Thalidomide-Affect on America

For the last research project of the semester, I receivedand opportunity to research the topic of “Thalidomide-and it’s affects on theUnited States”. I took on this challenge after only seeing a couple of devastatingpictures of deformed babies, teens and adults on Google that sent me searchingand wanting to know exactly what kind of “thing” Thalidomide” was, and why itcaused humans to look they way they did.

                   

                                                    (Thalidomide Baby-Victims Association)

What is Thalidomide exactly? While typing into Google's search bar words like " Thalidomide, History of Thalidomide, Thalidomide History in America, I stumbled across this Medical News Site about Thalidomide that explains how Thalidomide was initially launched in Germany as anerve gas to be used in warfare in the 1950’s. The article went on to say that  as researchers studied moreabout Thalidomide, the drug became more affective for other uses such as:  an effective tranquilizer, or painkiller. Before hitting the United States Thalidomide (the nerve gas )became known as Thalidomide a "wonder drug!".Thalidomide as a “wonder drug” was known to be able to relieve morning sickness(in pregnant women) insomnia, coughs, colds, and headaches.

As more and more of Thalidomide arrived into the UnitedStates from Germany,  I found in a smallnews paper clipping from the NY TIMES that Thalidomide had only been initially issued to doctors to experiment with,and not for sale on the markets. Doctors, not yet knowing about the devastatingdeformation to the fetus had received 2,528,412 Thalidomide tablets to be given out to American patients around the Country. As I read this article, I thought, how could professionally trained doctors not know they were giving out fatal pills to people just as oblivious as them? I as I kept reading, urging to know more, I found that during this time, at a doctors visit, it was not required for women to get "chek-ups" or understand what exactly anything they were putting into their bodies was doing to their bodies. So not only were doctors not aware of the reaction going on from the drug, and neither were the women.

(President JFK with Dr.Frances O. Kelsey)

Thalidomide Drug Crisis of 1960's

What were some of  the effects Thalidomide had on a fetus? Whydid it cause the fetus to respond the way it did? A baby that had come into contact with Thalidomide would lack upper arm bone, bones that were severely shortened, upper arms that only“remnants” or lower arm bones, and on top of having all of that Thalidomidecould cause one to be paralyzed.

In the U.S. there had been found to be 10 Thalidomide babies and two main cases during the 1950’s that had gotten the attention to the restof the country. I found this information out by this website dedicated to the victims of Thalidomide. While I did the research on this website and contemplated about using as a source for Thalidomide in America, I noticed that even though this site was published by Canadians, It does represent Thalidomide victims from all over the world who have been affected.

One of the last websites I visited during this search of Thalidomide was a website that was titled "Thalidomide Drug Crisis 1960's- All Americans Will Pull together, The Federal Governments Role in Dealing with Disaster". While having just an quick overview look at the page, I thought "WOW it's serious if the president gets into it.  From this website I learned that because of doctors being able to prescribe drugs that have not been overseen by FDA or anything that would warn doctors about bodily harm, Thalidomide helped create the  new regulation  (that is used today) of all drugs being tested and overseen before they are given to doctors to prescribe.

Thalidomide was such a huge influence in America because it eventually changed the way America and the rest of the world approached regulations on drugs given out to patients on all sorts of levels weather it just be for morning sickness, coughs, pains, headaches, etc. I personally believe after doing this project that Thalidomide also made a lead way for Americans having the right to know what exactly the medication they're taking is made of. For example, today if your feeling ill, and you need some Tylenol, or Advil, you are able to pick it up and read all of the ingredients involved with that product as well as its side effects.

Cultural Influences of Thalidomide in America

My Topic for Cultural Influences in America is -Thalidomide (Thalidomide is used along with dexamethasone to treat multiple myeloma in people who have been recently found to have this disease)

Hollywood- 1914-1919 (World War I)

In Mrs. Lawson's history class I was given the Topic "Hollywood" to research while we studied World War I. The goal of the project was to find as information on what Hollywood people, films, a vibe would have been like. And of course, while searching this I found more details about Cinema during World War II than I because Film was used more, things were documented differently, and things were more advanced than they were in World War one.
While using the Britannica to look up Hollywood Motion Pictures, I found out that American Government along with Hollywood producers worked closely together to inform the people of the happenings and where about's of people in the war. The movies that were usually made from the Hollywood producers would gave off a sense of how they(Americans) portrayed the Germans and the German ways of Life as if they knew how all Germans viewed Americans. Americans in films, as you all know of course, were shown to be the sweet Innocent ones being attacked.

I didn't find a lot on the History of Hollywood, but I did find some interesting videos that portrayed life during World War 1. Here is a video from World War one. Here as you can see that the video quality is not that clear, and that it looks very pixilated. We also notice about these early films that there was of course no "REAL" audio to go along with the films.
During the Process of the research I struggled with finding Primary sources for hollywood films. I believe it is because everything that was anything being recorded was used for lab work in hospitals , and investigations.

The Great War Poem

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/document/9244/5773

I chose to look up poems that Came from the Great war because I think that they were one of the most significant factors for people during the war. It was significant because during this time, poems, letters, and drawings were the only way to communicate back and forth to love one to let them know how much they were missed, thought about and loved.

Reading Blogs

I read 3 blogs: Laura's about the Gibson Girls, Jamaree's about The Start of the Sport basketball, and Madison's about Crime. My favorite of all 3 blogs was the one about basketball because it's kept my attention the most and just made me think bout how much our society has changed over the past 100 years. It brought to my attention the things that started out small like things as basketball, has turned into, today million dollar + money making sports. I really liked it, it makes you  think, " what if I could start doing something fun in my leisure time and it a 100+ years in America's favorite sport to play or watch"

It Meant Much More For a African American Woman

Ask yourself, "if I was African American in the late 19th and early 20th century, what would I find myself doing all day in my leisure time?" Most people, at first thought would say tending to household duties, taking care of family, friends, or neighbors, trying to find work, or even understanding exactly what it means to be a free independent African American in the United States. If you answered with these answers you are on an accurate road, but what would you say the other half of African Americans did in between the time they were not tending those specific duties at times? Would you argue that some actually had time to sit down and read books, magazines, and newspapers? Because in fact they did!

                            During the late 19th and early 20 century black entertainment was just getting started. This was a time when a hand full of blacks were still trying to close the gap on being illiterate. They understood that they needed community were blacks could get information about other blacks apposed to other whites. The magazines, or newspaper and advertisement had information that one, would keep blacks informed on the latest news, jobs, schools, and two, keep them informed on new trends, recipes, cooking utensils, and even how other blacks were living day to day. Popular Magazines that I would consider to have been the most beneficially to blacks during this time period included "Ringwood's Afro American Journal of fashion, Half Century Magazine for the Colored Homemaker, and the Tan Confessions. 

(1950's)

(1950's) What Tan Eventually became

-Tan Confessions ( What Tan Confessions eventually grew into)

While doing research on leisure time for blacks, I found that "Julia Ringwood Coston" was among the few blacks that had ever edited a Magazine during her time. She exclaimed also that her rational for doing articles that related to blacks was to in fact bring them closer. By bringing blacks closer, things in the articles would talk about other things that Afro Americans might be donig, and if it was working out as planned, or how other black children were doing. It seemed as if Julia realized that by having other blacks understand what was going around in the community, they could all come together and be more beneficial to each other.

It was very hard to find a lot about Leisure time about blacks because this time period was also the time period were blacks, although may have been free were not always treated as so. I will also say that during this time period it was substantially harder for a black male or female to get his her her work out for anyone to read and look at.  
Another interesting thing that I did find out by doing this project was that whites had more entertainment activities to choose from. They had more magazines, more books and more newspapers than blacks. I found out that most of the things that blacks read had basely come from the magazines that whites read like the True Confessions. A predominantly white magazine that is almost like the blacks magazined " The Tan Confessions.

1880-1920 Policemen

During my research project I have been researching Policemen of the 1880's-1920's. 

The basic things that I have Found out about Policemen in this era is that being a policemen wasn't just about "a job" but was more of a pride thing in the community. It was looked at as a good dead because more crimes started to break out during this time.  I have also learned that the "Crooks" of this time were treated with harsh punishment and sent to diseased prisons and some where sentenced to the electrical chairs. 

So far, I have come to the conclusion that I do not find this topic as interesting as I thought and now I am changing, to something else.