So, this week’s YouTube of the Week is perhaps of more interest to researchers than it is to students. This is just part one of a series of videos uploaded by the Iowa State University Library’s Special Collections. They include raw news footage of Nikita Khrushchev’s 1959 visit to Iowa. I have not yet watched all of the footage, but in the midst of a lot of dullness, many great moments and images often tell you more about American history than Soviet. Of particular interest are the Iowans lining the roads for Khrushchev’s motorcade and holding up signs, including slogans like “The Only Good Communist is a Dead Communist.”
Unfortunately, it seems the ISU Library has disabled the capacity to embed the video in a blog post, so you’ll have to go here. Khrushchev in Iowa
One reply on “YouTube of the Week – Khrushchev’s Visit to Iowa”
That was interesting. I watched all the way to Film 2, Part 3, but it never really did get back to what I would have liked to see the most–the faces of the people on the street watching Khrushchev’s motorcade–what they looked like when they actually saw him. Obviously there were a few people out there holding anti-Communist signs, but the average reaction, whether curiousity, or applause or dislike, could be even more telling.
One thing I did notice: Khruschev’s translator looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown–I guess that’s one job you wouldn’t want to botch.
Thanks, Steve!