National Governors Association Centennial

1950-1959
1950		1950 Meeting: White Sulphur Springs, WV (June 18-21) Exec. Committee Chair: Frank Carlson, KS Governors discuss water resources, including flood control, reclamation, and hydroelectric power development, and debate the involvement of the federal government in water resource management. American troops are committed to the Korean conflict. President Harry Truman sends military advisers to Vietnam. Althea Gibson becomes the first African-American woman to compete on the world tennis tour. Charles Schulz's syndicated comic strip Peanuts begins running. The Frisbee is invented. The first modern credit card is introduced. The Federal Civil Defense Act and Disaster Relief Act become law, providing for the first federal preparedness and response programs to address emergencies and disasters. At their annual meeting, Governors adopt a resolution urging that states consider enacting legislation enabling interstate cooperation in securing child support.
1951		1951 Meeting: Gatlinburg, TN (Sept. 30-Oct. 3) Exec. Committee Chair: Frank Lausche, OH Governors are addressed by federal officials regarding the Korean conflict and defense readiness. The Administrator of Civil Defense argues that modern warfare will be won or lost on the home front, requiring preparations. The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (limiting the Presidency to two terms) is adopted. J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is published. The term "rock-and-roll" is first used to describe a new style of American music.
1952		1952 Meeting: Houston, TX (June 29-July 2) Exec. Committee Chair: Val Peterson, NE During a discussion of the overlap of state and federal taxes, it is noted that more than 70 percent of federal taxes collected in 1950 came from sources that overlapped state taxes. A Governors' Interstate Indian Conference is held, attended by the governors of 16 states with large Native American populations. Governors discuss problems of Indian health, welfare, and education. The hydrogen bomb is developed. Car seat belts are introduced. Puerto Rico becomes a Commonwealth. Oregon Governor James McKay resigns to accept appointment by President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson is the Democratic candidate for President, losing to Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower. NGA adopts a resolution asking for revenue from the federal gasoline tax and for freedom to build highways and bridges without federal interference.
1953		1953 Meeting: Seattle, WA (August 2-6) Exec. Committee Chair: Allan Shivers, TX Governors discuss the baby boom and its anticipated effect on the U.S. educational system. A temporary Commission on Intergovernmental Relations is established, with primary focus on federal grants-in-aid. The Korean War armistice is signed. DNA is discovered. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed for violating the Espionage Act of 1917, having been convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. James Baldwin's first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, is published. Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man wins the National Book Award. The first American sports car, the Corvette by Chevrolet, is marketed. The U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is created. Governor Earl Warren of California is appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
1954		1954 Meeting: Lake George, NY (July 11-14) Exec. Committee Chair: Dan Thornton, CO Rule for unanimous vote to adopt resolutions is replaced by requirement for three-fourths vote. Vice President Richard Nixon addresses governors regarding proposed $50 billion in highway aid to the states. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education outlaws racial segregation in public education. The Geneva Conference ends French colonial rule of Vietnam. Salk polio vaccine trials begin. The Boeing 707, the first jet transport, has its inaugural flight. The Humane Society is founded. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs legislation revising the Pledge of Allegiance to add "under God." President Dwight D. Eisenhower calls on every state to hold a conference on education, and $900,000 is appropriated for this purpose. Addressing NGA's annual meeting, Vice President Richard M. Nixon asks for the Governors' support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's plan for a $50-billion, ten-year interstate highway program, inviting Governors to participate in the program's planning. A special gubernatorial highway committee is formed to examine the proposal. Governors hold a national conference on mental health.
1955		1955 Meeting: Chicago, IL (August 9-12) Exec. Committee Chair: Robert Kennon, LA Governors discuss the recent defeat of federal highway aid legislation and the best way to address the sticking point of financing methods. Governors also talk at length about the problems of juvenile delinquency and mental illness, including their causes, prevention, and treatment versus institutionalization; and the question of the institutional separation of the elderly suffering with mental impairment from others with mental illness. Juan Peron is deposed as President of Argentina in a military coup. The Jerome Lawrence-Robert Lee play Inherit the Wind, based on the Scopes Trial of 1925, opens on Broadway. The film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean, is released. Rosa Parks refuses to sit in the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) merge to form the AFL-CIO. Ray Kroc opens the first McDonald's fast food franchise. Disneyland opens. IBM introduces its first business computer. The first White House Conference on Education is held. The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 becomes the first federal law dealing with air pollution, granting funding to research the issue.
1956		1956 Meeting: Atlantic City, NJ (June 24-27) Exec. Committee Chair: Arthur Langlie, WA Governors discuss recent White House Conference on Education, and talk specifically about rising school enrollment and teacher and facility shortages. Federal Aid Highway Act becomes law. Soviet troops invade Hungary to quell anti-Communist revolution. Elvis Presley makes the charts with Heartbreak Hotel. American actress Grace Kelly marries Monaco's Prince Rainier III. The Great Lakes Commission is founded on the basis of the Great Lakes Basin Compact, to represent the eight Great Lakes states on environmental and economic issues.
1957		1957 Meeting: Williamsburg, VA (June 23-26) Exec. Committee Chair: Thomas Stanley, VA In his address to the governors, President Dwight Eisenhower warns that the failure of states to assume traditional state responsibilities is likely to result in further federal incursion. The Soviet Union launches the Sputnik satellite. Dr. Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier is elected President of Haiti. West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Steven Sondheim, and choreography by Jerome Robbins, is produced on Broadway. After Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus resists the admission of African-American students to Central High School in Little Rock, President Eisenhower sends federal troops to enforce integration in accordance with federal law. At their annual meeting, Governors request the appointment of a committee to study the problem of air pollution and report its conclusions with respect to ways and means of developing an effective interstate program.
1958		1958 Meeting: Bal Harbour, FL (May 18-21) Exec. Committee Chair: William Stratton, IL Governors adopt resolution in recognition of the association's 50th Anniversary. Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary-General of the United Nations, talks to governors about the ways in which the Cold War has made the role of the United Nations more important, in part for the purpose of promoting peaceful uses of atomic energy. The hula-hoop becomes a hit in the United States. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith's book Affluent Society argues that income disparities are the result of a disconnect between a wealthy private sector and a poorly constructed and administered public sector. The first national conference on air pollution is held. The National Defense Education Act—spurred by the desire to remain competitive with the Soviet Union in the "Space Race" by improving the U.S. educational system—assigns states the responsibility for overseeing the disbursement of new curriculum monies. At their annual meeting, Governors adopt a resolution urging federal funding for construction of fallout shelters.
1959		1959 Meeting: San Juan, PR (August 2-5) Exec. Committee Chair: LeRoy Collins, FL General reference to "territories" as association members is revised to specify territory and commonwealth names. Functions are expanded to include fostering interstate cooperation and improving state-local and state-federal relations. Office of Chairman is established, to alternate annually between the two major political parties. Resolutions are to go through a Resolutions Committee and require two-thirds vote for adoption. At the Annual Meeting, members of the Governors' Conference's Executive Committee report on their trip to the Soviet Union and discuss their observations on Soviet life. Governors are addressed regarding the likely effects of nuclear fallout. Permanent Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations is established. Alaska and Hawaii join the Union. Revolution brings Fidel Castro to power in Cuba. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's last musical collaboration, The Sound of Music, opens on Broadway. Barry Gordy, Jr. forms Motown Records in Detroit, featuring rhythm and blues recordings. Ford Motor Company announces the end of its Edsel model. NGA establishes a standing Committee on Roads and Highway Safety to monitor highway and highway safety issues. Former Massachusetts Governor Christian Herter becomes U.S. Secretary of State.