This new addition to the This is Who We Were series provides the reader with a deeper understanding of day-to-day life in America from 1980 to 1989. Readers will uncover how American life was affected by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rise of the Computer Age, and Reagan-era prosperity and decadence.

Table of Contents

• Essay on the 1980s
• Introduction
• Section One: Profiles
• This section contains 28 profiles of individuals and families living and working in the 1980s. It examines their lives at home, at work, and in their communities. Based upon historic materials, personal interviews, and diaries, the profiles give a sense of what it was like to live in the years 1980 to 1989.
• 1980: Alberto Enriquez, Sergeant First Class, Desert One Mission: Iran
• 1981: Elizabeth Putnam, 15-Year Old Migrant Worker from New York
• 1982: Brad Lawson, Sound Assistant for Austin City Limits TV Show
• 1982: Greg Tilsner, Software Company Executive from California
• 1983: Anna Delgado, Anti-Nuclear Weapons Movement Protestor
• 1983: Maggi Taylor, 23-year-old Boom Operator in New York
• 1983: Alicia Burack, Civilian (Medical Student), Invasion of Grenada
• 1983: Jim Rosser, National Football League Referee
• 1984: Stephen Hessenfeld, Fine Tuned Hasbro's GI Joe
• 1984: Rigo Garcia, 23-year-old Construction Worker from Costa Rica
• 1985: James Krenov, Master Woodworker and College Professor
• 1985: Paul Howe, Professional Football Player
• 1985: Edwidge Dominique, 23-year-old Artist from Haiti in Miami
• 1985: Valerie Jaffen, 12-year-old Cellist from Connecticut
• 1985: Alex Behr, Corporate Director of European Operations
• 1985: Carleen Cahill, Classical Music Singer
• 1986: Jake Szmanda, Timber Industry Worker and Animal Conservationist
• 1986: James Kennedy Jarrett, Super Accurate Rifle Guru
• 1986: Maria Knapp, Scientist from California
• 1987: Aaron Slayton, Brainy Kid Turned Tutor
• 1987: Adam Quigley, Lawyer from New York
• 1988: Ahmed Waltari, Cell Phone Magnate from Williamstown, New York, and Monaco
• 1989: Bill Reindollar, Created Cash Register Repair Service
• 1989: Carlos Piccolo, Cross-Country Runner
• 1989: Sergeant Luella Sprague, Invasion of Panama
• 1989: Charles Coughlin Myers, Anti-Abortion Protestor
• 1989: An Dung and Nguyet Nguyen, Vietnamese Immigrants in Chicago
• 1989: Irby Hipp, Teenage Video-Game Player from West Virginia
• Section Two: Historical Snapshots
• This section includes lists of important “firsts” in America, from technical advances and political events to new products, books, and movies. Combining American history with fun facts, these snapshots present an easy-to-read overview of the 1980s.
• Early 1980s
• Mid 1980s
• Late 1980s
• Section Three: Economy of the Times
• This section looks at a wide range of economic data, including prices for food, clothing, transportation, and housing, plus reprints of actual advertisements for products and services of the time. It includes comparable figures for expenditures, income, and prices, plus a valuable year-by-year listing of the value of a dollar.
• Consumer Expeditures
• Annual Income
• Selected Prices
• Value of a Dollar Index 1860-2015
• Section Four: All Around Us—What We Saw, Wrote, Read & Listened To
• This section offers reprints of newspaper and magazine articles, speeches, and other items designed to help readers focus on what was on the minds of Americans in the 1980s. These 29 original pieces show how popular opinion was formed, and how American life was affected.
• “Homecoming Album for a Hostage, the Year Jimmy Lopez Missed,” by Anne Fadiman, Life, December 1980
• “Education, A Case of Despair,” by Ronald L. Goldfarb, The Iowa State University Press, 1981
• “How Software Is Manufactured,” Inc., January 1982
• “Prab Robots Inc. Keeps It Simple,” Inc., June 1982
• “A Moon-Made Match, Two of the Reverend's Disciples Embark on a ‘Spiritual Blind Date,’” by Anne Fadiman, Life, August 1982
• “Country Balladeer to Give Acoustic Concert in SF,” Santa Fe New Mexican, December 24, 1982
• “Top 100,” Inc., 1982
• “Reagan's Case Against the Freeze,” excerpts from a speech by President Ronald Reagan to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, March 31, 1983
• “Cries of Plague for Mysterious AIDS,” by Loudon Wainwright, Life, July 1983
• “6-Month Surge in AIDS Reported,” UPI, August 5, 1983
• “107 Immigrants Arrested As Illegal in Jersey Raid,” Associated Press, August 20, 1983
• “The Battle for Grenada, American Troops Take Charge on the Island but Face Surprisingly Stiff Opposition,” Newsweek, November 7, 1983
• “Grenada Syndrome,” by Michael T. Klare, The Nation, November 12, 1983
• “Grenada's Gain, Our Loss,” Editorial in Commonweal, November 18, 1983
• “The Meaning of Grenada,” National Review, November 25, 1983
• “Defense Key in Playoffs,” The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland), December 26, 1984
• “The Lucrative Little LBO Shops: Who Needs Mega-Mergers?” by Solveig Jansson, Institutional Investor, August 22, 1985
• “High Blood Pressure? It May Be in Your Genes,” Business Week, April 3, 1985
• “Broncos, Saints Inspire Opposite in Fans,” The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland), November 15, 1985
• “Football Fanatics Set Record Straight,” Salina Journal (Kansas), December 12, 1985
• “Michael Jackson Inks Multimillion-Dollar Deal With Pepsi,” Rolling Stone, June 19, 1986
• “The Rod Stewart Concert Video, Video News,” Rolling Stone, June 19, 1986
• “0.5 Percent of Families Found to Hold 35 Percent of Wealth,” by Michael Wines, Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1986
• “Gold Medal Gear,” Popular Mechanics, March 1988
• “Great Expectations,” Forbes, April 18, 1988
• “Twins Scott and Stuart Gentling Sell off a High-Priced Audubon and Give Wing to Their Own Bird Book,” People, June 15, 1988
• “Dining on an Ancient Hilltop,” Bon Appetit, November, 1988
• “Looking for Dedication? Cross Country Sets the Pace,” by Bob Frisk, Chicago Daily Herald, November 11, 1988
• “Securing Participants Keeps Coaches on the Run,” by Ira Josephs, Doyleston Intelligencer (Pennsylvania), August 27, 1989
• Section Five: Census Data
• This section includes state-by-state comparative tables, the special report series We the Americans published in 1993 by the U.S. Census Bureau, and reprints from the 1990 Census.
• Preface
• State-by-State Comparative Tables: 1980, 1990 and 2010
• Total Population
• White Population
• Black Population
• American Indian/Alaska Native Population
• Asian Population
• Hispanic Population
• Foreign-Born Population
• Urban Population
• Rural Population
• Males per 100 Females
• Median Age
• High School Graduates
• College Graduates
• One-Person Households
• Homeownership
• Median Home Value
• Median Gross Rent
• Households Lacking Complete Plumbing Facilities
• Twenty-First Decennial Census of the United States Special Report
• We the Americans:
• Acknowledgments
• We, the American Women
• We, the American Blacks
• We, the American Hispanics
• We, the American Asians
• We, the American Pacific Islanders
• We, the First Americans
• We, the American Foreign Born
• We, the American Elderly
• We, the American Children
• We, the Americans: Our Education
• We, the Americans: Our Homes
• 1990 Census of Population
• General Population Characteristics
• Social and Economic Characteristics
• General Housing Characteristics
• Detailed Ancestry Groups for States
• Detailed Occupation and Other Characteristics From the EEO File for the United States
• Further Reading