living history: betty miller

Betty Miller is a retired middle school teacher. We interviewed her to gain a perspective about what it was like to grow up during the Cold War and how things have changed as we transitioned into a globalized world.

How were things different when you grew up? What are the biggest ways that society has changed?

When I grew up, kids were allowed to run free through the neighborhood, and my sister and I had a great time just playing with our friends. This was back in the fifties, so we did have cars.:) However, my mother didn't learn to drive until I was in the third grade. My sister and I walked about five blocks to school. We were unsupervised. There weren't so many worries about safety back then. My parents were very strict, and we were not allowed to talk back. Also, the rules at school were tough and enforced. I went to school in the Dallas Independent School District. If a kid misbehaved, he was sent to the hall to wait for the principal. The principal carried a padal, and we could hear the kid getting swats when the principal made his rounds. Teachers also had kids stand in the corner if they misbehaved. Most teachers would teach for about ten minutes and sit at their desks the rest of the time. We were expected to work independently and not complain.

We didn't have air conditioning, and it was very hot. I remember sitting in class just watching the gnats fly in and out of the windows. We sat in rows and had to stay quiet. I don't ever remember doing a group project. We just sat and worked all day.

I think society has changed the most because of technology. Computers and cell phones have connected people in ways that were not even imagined back then. Also, people are always in a hurry now. Everything is expected to happen immediately. Easy credit makes money more available, so spending is way out of control for some people. My parents only bought something if they had cash. They never had credit cards because they didn't trust them. Back then, people seemed to live more for the future and put away as much money as possible. This doesn't seem to be the case today.

Did you feel the fear of communism and the nuclear threat? Did it affect your daily life as a child?

I did worry about communism and nuclear war when I was a kid. We had drills at school where we would line up in the halls, get down on the floor, and cover the backs of our necks with our hands. Everyone was afraid. We thought of Russia as being very powerful and scary. My dad was a World War II disabled veteran, so my parents talked a lot about the possibility of another war. As a kid, I could just imagine how awful it would be because of my dad.

My daily life was pretty normal as a kid. I did worry about Krushchev and Russia, but not all of the time. My sister and I were always into something and had a lot of fun. We made our own paper dolls and rode our bikes.

When I entered high school, the world situation became much more serious to me. The Cuban Missile Crisis had us all on pins and needles. We were all afraid of Castro. Luckily, the crisis was resolved without a war. Also, while I was in high school, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, and our principal came on the intercom to tell us the President had been shot. A lot of kids started crying. My family was very sad as my parents had voted for Kennedy, and we all thought he was doing a great job.

How did the Civil Rights Movement affect your community where you lived?

The Civil Rights Movement didn't really affect my school when I was there. I graduated in 1965. I do remember that there were major differences between the races, and that blacks had their own restaurants, schools, and water fountains. They also had to sit on the back of the bus. I never really understood all of this, and my parents were not prejudiced, so it was just the way things were. I remember seeing things about the Civil Rights Movement in the news and wondering why people weren't all treated the same. When I was in college, black families moved into my parents' neighborhood, and most families panicked and put their homes on the market. My parents stayed for a long time, but some teenagers started giving my dad a hard time when he rode his bike in the neighborhood, so they eventually sold their home. There was a lot of racial tension at the time, so they felt safer moving.

At what point in your life did you realize you wanted to be a teacher? What were your experiences like? Do you ever miss it?

You are going to laugh at this answer. My dad decided that my sister and I would become teachers. He talked about it all of the time. Back then, women were either nurses, secretaries, or teachers. Women were also discriminated against, and didn't have a lot of career options. My sister became a first grade teacher, and I became a sixth grade teacher. I loved teaching school. I especially enjoyed it before all of the testing became such a big focus. We were allowed to have fun with our teaching. Our state came up with an awful evaluation system for teachers, and we all had to follow the same format. It was very frustrating for me.

I taught math and language arts and loved laughing with my students. I had originally wanted to be an art teacher, so I drew a lot of funny cartoons as I taught. I do miss teaching. I retired to help my daughter with her two sons. She is a nurse, so I watch them when she works. They are three and six, so I am still teaching in a way. The six year old is in first grade, so I help him with his homework. The three year old sings the alphabet and tries to spell.

What is the most significant news event you remember occuring when you taught? How did you deal with the news events in your class?

The most significant news event that happened when I was teaching was September 11th. Some of us started getting calls on our cell phones and turned on our television sets. We were immediately told not to do this because the students would get scared. So, we kind of went into shock and didn't really talk about it while it was happening. We were all so devastated. We did talk about it in class the next day. Everyone was just so sad.


Did you remember much about how they presented the Vietnam War in the media? Did you think they were fair to the soldiers? Did you know anybody who was involved in that war?

The Vietnam War was all we talked about in college. The guys were drafted if they didn't pass their classes. I met my husband in college. There were a lot of protests against the war during our college days. My sister's husband was in the Navy and served on the U.S.S. Enterprise. He wanted to be a jet machanic, but when they found out he could type, he was assigned that job instead. My husband's best friend died in Vietnam, and I know a lot of guys who were drafted. My husband planned to join the Air Force when he graduated, but he received a high number in the draft lottery and decided not to enlist.

I do not think that the media was fair to the Vietnam soldiers. They were not given the respect they should have been given. I think that everyone was so afraid that someone they loved would have to go to Vietnam that they didn't realize that those who were there needed our support, especially when they came home.

How has television changed in your lifetime?

Television has really changed a lot in my life time. The first show I saw was Felix the Cat. Of course, it was in black and white, and the tv set was a big, boxy piece of furniture. Reception was awful. My parents bought our first tv set when I was in the second grade. It was a really big deal! Now, my son-in-law has a media room that is similar to a theater. Yes, things are very different now!

Also, we used to get about three channels if we were lucky. Large antennas were on top of all of our homes to try to get better reception. We did not have Dish, Cable, DVR, or DVDs. I Love Lucy and Leave It To Beaver were two of my favorite shows. I also loved the Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock.

Shows were much simpler back then, and parents didn't have to worry about what their kids were watching.