Virginia State History – Post WWII to Present-day
Student Name: _______________________________________ Date: ____________________
For each of the following questions, fill-in-the-blanks:
Questions/Statement:
1. The “Cold War” began shortly after ________________.
2. The “Cold War” ended when the USSR was declared officially __________ on 12.26.1991.
3. Colgate Darden was governor of VA during WWII and became President of the University of
_______________in 1947.
4. After WWII, there was an outbreak of _______________________ in Virginia which dropped
off after a vaccine was found for it in 1955.
5. Gregory Swanson was the first black man admitted to the University of
Virginia as ordered by the US Court of Appeals in
________________(i.e., what year?).
6. Mrs. Sara Patton ______________ was one of Virginia’s most
prominent civil _____________ activists during the ____________ and
1960s.
7. The Korean War was between North and South Korea; and, the US
and the United Nations sided with ________________________ against
North Korea which was helped by Communist China and Russia.
8. The dividing line between North and South Korea is called the
“______________ parallel.”
9. American F-86 “Sabre” fighters fought with Russian
“______________” in Korea.
10. President Truman dismissed General MacArthur after the Chinese
entered the War and replaced him with Virginian General Matthew
___________ __________.
11. Francis Colton Hammond and Richard Thomas Shea were Virginians who received the
____________________ _______ ______________ for service in Korea.
12. The service of all ___________________ veterans is honored with a _________________
War Veterans Memorial on the mall in Wash., DC.
13. A Virginia court case involving equality of opportunity in
public schools was combined with other cases in the Supreme
Court’s decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954.
In this case (i.e., Davis v Co. School Board of Prince Edward
Co.), the complaint was that Moton HS in Farmville, VA was
_____________________ (i.e., it did not have a gymnasium,
cafeteria, or teachers’ restrooms and the students didn’t even
have desks or blackboards due to overcrowding.)
14. The State of Virginia didn’t want to accept the Supreme Court’s decision against segregation
in the Public Schools. Its refusal to go along was called “ _________ ___________________”.
This movement was led by newsman James Kilpatrick and US Senator Harry Byrd.
15. The ________________________War was part of the “Cold War” fought in South
__________________. From November 1955 to April of 1975.
16. The US entered the War in South-east Asia to prevent a communist takeover of South
__________________________________. In the end, North Vietnam did takeover the South.
17. _____________ recipients of the Medal of Honor in the South Vietnam War were from
Virginia.
18. _____________________ Veterans have a memorial on the mall in Wash., DC next to the
George Washington Monument.
19. In 1957, Virginia celebrated the _____________________
anniversary of the founding of Jamestown settlement (i.e., the first
permanent English settlement in North America.)
20. Jamestown Fort was built in May of _____________ on the
James River in Virginia.
21. In 2007, Virginia celebrated the _____________________ anniversary of the founding of
Jamestown.
22. In October of 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union almost went to War over Russian
missiles in ________________.
23. During the 14 day crisis over missiles being installed so close to the US, President Kennedy
ordered a naval blockage of all ships carrying weapons (e.g., missiles) to ________________.
24. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, _____________ in Dallas, TX.
25. Kennedy’s alleged assassin was killed by Jack _______________ before his trial in TX.
26. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-_______________________ was built
from 1960-1964; and, upon completion was called “One of the 7
Engineering wonders of the Modern World”.
27. Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail in S-W Virginia is called the
“___________________________ Road”. It celebrates the development
and contributions of “Blue-grass” and Country Musicians in Virginia.
28. Virginia’s ______________________ Brothers of Staunton, Va are
one of Country Music’s most famous performing groups. Their early song “Flowers on the
Wall” beat out the Beatles and the Supremes for the 1965 Grammy Award for best pop song.
29. In 1963, Evelyn Butts brought suit in Federal court and won an appeal to the US Supreme
Court on her complaint that Virginia’s ________________ Tax was unconstitutional. This case
effectively ended this Jim Crow way of keeping blacks from voting in the South.
30. By 1968, Federal Courts were frustrated with Virginia’s Massive Resistance to the Supreme
Courts decision against segregated public schools; and, the court ordered “Forced School
Busing” as a way to achieve _________________________ in Virginia’s public schools.
31. Virginia’s constitution of 1970 omitted authorization for payment of a _________ tax as a
pre-requisite for voting.
32. In 1973, Virginia’s greatest thoroughbred horse of all time,
____________________________ , won the Triple Crown races
with an Earth-shattering victory in the Belmont Stakes.
33. In August of 1974, President _______________ resigned under
Congressional pressure for his actions in the Watergate affair.
President Ford took his place.
34. Arthur __________ of Richmond, Virginia won the Wimbledon Singles Championship in
1975.
35. In 1975, Dumas Malone and Annie __________________ won the Pulitzer Prize for
Literature.
36. In 1979, Kylene ___________________ of Pulaski Co., VA became
the 1st Miss Virginia to win the title of “Miss America”. In 1999, Nicole
Johnson was the second winner for Virginia.
37. Eva F. Scott of Amelia County, Virginia became the 1st woman to
serve as a member of the ____________________________ of Virginia
in 1980.
38. William Styron won the Pulitzer Prize for Confessions of Nat Turner in 1968; and, later
wrote _____________________________ which became an award winning movie in 1982.
39. Tom Wolfe of Richmond Virginia wrote “The Right Stuff” which became a movie and won
4 _____________________________ awards in 1983.
40. Mary Sue Terry was the 1st woman to win state-wide election in Virginia as its
____________________________ _________________ in 1985.
41. The ________________ Wall was torn down in ________________(what year?).
42. The Persian Gulf War (1st War against Iraq) in 1990-91 was started because Iraq had invaded
its neighbor ____________________________.
43. The Persian Gulf War was a decisive victory for the United States and its coalition forces
and hostilities were ended after only _____________ hours of actual conflict on the ground.
44. In 1990, Lawrence Douglas ____________________ became the
66th Governor of Virginia.
He was the 1st black man to be elected as Governor of any state in
America.
45. Before 1997, Virginia’s Military Institute (VMI) had a policy of only
admitting male students. The US Supreme Court ruled 7-1 that VMI’s
male-only policy violated the __________________________
_________________________clause of the US Constitution.
46. Moses _________________ of Petersburg, Va was named one of the
NBA’s top 50 players of all-time in 1998. At Petersburg High, his 1973
and 1974 teams were the VA State Basketball Champions.
47. In 2000, Virginia was the ____________largest state in the country.
48. On Sept. 11, 2001, ____________________________ terrorists
hijacked 4 commercial passenger jet airliners and attacked Americans in
New York City and at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
49. At the Pentagon, _______________ people were killed on “9-11".
Their number is memorialized in a monument just outside the Pentagon.
50. On Oct. 7, 2001, the US began a war against _________________ Terrorists in Afghanistan.
51. So far, the War in Afghanistan has lasted ______________(not as long as, longer than) the
US military’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
52. The principal leader of Al-Qeada is Osama bin ___________ who is
a member of that prominent family in Saudi Arabia.
53. On March 20, 2003, the US began another War against Saddam
Hussein and Al-Qeada Terrorists in ________________.
54. This 2nd War in Iraq was waged because the US thought that Hussein
had weapons of ______________ destruction and that he might use them.
55. Baghdad was captured in April of 2003; but, Saddam Hussein wasn’t
found until _____________ of that year.
56. The US expects to have all of its forces out of Iraq by December 31, 2011 under an
agreement the Bush administration signed with the Iraqi government in __________.
57. So far, 6 Medals of Honor have been given to servicemen since the global war on terror
began following the Sept. 11, ___________ attacks on the US.
58. Queen Elizabeth II visited Jamestown for its anniversary celebration and took a tour of the
re-discovered Fort with Dr. William Kelso who has retrieved over ________________ artifacts
from this settlement site.
59. Virginia voted for Barack Obama for President of the US in
2008. In that election, the key issues were “change” and the
“_______________________”.
60. In 2008, Ann Dunwoody, who was born
at Ft. Belvoir, VA, was the 1st woman to
become a __________________ general
when she assumed command of the Army
Materiel Command with headquarters at Ft.
Belvoir, VA.