The 1950s and 1960s were tumultuous times in American history. Although the 1950s are often looked back upon with nostalgia and regarded as a decade of innocence, bobby socks, and souped-up cars, it was also the decade of McCarthyism and the Communist Control Act, atomic testing, air raid shelters, and a government-backed "Red Scare" to maintain public support for a large military budget. According to Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, during the period from 1944 to 1961, "The country was on a permanent war economy which had big pockets of poverty, but there were enough people at work, making enough money, to keep things quiet.... The lowest fifth of the families received 5 percent of all the income; the highest fifth received 45 percent of all the income." Also during this period, James Wright graduated from high school in Martins Ferry, earned his bachelor's degree, joined...