A Force for Change: The Class of 1950 - Paperback

by John Norberg (Author)

Some of them were grown men going to college on the new G.I. Bill, and some were boys -- eighteen years old, straight out of high school. There were also young women coming to campus, rich in the traditions of their mothers and grandmothers. These women didn't know it, but the seeds of the modern women's movement had been planted during the war and in their generation. There were African-Americans who came to campus and found segregation and racial stereotypes, even after some of them had fought a war for freedom. This mixture of students blended together on the college campuses of America in the late 1940s and exploded into the world in 1950. Journalist John Norberg's illuminating oral history allows members of Purdue University's Class of 1950 to tell their stories in their own words. "(This is) a narrative that will hold special interest for those with Purdue or West Lafayette ties, but its scope is broad enough to interest a wider population".

Author Biography

John Norberg is a writer, author, humorist, and a chronicler of the human condition. Retired as director of communications for development at Purdue University, he began his humor column in 1971 while working at Indiana's Brazil Daily Times. The column appeared in the Lafayette Journal and Courier from March 1973 to October 2014. He has received more than 50 state and national reporting awards. A nationally respected, award-winning speechwriter and public speaker, he also is the author of seven books, including Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA's Record-Setting Frequent Flyer, which details the story of astronaut Jerry Ross. Additionally, Norberg has written articles for various national publications, including the Saturday Evening Post, USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, and Time magazine. He was most recently honored with the prestigious Purdue University Special Boilermaker Award and was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame for a lifetime of work.