1. LIFE AT THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY
THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN AMERICA

2. SCIENCE AND URBAN LIFE
By the turn of the 20th century, four out of ten Americans lived in cities
In response to urbanization, technological advances began to meet communication, transportation, and space demands
Artist Annie Bandez

3. SKYSCRAPERS
Skyscrapers emerged after two critical inventions: elevators & steel skeletons that bear weight
Famous examples include; Daniel Burnham’s Flatiron Building in NYC, Louis Sullivan’s Wainwright Building in St. Louis
The skyscraper was America’s greatest contribution to architecture and solved the issue of how to best use limited and expensive space
Flatiron Building

4. Another view of Burnham’s Flatiron Building

5. ELECTRIC TRANSIT
Changes in transportation allowed cities to spread outward
By the turn of the century, intricate networks of electric streetcars – also called trolley cars –ran from outlying neighborhoods to downtown offices & stores

6. “EL’S” AND SUBWAYS
A few large cities moved their streetcars far above street level, creating elevated or “el” trains
Other cities built subways by moving their rail lines underground

7. Central Park is an oasis among Manhattan’s skyscrapers
BRIDGES & PARKS
Steel-cable suspension bridges, like the Brooklyn Bridge, also brought cities’ sections closer
Some urban planners sought to include landscaped areas & parks
Frederick Law Olmsted was instrumental in drawing up plans for Central park, NYC
Central Park is an oasis among Manhattan’s skyscrapers

8. CITY PLANNING: CHICAGO
Daniel Burnham oversaw the transformation of Chicago’s lakefront from swampy wasteland to elegant parks strung along Lake Michigan
Today Chicago’s lakefront is one of the most beautiful shorelines in North America

9. NEW TECHNOLOGIES
New developments in communication brought the nation closer
Advances in printing, aviation, and photography helped speed the transfer of information

10. A REVOLUTION IN PRINTING
By 1890, the literacy rate in the U.S. was nearly 90%
American mills began to produce huge quantities of cheap paper from wood pulp
Electrical web-perfecting presses printed on both sides of paper at the same time
Faster production and lower costs made newspapers and magazines more affordable (most papers sold for 1 cent)

11. Actual photo of Wright Brother’s first flight 12/17/03
AIRPLANES
In the early 20th century, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, experimented with engines and aircrafts
They commissioned a four-cylinder internal combustion engine, chose a propeller, and built a biplane
On December 17, 1903 they flew their plane for 12 seconds covering 120 feet
Within two years the brothers were making 30 minute flights
By 1920, the U.S. was using airmail flights regularly
Actual photo of Wright Brother’s first flight 12/17/03

12. PHOTOGRAPHY EXPLOSION
Before 1880, photography was a professional activity
Subjects could not move and the film had to be developed immediately
George Eastman invented lighter weight equipment and more versatile film
In 1888, Eastman introduced his Kodak Camera
The $25 camera came with 100-picture roll of film
1888 Kodak

13. SECTION 2: EXPANDING PUBLIC EDUCATION
Between 1865 and 1895, states passed laws requiring 12 to 16 weeks of annual education for students ages 8-14, but the curriculum was poor and the teachers were usually not qualified
However, the number of kindergartens expanded from 200 in 1880 to 3,000 in 1900

14. HIGH SCHOOL ENROLLMENT SOARS
High schools expanded their curriculum to include science, civics and social studies
By ,000 teen-agers were enrolled in high schools
Elroy High School Photo 1906

15. RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
African Americans were mostly excluded from secondary education
In 1890 less than 1% attended high school
By 1910 that figured had reached only 3%
African American school in the south about 1920

16. EDUCATION FOR IMMIGRANTS
Unlike African Americans, immigrants were encouraged to go to school
Most immigrants sent their children to public schools
Also, thousands of adult immigrants attended night schools to learn English

17. EXPANDING HIGHER ED
In 1900, less than 3% of America’s youth attended college
Between 1880 and 1920 college enrollments more than quadrupled
Professional schools were established for law and medicine

18. AFRICAN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES FORMED
After the Civil War, thousands of African Americans pursued higher education despite being excluded from white institutions
Blacks founded Howard, Fisk, and Tuskegee Universities (founded by Booker T. Washington)
W.E.B. Dubois founded the Niagara Movement, which sought liberal arts educations for all blacks
W.E.B. Dubois

19. SECTION 3: SEGREGATION AND DISCRIMINATION
By the turn of the 20th century, Southern States had adopted a broad system of legal discrimination
Blacks had to deal with voting restrictions, Jim Crow laws, Supreme Court set-backs, and physical violence

20. Roots of Racism in the Gilded Age
Failures of Reconstruction allow racism to expand in the post-Civil War South…
Sharecropping
Voting restrictions
Violence of the KKK
African Americans move west looking for opportunity, but what happens to those who are left behind?

21. WHAT IS DISCRIMINATION?
Discrimination involves:
Beliefs : "This group of people is inferior because"
Emotions : "I hate this group of people."
Actions : "I will deny opportunity/hurt/kill members of this group."

22. VOTING RESTRICTIONS
All Southern states imposed new voting restrictions and denied legal equality to African Americans
Some states limited the vote to those who could read, other states had a poll tax which had to be paid prior to voting

23. The rise of Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws: laws meant to enforce the segregation of schools and other public places
Segregation: separation of blacks and whites
Jim Crow: figure from the 1830s, symbol for inferiority of African Americans
Combined with laws restricting the right of African Americans to vote, this created an atmosphere of legalized racial discrimination!

24. JIM CROW LAWS
Southern states passed segregation laws to separate white and black people in public and private facilities
These laws came to be known as “Jim Crow Laws”, named after an old minstrel song
Racial segregation was put into effect in schools, hospitals, parks, and transportation systems throughout the South

25. PLESSY v. FERGUSON
Eventually a legal case reached the U.S. Supreme Court to test the constitutionality of segregation
In 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of races was legal and did not violate the 14th Amendment

26. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Homer Plessy sues railroad company for segregating seating, arguing it violates the 14th Amendment… case goes to the Supreme Court!
Supreme Court ruling: “separate but equal” facilities do not violate 14th Amendment
Jim Crow laws are legitimized by the ruling
Result: nearly every aspect of life in the South becomes segregated by law

27. How equal are these facilities in reality?
“Separate but equal”
How equal are these facilities in reality?

28. Separate but Equal

29. RACE RELATIONS
Blacks faced legal discrimination as well as informal rules and customs
Meant to humiliate these “rules” included; whites never shaking the hand of an African America, blacks had to yield the sidewalk to whites, blacks also had to remove their hats in the presence of whites

30. Racism in North and South
System of segregation continues until the Civil Rights period and are “enforced” by state authorities as well as groups like KKK
More than 2,500 African Americans lynched between 1885 and 1900
While segregation is not legal, racism is also present in the North…
Job discrimination
White-only neighborhoods

31. VIOLENCE
African Americans who did not follow the racial etiquette could face severe punishment or death
Between , more than 1,400 black men and women were shot, burned, or lynched
Lynching peaked in the 1880s and 90s but continued well into the 20th century

32. MAJOR AREAS OF LYNCHING

33. DISCRIMINATION IN THE NORTH
While most African Americans lived in the segregated South, many blacks had migrated to the North in hopes of better jobs & equality
However, the North had its own brand of racism as blacks got low paying jobs and lived in segregated neighborhoods

34. DISCRIMINATION IN THE WEST
Discrimination in the west was most often directed against Mexican and Asian immigrants
Mexicans were often forced in Debt Peonage – a system of forced labor due to debt
Asians were increasingly excluded from mainstream society
Anti-Asian Cartoon

35. Resistance to racism
Efforts to achieve equality for African Americans emerged in late 19th century, inspiring civil rights leaders for years to come
Ida B. Wells ( )
Booker T. Washington ( )
W.E.B. DuBois ( )

36. Washington vs. DuBois
W.E.B. DuBois
Born after slavery into middle class family
Harvard-educated scholar
Encouraged African Americans to reject segregation
Believed educated African Americans (a.k.a. the “Talented Tenth”) should lead fight for equality; established NAACP in 1909 to lead reform movement
Booker T. Washington
Born into slavery
Became teacher after Civil War; founded Tuskegee Institute (1881) in Alabama to help African Americans learn trades
Did not openly challenge segregation
Believed “self help” was the key to equality, even if it meant doing so in a separate community
What similarities and differences existed between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois in their fight for equality?

37. SECTION 4: DAWN OF A MASS CULTURE
Many middle class Americans fought off city congestion and dull industrial work by enjoying amusement parks, bicycling, tennis and spectator sports
American leisure was developing into a multi-million dollar industry

38. AMUSEMENT PARKS
To meet the recreational needs of city dwellers, Chicago, NYC and other cities began setting aside land for parks
Amusement parks were constructed on the outskirts of cities
These parks had picnic grounds and a variety of rides
Coney Island was America’s most famous amusement park in the late 19th century

39. On the right is the “safety bike” – much easier and safer to ride
BICYCLING & TENNIS
After the introduction of the “safety bike” in 1885, Americans increasingly enjoyed biking
By 1890, 312 companies made over 10,000,000 bikes
Tennis also was very popular in the late 19th century
On the right is the “safety bike” – much easier and safer to ride

40. 1897 Baseball team picture Kansas State University
SPECTATOR SPORTS
Americans not only participated in new sports, but became avid fans of spectator sports
Baseball and boxing became profitable businesses
Mark Twain called baseball, “the very symbol of the booming 19th century”
1897 Baseball team picture Kansas State University

41. NEWSPAPERS
Mass-production printing techniques led to the publication of millions of books, magazines, and newspapers
Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were two leading publishers whose competition led to more and more sensational newspaper reporting
Hearst (above) and Pulitzer initiated what was known as “Yellow Journalism”

42. Characteristics of Yellow Journalism included huge, sensational, exaggerated headlines

43. Some contend that Hearst and Pulitzer’s Yellow Journalism was responsible for the Spanish-American War in 1898

44. PROMOTING FINE ARTS
By 1900, free circulating Public libraries numbered in the thousands
By 1900, most major cities had art galleries
In the early 20th century, the Ashcan School of American Art painted urban life
This portrait was done by Robert Henri, who led the Ashcan School

45. Title: Dempsey and Firpo, 1924 Artist: George Wesley Bellows
ASHCAN SCHOOL

46. ASHCAN SCHOOL
Unsigned work, 1930

47. POPULAR FICTION “Dime” novels were popular & inexpensive
Most of these focused on adventure tales and heroes of the west
Some readers preferred a more realistic portrayal from authors Mark Twain, Jack London, and Willa Cather

48. GROWING CONSUMERISM
The turn of the century witnessed the beginnings of the shopping center, department and chain stores, and the birth of modern advertising

49. Marshall Fields has been around for almost 150 years
THE DEPARTMENT STORE
Marshall Field of Chicago brought the first department store to America
Field’s motto was “Give the lady what she wants”
Field also pioneered the “bargain basement” concept
Marshall Fields has been around for almost 150 years

50. CHAIN STORES
In the 1870s, F.W. Woolworth found that if he offered an item at a low price, “the consumer would purchase it on the spur of the moment”
By 1911, the Woolworth chain had 596 stores and sold $1,000,000 per week

51. ADVERTISING
Expenditures for advertising was under $10 million a year in 1865, but increased to $95 million by 1900
Ads appeared in newspapers, magazines and on billboards

60. CATALOGS AND RFD
Montgomery Ward and Sears were two pioneers in catalog sales
By 1910, 10 million Americans shopped by mail
In 1896 the Post Office introduced a rural free delivery (RFD) system that brought packages directly to every home