US History: An Overview

A short discourse on American History from the Khan Academy. You can watch the episodes directly from the Khan Academy page by clicking on the title of the episode you want to view. The first episode, Jamestown to the Civil War, is embedded below from their YouTube site.
US History Overview 1 – Jamestown to the Civil War
US History Overview 2 – Reconstruction to the Great Depression
US History Overview 3 – WWII to Vietnam

Jivin’ in Be-Bop

Jivin’ in Be-Bop is a 1947 musical film. It was produced by William D. Alexander and stars Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra, which included notable musicians such as bassist Ray Brown, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, and pianist John Lewis. The film also features singers Helen Humes and Kenny “Pancho” Hagood, Master of Ceremonies Freddie Carter, and a group of dancers.

The film consists of a plotless revue presented in a theatrical setting, offering a total of 19 musical and dance numbers. Gillespie and his band are shown performing eight songs, including “Salt Peanuts”, “One Bass Hit”, “Oop Bop Sh’Bam”, and “He Beeped When He Should Have Bopped”. The band plays off-camera while dancers perform during the remaining songs, which include “Shaw ‘Nuff”, “A Night in Tunisia”, “Grosvenor Square”, and “Ornithology”.

It is not known whether the performances in Jivin’ in Be-Bop were recorded live or if the film’s soundtrack was pre-recorded. The liner notes that accompany the DVD release suggest the latter, as does one of Gillespie’s biographers. At least one critic believes the musicians were playing live.The dancing in the film has been described as “dull and frequently silly” by writer Phil Hall, who wrote that Jivin’ in Be-Bop includes “one of the worst ballets ever put on film”.

Gillespie‘s dancing, on the other hand, is generally praised. One writer said “his unique technique is shown to great effect” in the film. One biographer described Gillespie “skipping about the stage”, and another wrote that Gillespie was “quite happy to dance to the band’s sounds, … spinning around and mugging in front of the band”.Between the songs, Carter tells jokes and banters with Gillespie. Film historian Donald Bogle described the comic routines as “dull-witted”. Bogle went on: “There are only two redeeming factors here: namely Dizzy Gillespie and vocalist Helen Humes. Otherwise the proceedings are pretty dreary.”

Alt Link 1 and Alt Link 2

The Tuskegee Experiment

Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600 (HIST 234)The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, carried out in Macon, Alabama, from 1932 to 1972, is a notorious episode in the checkered history of medical experimentation.

In one of the most economically disadvantaged parts of the U.S., researchers deceived a group of 399 black male syphilitics into participating in a study with no therapeutic value. These “volunteers” were not treated as patients, but rather as experimental subjects, or walking cadavers. Even after the development of penicillin, the Tuskegee group was denied effective treatment. Despite regularly published scholarly articles, forty years passed before there was any protest in the medical community.

The aftereffects of the study, along with the suffering of its victims, include a series of congressional investigations, the drafting of medical ethics guidelines, and the establishment of independent review boards. Complete course materials are available at the Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600 (HIST 234)The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, carried out in Macon, Alabama, from 1932 to 1972, is a notorious episode in the checkered history of medical experimentation.

In one of the most economically disadvantaged parts of the U.S., researchers deceived a group of 399 black male syphilitics into participating in a study with no therapeutic value. These “volunteers” were not treated as patients, but rather as experimental subjects, or walking cadavers. Even after the development of penicillin, the Tuskegee group was denied effective treatment. Despite regularly published scholarly articles, forty years passed before there was any protest in the medical community.

The aftereffects of the study, along with the suffering of its victims, include a series of congressional investigations, the drafting of medical ethics guidelines, and the establishment of independent review boards. Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website.