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Frederica Duhrssen

b. 1954

Born
12 Jun 1954, Newport
Country of birth
United States

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

facts
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sources
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Facts and their sources

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A life in time

  1. Born · Newport

    Birth, Newport

What was it like?

The world around Newport, 1954: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Frederica was born the same year as Jackie Chan, Oprah Winfrey, and Hugo Chávez.

Who ruled

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower

    President of the United States, 1953–1961 · United States

  • John F. Kennedy

    President of the United States, 1961–1963 · United States

  • Lyndon B. Johnson

    President of the United States, 1963–1969 · United States

Born the same year

  • Jackie Chan

    Hong Kong actor and martial artist (born 1954)

  • Oprah Winfrey

    American talk show host, actress, producer, and author (born 1954)

  • Hugo Chávez

    president of Venezuela (1999–2013); revolutionary and military officer

  • James Cameron

    Canadian filmmaker and explorer (born 1954)

  • Kazuo Ishiguro

    British novelist (born 1954)

  • Sócrates

    Brazilian association football player (1954–2011)

Fashion

Poodle Haircut Routine

Women's poodle haircuts required 125 curlers per washing to achieve their styled look.

The Gray Flannel Suit

Men frequently wore gray flannel suits for work, which became a symbol of mid-century conformity.

Music

Cost of Snacks at Dances

At the Buffalo Pavilion in South Dakota, patrons could purchase coffee and sandwiches for twenty-five or thirty-five cents.

Typical Dance Hours

Dances were commonly held from nine or ten o'clock at night until one or two o'clock in the morning.

Getting around
Around 1950–1950

Rise of the Personal Automobile

By 1950, more than half of all American families owned a car, and personal vehicles became the preferred mode of travel over trains.

Around 1956–1974

Interstate Highway System Construction

The Interstate Highway System, authorized in 1956, allowed travelers to bypass towns and reduced the time for long-distance driving significantly.

Daily life

Mass-produced suburban housing developments

Post-war developers built mass-produced suburban houses, such as those in Levittown, which were assembled quickly from prefabricated parts. These homes were priced to be affordable for the majority of American families.

Rapid growth of television in American homes

Between 1950 and 1956, American farm families purchased between 1.5 and 2 million television sets, rapidly changing home life. By 1956, over half of all farm families owned a television set.

Food

1950s Backyard Barbecues and Grilling

During the 1950s, Americans began the practice of backyard barbecuing, with men taking on the role of grill master to cook meat, such as bologna, on outdoor grills.

The Rise of TV Dinners

Swanson introduced frozen TV dinners in the 1950s, a convenient option that required minimal effort to heat and serve as more women worked outside the home.

Prices and wages
Around 1953–1953

1953 average wages and car costs

By 1953, the average worker earned $3,581 annually, and it took about 30 weeks of work to buy a new car.

Around 1952–1952

1952 worker wages and food prices

In 1952, a factory worker earned $1.25 an hour, while a loaf of bread cost 15 cents and bacon was 55 cents per pound.

Work

Growth of White-Collar and Service Jobs

Between 1950 and 1960, white-collar, service, and skilled construction jobs grew as the economy shifted toward consumer goods and suburban housing. Millions of Americans worked as carpenters, mechanics, and in office-based roles like secretaries and typists.

Standardization of the Forty-Hour Workweek

After World War II, the standard manufacturing workweek stabilized at 40 hours, while the traditional half-day Saturday shift for office and factory workers largely disappeared by 1960.

During their lifetime

  1. 1954

    Supreme Court Ends School Segregation

    In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that state-sponsored segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

  2. 1955

    Polio Vaccine Developed

    The polio vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk in 1955, helped eliminate the frequent epidemics that once paralyzed thousands of children each year.

  3. 1956

    Interstate Highway System Created

    In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act, which authorized the construction of 41,000 miles of highway over 20 years.

  4. 1964

    Civil Rights Act Passed

    The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed to outlaw discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

  5. 1981

    AIDS Epidemic Identified

    In 1981, the AIDS epidemic was first observed in the United States, deeply affecting public health and social life.

  6. 2010

    Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster

    The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in 2010, killing 11 workers and causing the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.