acclaim To announce or proclaim with enthusiastic approval.
actuary A mathematician, usually working in the insurance industry, who computes the statistical probabilities for the chances of people developing certain diseases, as well as their life spans, among other things.
amendment As relates to a document, such as the Texas or U.S. constitution: a phrase or statement which adds to or clarifies certain provisions of a document.
antibodies Small cellular particles in a person’s bloodstream that act as “fighter” cells to kill harmful viruses or bacteria in a person’s body.
apportioned To divide or distribute according to some rule.
appropriation When a governmental body such as a legislature formally gives permission for a certain sum of money to be distributed for a specific purpose.
ATS (England) Auxiliary Territorial Services.
biennial An event occurring once every two years.
bill Proposed language submitted to a legislative body for consideration into becoming a state or national law.
blacklisting Placing a person’s name on a roster of people who are accused of a certain—often suspicious, illegal, or unsavory—behavior, such as being a “communist.”
black market Illegally buying or selling goods.
Brown v. Board of Education Desegregation law that declared “separate but equal” educational facilities for black and white students unconstitutional.
cabinet The U.S. president’s advisory board, made of the directors of the federal government’s executive departments.
capitalism An economic system in which individuals or corporations own the means of production.
Caucasian A racial classification term, used to designate “white” people.
cesarean section Delivering a baby by cutting the mother’s abdomen open to retrieve the infant.
Chautauqua A traveling educational group, popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, that provided performances in U.S. towns during the summer months.
civilian A nonmilitary person.
codify To arrange rules or laws into a system.
communism A type of social system in which property is owned by the community or the state.
community chest A fund for local welfare activities, made from voluntary contributions.
Congressional Record A daily transcript of the congressional sessions’ discussions.
conscription Mandatory enrollment into military duty.
convalesce The process of recovering from an illness.
D-Day June 6, 1944, the day during World War II that the Allied Forces invaded Western Europe.
democracy A type of government run on the principles of equality and justice, where people exercise their rights and elect their government officials.
diaphragm A muscular wall separating the chest cavity from the stomach in mammals.
dishonorably discharged Being let go from military service for a serious offense of regulations.
dispensary A place where medicine is given out.
Distinguished Service Medal An award given for “exceptionally meritorious performance of a duty of great responsibility.”
draft Mandatory enrollment into military duty.
elocution The study and practice of public speaking.
epidemic The rapid, often uncontrollable spread of a disease.
estate The possessions, both property and monetary, a person leaves to other people, after he or she dies.
expletives Another name for curse words.
Great Depression A period of low business activity beginning with a big stock market crash in October 1929 and continuing through most of the 1930s.
hollandaise sauce A culinary sauce made from lemons, egg yolks, butter, and seasonings.
illegitimate Refers to children who are born to a man and a woman who are not married to each other.
incubation The process of having a favorable environment in which to grow or hatch things, like bacteria or eggs.
indictment A serious charge of accusation, often stemming from someone violating a law.
induction Formally installing someone into an office.
inoculation A way of delivering medicine into a person’s body by inserting a needle into a body part, often an arm or buttock, and injecting the medicine.
integration The practice of doing away with segregation—that is, of allowing people of different races to dwell together, go to school together, swim in the same pools together, eat at the same restaurants, use motels and hotels, drink from the same water fountains, and use the same bathrooms.
interred Jailed or imprisoned.
jurisprudence The philosophy of law.
khaki A yellowish-brown color, often referred to as the color of which military uniforms are made.
Ku Klux Klan A secret organization founded in the southern U.S. designed to intimidate blacks, Jews, and Catholics.
legislature An elected group of people whose job it is to make, enact, and change laws.
lexicon Another name for a dictionary.
Henri Matisse A famous French painter from the impressionism period of art.
Joe McCarthy era A time period during the 1950s when some progressive American citizens and military members were accused, often falsely, of being communists, and made to lose their jobs and reputations.
military-industrial complex A term attributed to President Dwight Eisenhower in his last speech, warning against a runaway partnership between the military and industrial capitalists.
Minute Women A group of Houston Republican women whose mission was to uncover communists during the McCarthy era.
Joan Miró A Spanish painter from the surrealist period of art.
Modigliani An Italian painter and sculptor.
NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Negro The name used, prior to the 1960s, to refer to people of African origin in the United States.
Nineteenth Amendment (to the U.S. Constitution) This constitutional amendment, adopted on August 26, 1920, guaranteed women the right to vote. The law reads, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/19th-amendment-adopted.
parliamentarian An expert in the rules and procedures that govern formal organizations such as clubs or legislative bodies.
phonograph A media player that uses large, round, flat plastic disks called records, on which music or speech was recorded.
physiotherapists Medical specialists trained to work with people who have problems with their muscles.
Picasso A Spanish painter instrumental in popularizing the abstract form of art.
polio The shortened form of the disease poliomyelitis.
poliomyelitis A disease caused by a virus, which could cause paralysis and/or death and often strikes young children.
power elite a sociological term referring to a class of people in a society who have access to money and resources and use that access to control things in society, often behind the scenes.
precedent An example that serves as a guide for a later situation.
primary A preliminary election where voters choose candidates to run for upcoming political offices.
Prohibition The practice of not allowing people to drink alcohol.
pyramids Stone buildings located in the town of Giza, outside Cairo, Egypt, built by Egyptian kings (pharaohs) beginning in 2584 BCE.
racism The practice of treating people differently based on the color of their skin or their place of birth.
Reds The nickname given to people who are or are assumed to be members of the Communist Party.
remuneration Payment for services rendered.
resolution A formal opinion expressed by or voted on by an organization, such as a legislature.
respiration Another name for the act of breathing.
Jonas Salk The medical doctor credited with creating the vaccine technique used to make the polio vaccine, which helped eradicate the polio epidemic.
segregation The practice of separating groups of people based solely on their race, i.e., sending black and white children to different schools or making black and white troops live in separate barracks from each other.
sesquicentennial The time frame of 150 years.
solvent Having enough money to pay one’s debts.
special session A meeting of the Texas legislature, called at the request of the Texas governor, to deal with “emergency” issues not covered during the regular legislative session. A special session cannot last longer than thirty days, although a governor can call for a second special session if the business does not get completed during the first special session.
stenographer A person who transcribes spoken words or dictation and turns the words into a written document.
suffrage The ability of an individual or group of individuals to vote in elections; the right to vote.
tactician Someone who plans strategies.
telegraph An early communication method, predating the telephone, where messages could be transmitted over wires using a series of dots and dashes representing the letters of the alphabet.
temperance Refraining from drinking alcohol.
tenure The time period that one holds an office or position.
terra firma Literally “solid earth,” but the phrase is used to mean “solid ground.”
torpedo A weapon in the form of a missile fired from a battleship or submarine.
trustee A person given the power to perform legal duties on behalf of another person, often because someone has died or become physically or mentally unable to carry out those duties.
Unitarian A member of a religious denomination that stresses individual freedom of belief, the free use of reason in religion, a united world community, and liberal social action.
vaccine A potion, often delivered via an injection, designed to prevent the recipient from developing a disease.
virus A tiny microbe capable of producing a disease in a plant or animal.
WAAF (England) Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.
war bonds A type of financial instrument sold by governments during times of war to help pay for the war.
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union An organization founded “by women who were concerned about the destructive power of alcohol and the problems it was causing their families and society . . . The WCTU is now considered the oldest voluntary, nonsectarian women’s organization in continuous existence in the world.” (http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/Womans-Christian-Temperance-Union.html)
World War II A global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945.