Historians have recently opened up a reconsideration of the 1950s. Long characterized as a time of stolid conformity and Cold War conservatism, the era is increasingly seen in more variegated terms. Studies exploring a range of institutions, causes, and activities have illuminated ways the intellectual and social soil of postwar America gave root…

In the post-World War II era, efforts to improve the accessibility and quality of higher education rose to prominence in US educational debates and policymaking. In retrospect, a confluence of factors helped to forge this growing social consensus about the need to create educational opportunity and to diversify the nation's colleges and…