great musical artist who used the new media of the 1950s. What was that media? ____TV_________

12. Why was Elvis criticized when he appeared on the Milton Burl Show? ____Sexual dancing_______________

13. What was the biggest variety television show in the 1950s? The Ed Sullivan Show______________________

14. What percentage of the American population with TVs, watched Elvis in his first appearance of the Ed Sullivan
Show? ___over 85%

15. George Klein claims that Elvis changed pop culture. What did he change? Music, dress, talk, movies and
TV, automobiles

16. What movement was linked to the Rock N Roll explosion? Civil Rights Movement

17. An old friend of Elvis said that life before Elvis(in the 1950s), “wasn’t bad, but it was just ____Predictable___ .

*“Every generation remembers its own . . . generation to its own particular teenage life.” If you had a soundtrack to
your life, what would be the songs, bands, or artists, and genre of music? What stories would they tell, or
represent in your life? What memories or events would the music elicit when hearing these songs?

© 2017 All Rights Reserved.

 N a m e _________________________________D a t e _________________P e r i o d __________
ABSENT? V id eo Found a t : https://youtu.be/WuiYi08PchQ

The 1950s Elvis & Rock N Roll Culture In The 50s

____ 1. According to Glenn Altschuler, there was an “official ideology” of the 1950s. The
ideology was that the United States was a, “happy, homogenous, ___________________________ nation.

2. What were the “fears” of the 1950s? ____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

3. According Jerry Schilling, what was the only way a white person knew an African American in the ‘50s?
_________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Sam Philips of Sun Records, was looking for a white person who “could put the feel of a black person on a
phonograph record.” Who did he find? __________________________________________________________

5. What was the landmark Supreme Court verdict of 1954? ___________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

6. According to Pete Daniel, Elvis represented a “low class Southerner, who was singing _________________ music.

7. What was the importance of cars for the American teenager? ________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

8. What type of clothes did Elvis wear while performing? _____________________________________________

9. What was the “bad behavior” parents feared about juvenile delinquents? _______________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What did conservative adults and religious leaders fear about Rock and Roll? __________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Elvis was the first great musical artist who used the new media of the 1950s. What was that new media?
_________________________________________________________________________________________

12. Why was Elvis criticized when he appeared on the Milton Burl Show? ________________________________

13. What was the biggest variety television show in the 1950s? _________________________________________

14. What percentage of the American population with TVs, watched Elvis in his first appearance of the Ed Sullivan
Show? ___________________________________________________________________________________

15. George Klein claims that Elvis changed pop culture. What did he change? ______________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

16. What movement was linked to the Rock N Roll explosion? _________________________________________

17. An old friend of Elvis said that life before Elvis(in the 1950s), “wasn’t bad, but it was just___________________.

*“ Every generation remembers its own . . . generation to its own particular teenage life.” If you had a soundtrack
to your life, what would be the songs, bands, or artists, and genre of music? What stories would they tell, or
represent in your life? What memories or events would the music elicit when hearing these songs?
© 2017 All Rights Reserved.