Living History: politics of the USA from the 1950s to the 1970s
Published on 11th October 2013
Vincent Lavery is a retired secondary school teacher who taught U.S. Government and Economics in the States. He is an active member of the United States of America Democratic Party. He worked with Senator Robert F Kennedy's campaign for president in 1968. He was a County Chairman in Central California and a delegate to the 1968 Convention in Chicago. He worked for Senator Kennedy for sixteen months. He promoted concerts in California during the 1960s and he turned down the opportunity to manage The Doors and Jim Morrison. He has coedited four books on soccer and football and coached soccer at several levels ranging from under 16 to adult.
Vincent Lavery emigrated from Ireland to America as a young man. His experiences of racial segregation and a strong hope for change compelled him towards politics. Here he remembers a turbulent era in American history in which the various strands of the Left and the conservative Right often clashed. He talks about marching to protest the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King and the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike (1968), Robert F Kennedy's campaign for president and assassination in 1968, the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and how the music of the sixties reflected the politics of the time and gave voice to the fight for change.
The lecture "Living History: politics of the USA from the 1950s to the 1970s" by Vincent Lavery was recorded at Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin, Ireland, on 2 October 2013. The lecture formed part of the Dublin Festival of History programme.
Listen to Vincent Lavery talking about the politics and society of the USA from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Vincent Lavery is a retired secondary school teacher who taught U.S. Government and Economics in the United States. He is an active member of the United States of America Democratic Party. He worked with Senator Robert F. Kennedy's campaign for president in 1968. He was a County Chairman in Central California and a delegate to the 1968 Convention in Chicago. He worked for Senator Kennedy for sixteen months. He promoted concerts in California during the 1960s and he turned down the opportunity to manage The Doors and Jim Morrison. He has coedited four books on soccer and football and coached soccer at several levels ranging from under 16 to adult.
Further Resources
If you would like to read more, the library catalogue holds many books on United States history in the twentieth century and Senator Robert Kennedy.
The following resources are available free of charge at your local library. Ask staff for further information and assistance.
Irish Times Digital Archive: Read about events in American politics of the 1950s to 1970s from an Irish perspective. It is available free at your local library.
Irish Newspaper Archives:This archive service gives access to articles on events in American politics and society during the 1950s to 1970s in The Irish Independent and a range of other newspapers and is available free at your local library.