Postwar Pueblo—defined here as 1940 to 1982—was an exciting time when the city witnessed dramatic changes. The key components of the American dream from the individual’s perspective—work, home, consumer goods, education, and freedoms—serve as the organizational framework for this document. It was these abstract ideas that buoyed Puebloans, and all Americans, during both the depression and the war. These were the deferred rewards and the advantages enjoyed during the prosperous postwar years.

This historical context also covers another key topic related to the American dream: infrastructure and government. If asked to define the American dream, few individuals would list these subjects among its characteristics. However, jobs, home construction, available consumer goods, educational opportunities, and freedom of Americans to enjoy their lives all relied, to varying degrees, upon the underlying systems that were developed or much improved during the 1940s through the 1980s and the government officials, elected or appointed, who made these improvements possible. Given the importance of these underlying topics to the other, more obvious components of the American dream, infrastructure and government are discussed in the context’s initial chapter.

City of Pueblo, Colorado

Colorado State Historical Fund