History Professor Writing Book on 1960s as Seen Through American Children's Eyes

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Jan. 29, 2010 – An idea Dr. Joel Rhodes has been kicking around since he was in graduate school is beginning to take root this semester as he starts research on a book on the 1960s as seen through the eyes of American children.

Rhodes, associate professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University, is seeking personal stories and recollections from the generation that grew up and were children during this turbulent era.

This period, Rhodes believes, "has really impacted their culture and opinions as adults," he said. He says he's hoping to find out how this generation remembers such things as President John F. Kennedy, the Beatles, moon landings, assassinations and protests, The Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.

"The '60s is such an analyzed era," he said. "This will be the first time, though, it has been examined from the perspective of children. I see this akin to writing the history of the 1960s and another way of analyzing it."

The book, to be titled In a Land Called Honah Lee: The 60s Experience in the Lives of American Children, will present a general history of social change. Rhodes says the "Honah Lee" reference in the title comes from the 1960s hit song, "Puff, the Magic Dragon" by American folk-singing trio Peter, Paul and Mary.

"I've always had a desire to do this," Rhodes said, adding he became intrigued by this type of work during graduate school when a professor at the University of Kansas published a book based on the recollections of children during the World War II era. He says his book will focus more on post-World War II and the Vietnam era.

Rhodes said there were more than 57 million children born between 1956 and 1970. He's hoping to collect 2,000 perspectives. Towards this end, he has sent letters to the editor to 250 major newspapers and publications across the country requesting the input and recollections of their readers. He currently has received 250 submissions.

"For many Americans like me who were born between 1956 and 1970 – and now are in our 40s and 50s – the '60s experience' was a fundamental part of our childhood and remains central in our lives today," Rhodes writes in his letters to the editor.

"This is a very ambitious project," he added.

Rhodes, who previously has published two books and co-authored another, is asking anyone born between 1956 and 1970 to submit their recollections of this era to him by e-mail or mail. He said he plans to collect submissions throughout 2010, with a goal of publishing the book by 2013.

Those wishing to participate may contact Rhodes by e-mail at jrhodes@semo.edu; on Facebook at "Children of the Sixties": or by mail at Joel Rhodes, Department of History, Southeast Missouri State University, One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, Mo 63701.