The interactive timeline below depicts important events and milestones relevant to this exhibition, from the period of the early 1930’s through today. Events are tracked across three categories:
Franklin D. Roosevelt 
Norman Rockwell 
world events
Eleanor Roosevelt begins NBC radio show
1950 / 1950s
IBM 705 mainframe computers
1950 / 1950sSocial Security Administration (SSA) is the first to install a “high-speed electronic calculator” – SSA employees at the control console of the IBM 705 mainframe computers
Photo: Courtesy of SSA History Museum & Archives
Rockwell Illustrates “Shuffleton’s Barbershop,” published cover
April 29, 1950 / 1950sShuffleton’s Barbershop, Norman Rockwell. 1950. Oil on canvas, 33” x 31” Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, April 29, 1950 Collection of The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles, CA ©1950 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
Rockwell creates summer artist colony in Arlington
1950 / 1950sNorman Rockwell designs Plymouth ad
1951 / 1950sMerry Christmas, Grandma… We Came in Our new Plymouth!
Rockwell’s Illustration “Day in the Life of a Boy,” published cover
May 24, 1951 / 1950sDay in the Life of a Little Boy, Norman Rockwell. 1952 Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, May 24 1952. ©1952 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
Rockwell Illustrates “The Facts of Life,” published cover
July 14, 1951 / 1950sThe Facts of Life, Norman Rockwell. 1951 Oil on canvas, 28 x 26″ Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, July 14, 1951. ©1951 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. Collection of the Spencer Museum of Art
48 Nations – Peace Treaty
September 8, 1951 / 1950sYoshida and members of the Japanese delegation sign the Treaty
Photo: Public Domain
Rockwell’s Illustration “Saying Grace,” published cover
November 24, 1951 / 1950sSaying Grace, Norman Rockwell. 1951. Oil on canvas Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, November 24, 1951 The George Lucas Collection ©1951 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
DNA
1952 / 1950sX-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin, working at King’s College in London, photographs DNA
NATO flag
April 7, 1952 / 1950sAfter signing North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949 the official flag was raised
Photo: Public Domain
Rockwell’s Illustration “Day in the Life of a Girl,” published cover
August 30, 1952 / 1950sDay in the Life of a Little Girl, Norman Rockwell. 1952 Oil on canvas, 45″ x 42” Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, August 30, 1952 From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum ©1952 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
Rockwell’s Illustration “Eisenhower Portraits,” published
October 11, 1952 / 1950sPortrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Norman Rockwell. 1952. Oil on canvas. Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, Oct 11 1952. ©1952 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. Collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum
President-Elect Dwight D. Eisenhower
November 4, 1952 12:00 am / 1950sA landslide victory for Eisenhower
Photo: Public Domain
“The Crucible”
1953 / 1950sArthur Miller’s play,The Crucible, uses the Salem witch trials as a metaphor for the contemporary paranoia of McCarthyism
Rockwell begins a series of ads for Kellogg’s corn flakes
1953 / 1950s
Rockwell’s Illustration “Girl with Black Eye (The Shiner),” published cover
May 23, 1953 / 1950sGirl with Black Eye, Norman Rockwell. 1953. Oil on canvas, 34 x 30″ Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, May 23, 1953 Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, Gift of Kenneth Stuart. ©1953 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
The Rockwells move to Stockbridge in December
1953 / 1950s
Rockwell’s Illustration “Girl at Mirror,” published cover
March 6, 1954 / 1950sGirl at Mirror, Norman Rockwell. 1954 Oil on canvas, 31 ½” x 29 ½” Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1954 From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum ©1954 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
Elvis Presley begins his music career
1954 / 1950s
Ellis Island shuts its doors
1954 / 1950sFrom 1892 – 1954,12 million immigrants made their way to America through the open doors of New York’s immigration port
Photo: Public Domain
Photo Credits: Arriving at Ellis, circa 1908 (Photo by Lewis Hine)
Rockwell’s Illustration “Breaking Home Ties,” published cover
September 24, 1954 / 1950sBreaking Home Ties, Norman Rockwell. 1954 Oil on canvas, 49 x 49” Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, September 25, 1954. Owner unknown ©1954 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
Minimum wage – raised to $1.00 / hour
1955 / 1950s
Rockwell’s Illustration “Art Critic,” published cover
April 16, 1955 / 1950sArt Critic, Norman Rockwell. 1955 Oil on canvas, 39 ½ x 36 ¼” Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, April 16, 1955 From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum ©1955 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
Rockwell’s Illustration “Marriage License,” published cover
June 11, 1955 / 1950sThe Marriage License, Norman Rockwell. 1955. Oil on canvas, 45 ½” x 42 ½” Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, June 11, 1955 From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum ©1955 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
The world’s first nuclear-powered submarine
1955 / 1950sUSS Nautilus was created for and by the United States Navy
(Launching Nautilus)
Photo: Public Domain
Rockwell’s Illustration “The Mermaid,” published cover
August 20, 1955 / 1950sMermaid, Norman Rockwell. 1955. Oil on canvas, Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, August 20 1955. ©1955 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. Private Collection.
Rockwell creates ads for Pan American after traveling around the world
1956 / 1950s
Rockwell’s Illustration “Happy Birthday, Miss Jones!” published cover
March 17, 1956 / 1950sHappy Birthday Miss Jones, Norman Rockwell. 1956 Oil on canvas Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 17, 1956 Private collection. ©1956 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
IBM releases the first computer with a hard drive
1956 / 1950sThis 16 square foot hard drive, created by IBM associate, Reynold Johnson and his team had a writeable platter and weighed about one ton
Photo: Creative Commons
Federal-Aid Highway Act
June 29, 1956 / 1950s41,000 miles of interstate highway construction
Rockwell’s Illustration “The Discovery,” published cover
December 29, 1956 / 1950sThe Discovery, Norman Rockwell. 1956. Oil on canvas, 35 ¼ x 32 ½” Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, December 29, 1956 From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum ©1956 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
US Chamber of Commerce recognizes Rockwell as a “great living American”
1957 / 1950s
Rockwell’s Illustration “After the Prom,” published cover
May 25, 1957 / 1950sAfter the Prom, Norman Rockwell. 1957 Oil on canvas, 31 1/8 x 29 1/8″ Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, May 25, 1957 Private collection
The first space satellite “Sputnik”
1957 / 1950sThe Soviet Union launched the world’s first man-made satellite
Photo: Courtesy of The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Rockwell’s Illustration “Before the Shot,” published cover
March 15, 1958 / 1950sBefore the Shot, Norman Rockwell, 1958 Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 15, 1958 Norman Rockwell Museum Digital Collections ©1958 SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
NASA is established
August 8, 1958 / 1950sThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in response to the Soviet Union’s satellite, Sputnik
President Eisenhower’s nomination to appoint, T. Keith Glennan, of Ohio to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Photo: Creative Commons
Angelo Roncalli is elected pope and takes the name John XXIII
1958 / 1950sThe Microchip is invented
1958 / 1950s
Rockwell’s Illustration “The Runaway,” published cover
September 20, 1958 / 1950sThe Runaway, Norman Rockwell. 1958. Oil on canvas, 35 3/4″ x 33 1/2′” Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, September 20, 1958 From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum ©1958 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN
Rockwell appears CBS TV show
February 6, 1959 / 1950sEdward R. Murrow’s Person to Person
Rockwell becomes the first inductee to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame
1959 / 1950s
50 STATES
March 4, 1959 12:00 am / 1950sAlaska becomes the 49th State and Hawaii becomes the 50th
Photo: Public Domain
