1961: Fifty Years of the Southeastern Geographer

This is the fiftieth volume of the Southeastern Geographer, the first having been published in 1961 under the editorship of James A. Shear. And what a year that was; along with the birth of the Southeastern Geographer there were other momentous events. Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space followed a month later by Alan Shepard. The space race was heating up and the pursuit for the moon began with President Kennedy setting the goal of a landing a man on our satellite before the end of the decade; so taking geography from its “geo” earth bound status to lunar and planetary surfaces. Roger Maris hit 61 home runs controversially beating Babe Ruth’s record; the Beatles perform in the Cavern Club, and that classic sit-com, Mr. Ed, premiers on television! At the same time, the films Breakfast at Tiffany’s and West Side Story showed two distinctly different faces of the same city. In the same city, Celia Cruz and Bob Dylan came on the scene and Robert Rauschenberg produced Rigger. The times, they were a-changing.

In 1961 our global geography was also changing, at least from a political perspective, as the old colonial powers were compelled to adjust to a new world order, one where emerging nations increasingly exerted their rights to sovereignty and independence. In country after country, the dominance of European hegemony in Africa, in Asia and elsewhere was challenged sometimes peaceably and sometimes by force. In 1961, Sierra Leone and Tanzania each declared its independence and became the 100^th and 104^th members of the United Nations joining Mongolia and Mauritania that year. Algeria revolted against the French and Spanish troops left Morocco. Mauritania and Gabon adopted new constitutions, Ethiopia installed its first premier (Aklilou Habtewold), East and West Cameroon merged to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon, and the Trucial States¹ issued its first postage stamps. The fight for freedoms and support for emerging nations was growing and by the end of the decade much of Africa was liberated from its colonial past.

At the same time, other actions in 1961 promulgated changes that set in motion some of the events of the latter half of the 20^th century. For example, South Africa withdrew from the British Commonwealth and proclaimed itself a republic, a not very surprising event in the context of other nation states rightfully claiming their independence. However, the ugly white rule in South Africa promulgated even harsher apartheid regulations that discriminated more and more against the majority black population, building on the legislation of the late 1940s and 1950s. For these actions, South Africa was condemned by the General Assembly of the United Nations. Also in 1961, and reminiscent of later years, was Iraq’s claim to Kuwait, an ongoing saga that saw yet another war in the early 1990s. Similarly, it was in 1961 that President Kennedy sent 18,000 military advisors and later U.S. military helicopters and crews to South Vietnam and so began the build-up of American troops that culminated in the bloody war that killed 3 to 4 million Vietnamese, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and over 58,000 Americans.

In 1961, the Cold war was getting quite hot. The two “super-powers,” United States and USSR, went on a nuclear bomb testing spree and faced each other down in several tense moments. Relations with Cuba had broken down and, of course, the Bay of Pigs fiasco did not help matters. During the year, a plane was hijacked to Cuba beginning a series of events that brought severe measures—President Kennedy signed a law implementing the death penalty for hijacking. In Europe, East Germany began building the Berlin Wall and restricted flow of traffic between the two sides of the City. It was to last until 1989.

At home in the United States, and particularly the South, it was race relations that frequently dominated media attention. This was the year that the Freedom Riders began their activities to support equal voting rights in America. The outcome was at times devastating...