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The second wave of feminism <script src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/addyn/3.0/5308.1/1371336/0/170/ADTECH;target=_blank;grp=550;key=false;kvqsegs=D:T:2886:1362:1359:1357:1346:1341;kvtopicid=724633;kvchannel=HISTORY;misc=1291082559495"></script> The women’s movement of the 1960s and ’70s, the so-called “second wave” of feminism, represented a seemingly abrupt break with the tranquil suburban life pictured in American popular culture. Yet the roots of the new rebellion were buried in the frustrations of college-educated mothers whose discontent impelled their daughters in a new direction. If first-wave feminists were inspired by the abolition movement, their great-granddaughters were swept into feminism by the civil rights movement, the attendant discussion of principles such as equality and justice, and the revolutionary ferment caused by protests against the Vietnam War. Women’s concerns were on Pres. John F. Kennedy’s agenda even before this public discussion began. In 1961 he created the President’s Commission on the Status of Women and<script src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/addyn/3.0/5308.1/1388674/0/170/ADTECH;target=_blank;grp=550;key=false;kvqsegs=D:T:2886:1362:1359:1357:1346:1341;kvtopicid=724633;kvchannel=HISTORY;misc=1291082559533"></script> appointed Eleanor Roosevelt to lead it. Its report, issued in 1963, firmly supported the nuclear family and preparing women for motherhood. But it also documented a national pattern of employment discrimination, unequal pay, legal inequality, and meagre support services for working women that needed to be corrected through legislative guarantees of equal pay for equal work, equal job opportunities, and expanded child-care services. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 offered the first guarantee, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended to bar employers from discriminating on the basis of sex. Some deemed these measures insufficient in a country where classified advertisements still segregated job openings by sex, where state laws restricted women’s access to contraception, and where incidences of rape and domestic violence remained undisclosed. In the late 1960s, then, the notion of a women’s rights movement took root at the same time as the civil rights movement, and women of all ages and circumstances were swept up in debates about gender, discrimination, and the nature of equality.

Helen

May 17, 1954 -- The U.S. Supreme Court rules that school segregation is unconstitutional. A few days later, Helen Cary Caise , a black student, enrolls at Lafayette High School.

These are the papers of high school principal William Henry Fouse and his wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beatrice Cooke Fouse. The papers reflect the Fouses efforts on behalf of black education in Lexington during the first half of the 20th century. Family letters, notebooks, printed materials, pamphlets, financial records, broadsides, receipts and mementos comprise a large portion of the collection. Correspondence relating to Dunbar High School and Dr. Fouse's other educational concerns are included, as is Mrs. Fouse's correspondence which reflects her involvement with educational, social, religious and temperance organizations. A journal contains records of various activities at Dunbar High School, including sports events. A ledger (dated 1910-1918) includes addresses and expense account records. There is also information on the Henry Hughes Educational Fund and a radio script by Dr. Fouse for a broadcast on WLAP radio (April 30, 1939) on the history of blacks in Lexington. There is a notebook containing clippings on a variety of topics, especially black education. A few photographs are among the papers.

The Fouses of Lexington, Ky. were actively involved in the education of blacks in the area.