Elizabeth Carik (1912 - 1981)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Elizabeth's lifetime.

In 1912, in the year that Elizabeth Carik was born, New Mexico became the 47th state of the Union in January. Previously a province of Mexico, then a territory of the United States and mostly populated by Native Americans and Mexicans, once it became a U.S. territory it was increasingly colonized by European-American settlers. Its population was over 327,000 when it became a state.

In 1934, at the age of 22 years old, Elizabeth was alive when on November 11th 1933, an extremely strong dust storm hit South Dakota, stripping topsoil. Other strong dust storms had occurred during 1933. Severe droughts continued to hit the Great Plains and the dust storms devastated agricultural production as well as people's' lives for several years. The Roosevelt administration and scientists eventually determined that farming practices had caused the conditions that led to the dust storms and the changes they implemented in farming stopped the Dust Bowl.

In 1950, Elizabeth was 38 years old when on June 25th, the Korean War began when North Korean Communist forces crossed the 38th parallel. The Soviet Union and China backed North Korea and the U.N., primarily the United States backed South Korea.

In 1962, by the time she was 50 years old, on October 1st, African-American James H. Meredith, escorted by federal marshals, registered at the University of Mississippi - becoming the first African-American student admitted to the segregated college. He had been inspired by President Kennedy's inaugural address to apply for admission.

In 1981, in the year of Elizabeth Carik's passing, on January 20th, Ronald Reagan became the 40th President of the United States. He ran against the incumbent, Jimmy Carter, and won 50.7% of the popular vote to Carter's 41.0%.