The Turbulent Post-War Years

Video Transcription
Despite fears of another Depression, post-World War II America experienced a period of continuing economic growth and affluence. A grateful nation provided returning veterans access to the middle-class with G.I Bill education benefits for college tuition and housing loans through the Veterans Administration.

Similarly, working class families benefiting from high paying factory jobs were able to send their children to college—often for the first time. Universities across Indiana had to build temporary housing to meet the demand.

This prosperity was not, however, equally accessible to all Hoosiers. African Americans continued to face social and legal obstacles to achieving their American dream. Women too were battling to maintain and advance the economic and social opportunities of the war years.

Racial unrest, the erosion of high paying factory jobs as a result of foreign competition, Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union, the Vietnam War, and Watergate left many Hoosier disillusioned and uncertain about the future as the era drew to a close. How can Indiana maintain the progress it has made in social justice in divisive times?

Primary Sources