1940s-1950s The State of Schools in the USA 221277-02X | Footage Farm

Footage Farm is a historical audio-visual library. The footage in this video constitutes an unedited historical document and has been uploaded for research purposes. Some viewers may find the archive material upsetting. Footage Farm does not condone the views expressed in this video.
Patriotic documentary on problem of underfunded & outdated schools in post-war US.
05:04:27 Opening montage: American flag waving; military parade w/ close ranks of marching soldiers; crowd on street waving American flags & cheering; CU many marching soldiers; Capitol. VO re importance of education in understanding freedom.
05:05:02 Traveling shot down suburban middle class street. Doctor & nurse examine boy's ear. Fat Boy Scout leader & scouts raise & take down American flag from pole w/ Washington Monument in BG. Children in playground & on jungle gym. Children cross street to school. VO “We cannot meet the complexities of modern life with outmoded school systems. We must keep our educational standards abreast of the swift-moving times in which we live if we hope to preserve our national heritage; our American way of life."
New school building in Federal style.
05:05:47 Montage: New York City skyscrapers with ferry boat in foreground; field of waving wheat; Detroit Tigers; New York Yankees baseball game; family in living room; worker in factory over machine. Printing presses; church service in cathedral.
05:06:05 School board meeting around table, SOF: various ethnic accents talk about freedom & the American way - “the American way eliminates master & slave”. Invisible narrator calling himself “The People” interrupts group’s argument - they disappear leaving empty chairs, then they magically reappear - VO says they represent “average Americans”. Begin bickering & sniping at the “foreign-born American” in group. “’Foreign-isms' are like germs - they can't attack a healthy body”. Group members admit they either didn’t vote for increased school funding or woman had “a luncheon appointment”. VO chides them: “Freedom is subject to attack from inside as well as out. It's hard to get people to sense danger, just as it's hard to get people out to vote”. Disembodied voice emerges from the “sixth chair” representing apathetic section of society.
05:09:41 MCU woman, SOF: “I remember like it was yesterday...” Mother walks child to school; INT dark school hallway; mother knocks on classroom door; little boy goes into overcrowded classroom w/ children trying to share desks. Teenagers in overcrowded school hallways. VO re increase in birth rate etc
Carpenters building suburban post-war houses. City slums w/ laundry hanging on lines between buildings. Poor children skipping rope on sidewalk in front of tenement. Children do gymnastics in crowded gymnasium.
05:12:16 Girl w/ tray of food in crowded school cafeteria cannot find a seat. Mother in car says goodbye to older boy. High school students seated in classroom grab books & scramble for next class. High school kids scramble for books at lockers in crowded hallways. Boy drinks from hall water fountain which is much too low & leaks into a bucket.
05:13:22 School Board meeting continues... - mother tells others she’ll think herself lucky if son even finishes high school. VO “A year in school pays off three to one in future dollar earnings. Pan across class of high school students w/ VO re “national emergency” of school shortages, “They must suffer for OUR crime”.
05:15:02 Children on playground swings take turns. Teacher hands out books to packed class. VO “Would you willingly go to a place day after day that depressed you? That made you feel unwelcome because there wasn't room for you? Then we shouldn't expect our children to either, for there’s a better way...” CU model of ideal school room. Still photograph: science laboratory & home economics room - before & after shots. Various scenes of high school girls in sewing class, home economics, etc. Grade school kids in classes.
05:17:25 High school orchestra rehearsal. Young students in classroom watch travelogue movie projected onto screen. Students in science laboratory.
05:18:02 Man appears, occupying the sixth chair & admits he’s been too complacent. VO tells him he counts for 50% of people in US - “I guess I am a pretty hard man to arouse...but when something makes sense” - group now agreeing on what action to take. actor playing the immigrant American has terrible accent & fake mustache]: “I’m backing education one hundred per cent...now what are YOU going to do?” “I’m going to get behind my schools... “Good, That’s Fine!” “In a free country we elect our government officials...”
05:20:25 CU Man to camera: Yeah, I fought for Freedom once... “Now, what are you going to do about it?”
05:20:49 The End.
For broadcast quality material of this reel or to know more about our Public Domain collection, contact us at [e-mail]

[@nickmad887]

thanks

[@mariekatherine5238]

I learned Communism in public school in the 1970s.

[@jakebarnes28]

No you didn't.

[@mariekatherine5238]

@@jakebarnes28 Yes, I did. I graduated from high school in 1976 “knowing” about the so-called joys of collectivism and the inherent injustice of capitalism. I grew up with hippies for teachers in middle and high school. As for the opposite viewpoint, I was blessed to have a mother who had a treasure trove of her books from grammar school and high school. I learned about how our government is supposed to work by studying her Civics texts.

[@SaturdayParker]

I like this

[@SaturdayParker]

Talk about your 4th wall break

[@beetlejuus]

The foreign born American is 100% correct and any immigrant will tell you the same thing: _you don't know what it's like out there, maaaan_

[@TheMovieEditor]

Don't need narration, let's see it how it really was!!!
Typical brain washing video that is false!