Turn of the Century Changes City Life V. Turn of the Century Changes City Life a. Science and City Life – Elevator invented, skyscrapers (10 stories or more) Frederick Law Olmstead – Urban Planning; Frederick Law Olmstead Central Park in NYC Delaware Park in Buffalo – US government takes an interest in air travel, and soon the first transcontinental mail service begins – George Eastman invents the Kodak camera in 1888

b. Two Viewpoints on Education & Equality for Blacks – WEB Du Bois Believed the “Talented Tenth” of the black community, should demand immediate inclusion into the main stream of American life Seek liberal arts education First black to graduate from Harvard University with a doctorate Co-founder of the NAACP

– Booker T. Washington Racism would end when blacks acquire the useful skills and provide their economic value to society (take advantage of the opportunities you have before you) Opened his own school - The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute Born a slave

C. Discrimination in the South – Voting Restrictions Literacy Test; blacks asked more difficult questions than whites Poll Tax; annual tax that had to be paid to access the voting booth Grandfather clause; if someone failed the literacy test or could not pay the poll tax, they could still vote if their father or grandfather vote – Jim Crow Laws; laws that separated whites and blacks into separate facilities Segregation; the system of separating people based on race

D. Plessy v. Ferguson and the Supreme Court – Test of the Constitutionality of segregation – Homer Plessy, one eighth black – denied a seat on a railroad car reserved for whites – Railroad argued that separate facilities were okay because both were just as good – Supreme Court ruled separate facilities were legal – Established the doctrine of “Separate but Equal”

e. Newspapers – Yellow Journalism; sensationalizing stories to sell papers Increased sales = higher prices for advertising – Joseph Pulitzer bought the World in 1883 Began large Sunday editions, sports sections, comics – William Randolf Hearst bought the New York Morning Journal in 1895 Filled his paper with exaggerated tales

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