Humanitas_Scandals in US History_20th century
Focus: “Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!” Scandals that rocked America in the 20th century: Political,
economic, or social/celebrity scandals that (i) changed our political system, rules, laws, attitudes OR (ii) had
catastrophic economic repercussions and changed wealth or class of someone important or a large group OR
(iii) events that exposed problems in our social fabric, class distinctions or relationships among different
generations or races in our society.
How to Search for Information on Various Scandals.
The list of “Scandals” on the chart below is just a small fraction of the most famous scandals in 20 th century US
History. The scandals are organized first by date in ascending order and then by title and category.
HOW TO SEARCH: Below is a sample of how to search on each of the following web directories or search
engines. Open Directory Project is a surface web directory so it does not require a login. JSTOR and Academic
Search Premiere are deep web databases. See your email for login information. GALE Opposing Viewpoints is
available to LAPL library users only. Please contact the Petit Park branch of the LAPL for more information.
Open Directory Project
JSTOR
Academic Search Premiere
Link to site
Link to site
Link to site
Gale Opposing
Viewpoints
Link to site
List of Scandals organized by date and category
Scandal
Henry Thaw Murder Trial
Leo Frank-Mary Phagan Case
Black Sox World Series Scandal
Dempsey-Willard Boxing Scandal
Ponzi Scheme
Fatty Arbuckle Murder Trial
The Disappearance of Sister Aimee
Harding-Britton Affair
Massie Case
Scottsboro Boys
Chaplin-Barry Paternity Case
Ezra Pound Treason Case
Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer
Alger Hiss Affair
Game Show Scandal (21)
Timeline
1906
1913
1919
1919
1919
1921
1926
1927
1931
1931
1942
1945
1946
1948
1956
Category
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice
Social-sports
Social-sports
Social-financial
Criminal Justice
Religious
Political
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice
Social
Political
Social-censorship
Political
Social-entertainment
Humanitas_Scandals in US History_20th century
Payola Scandal
Television Quiz Show Scandals
Thalidomide Scandal
Kitty Genovese case
Chappaquiddick
Karen Silkwood case
Tuskegee Experiments
West Point Cheating Scandal
Firestone 500 Scandal
Ford Pinto
Love Canal
The People against Larry Flynt
ABSCAM
Claus von Bulow murder case
EPA Scandal (Reagan Administration)
Janet Cooke “Jimmy” New York Times Scandal
Congressional Page Scandal
Sun Myung Moon
Mayflower Madam Scandal
Iran Contra Affair
Ivan Boesky Scandal (before Bernie Madoff)
Gary Hart scandal;
Jim Bakker and PTL scandal
Oral Roberts
Jimmy Swaggart
Lewinsky Scandal
Catholic Church Abuse Scandals
Marion Jones Olympic Scandal
Valerie Plame Scandal/Lewis Libby
Abu Ghraib Prisoner Scandal
Steroid Use in Baseball
Lawyergate
Ted Haggard
Duke Lacrosse Case
Waterboarding (Torture Memos)
Death of Michael Jackson
Blagogate (Rob Blagojevich)
Wikileaks
1959
1959
1962
1964
1969
1972
1972
1976
1977
1978
1978
1978
1979
1979
1980
1981
1982
1982
1984
1986
1986
1987
1987
1987
1988
1995
1980-present
2000
2003
2003
2005
2006
2006
2007
2009
2009
2009
2010
Social-entertainment
Social-entertainment
Social-medical
Criminal Justice
Political
Social-environmental
Social-medical
Social
Social-automobile
Social-automobile
Social-environmental
Social-censorship
Political
Criminal Justice
Political
Social-journalism
Political
Religious
Social
Criminal Justice
Political
Political
Religious
Religious
Religious
Political
Religious
Social-sports
Political
Criminal Justice
Social-sports
Criminal Justice
Religious
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice
Social-entertainment
Political
Criminal Justice
Humanitas_Scandals in US History_20th century
Open Directory Project (ODP)
Directions:
Type in the name of the scandal (Example: Lewinsky
Scandal). Look at the results and the read the
summaries for each website. They are just a few
sentences long. Open the sites you think would be the
most helpful to you. If ODP recommends Wikipedia,
that’s okay. Read the article but go to the References
and External Links. The external links and reference
articles are the actual academic or journalistic sources
not the Wikipedia article
JSTOR
Before searching on JSTOR, you must log into the database (see email for login information). Always use
“advanced search” in JSTOR; it works faster and is more accurate than a basic search
Always choose “include
only content I can access”
and narrow the search by
“articles.” If you want, you
can limit the language to
English or narrow the date
range as needed.
Humanitas_Scandals in US History_20th century
How to open a document, click on the link called “PDF” then click on the link called “Proceed to PDF.”
Academic Search Premiere
Before searching on Academic Search Premiere, you must log into the database (see email for login
information). Always use “advanced search” it works faster and is more accurate than a basic search
Humanitas_Scandals in US History_20th century
Search Tips:
Put your search term in quotes
Click on “Also search within the
full text of the articles”
Click on Full Text
Choose “article” in the area
marked Document Type How to
open: click on the links called
“HTML Full Text”
or “PDF Full Text” and the
document will open. Print, saveor
email as your wish
GALE Opposing Viewpoints in Context
This database is available through the LAPL, you must have an LAPL card to access the site.
How to Search
1. Type in your subject. As you can see the database will automatically give you search suggestions to
help you find the information like Lewinsky Scandal, Clinton Lewinsky Scandal or Lewinsky Saga
2. You will get a list of results in the following categories
a. Viewpoints: these are opinion pieces
Humanitas_Scandals in US History_20th century
b. News: articles from major US and World News organizations
c. Magazine Articles: articles from Time, Newsweek, US News and World, National Review, etc.
d. Academic Journals: scholarly articles from publications similar to those found in JSTOR (reading
level is a little easier)
How to Access Articles
Choose your article. Place mouse over title of article and left click your mouse. All of your search terms will be
highlighted in RED. Briefly skim over article to determine whether it may be valuable to you. IF IT IS VALUABLE
AND YOU WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE, choose print, save or download on the Tools Menu