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Demographics of the United States

The 1960s in America

Air-Conditioning

by Patricia Leigh Gibbs

Air-conditioning became widely used in the 1960’s, considerably altering social relations and helping to industrialize the South.

The earliest recorded use of air-conditioning was in 1881 when engineers attempted to cool the room where President James Garfield lay dying for two months. In 1902, drawing on related developing technologies of refrigeration and electricity, engineer Willis Carrier used chilled coils to cool the air and remove excess moisture. He devised his first “apparatus for treating air” and patented it in 1906. Originally used in industrial settings, at the New York Stock Exchange, and in the homes of wealthy Americans, air-conditioning was brought into more residential settings in the 1950’s by companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse.

In the 1960’s, air-conditioning became widely used and turned Sun Belt cities, once believed by northerners to be uninhabitable in the summers because of the severe heat, into desirable locations. As a result, an extensive population shift occurred from northern to southern cities such as Houston, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, and life became increasingly privatized when fewer people congregated in the streets and visited on outside stoops in the evenings to escape the heat that lingered in their homes.

Impact

Air-conditioning did not simply affect comfort levels; it had a profound effect on American society by causing employment and population shifts, industrialization of the South, and decreased social interaction among neighbors.

Subsequent Events

The use of air-conditioning has grown steadily. Most accounts are positive, and very few take a negative view of the social, economic, and environmental effects of air-conditioning.

Additional Information

Air Conditioning America (1998), by Gail Cooper, provides a look at the effects of air-conditioning on U.S. society.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Gibbs, Patricia Leigh. "Air-Conditioning." The 1960s in America, edited by Carl Singleton, Salem Press, 1999. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1960_4030000922.
APA 7th
Gibbs, P. L. (1999). Air-Conditioning. In C. Singleton (Ed.), The 1960s in America. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Gibbs, Patricia Leigh. "Air-Conditioning." Edited by Carl Singleton. The 1960s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 1999. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.