United States History
Mr. Smith
Name:
Value: 50 points
1920’s-Time Capsule
Imagine living in a time period where women’s skirts became shorter, their
language became vulgar, and they smoked and drank alcohol in public. Wrap your mind
around the idea of a time when cars, trucks and buses overshadowed railroads as the
primary haulers of passengers and freight, and were churned out of auto plants at the
alarming rate of ninety-three minutes per vehicle (the decade before it took twelve and a
half hours). While this may resemble American society today, it was unthinkable just
ninety years ago. The 1920’s brought a new found freedom and opulence to Americans,
and many historians argue that it is the beginning of “modern times” in the United States.
Essential Question: Were the 1920s really “Roaring” or “Boring”?
Assignment:
(Put on your imagination caps!) It is 2004 and on a recent fieldtrip in Flemington we
uncovered a time capsule from the 1920’s. As a class, you will sort through the various
materials (your research) and present the findings to your classmates. The items
contained in the time capsule will give us some added insight into the “Roaring
Twenties”, and will be broken up into six groupings:
1. Rudolph Valentino, A&P, and electric toasters: The Consumer Culture and
Technology
2. Route 66 and America’s love affair with the car: The Automobile
3. Birth control and flappers: The evolving role of American Women
4. Tall buildings and their artists: American Art, Architecture, and Music
5. The Babe, bootleggers, and Earhart: Heroes, Heroines, and Villains
6. Reflections of a “Lost Generation”: American authors comment of American
culture
Responsibilities of the group:
I. a 15-20 minute presentation on your topic answering the question: Were the
1920s really “Roaring” or “Boring”?
II. create a note-taking guide for classmates to use during your presentation
III. create a visual aid for each major point you touch on in your presentation
IV. a typed “works cited” page for all sources used on this project.
Topics of the presentations:
Each group will receive a more detailed list of our expectations for what will be covered.
It will be up to each group to decide how exactly they will present the time capsule
information.
Sources:
You will be provided with some sources to get you started, but it will be your group’s
responsibility to utilize the Internet and/or library to find more information and sources.
Do your best to include images, copies, or reproductions to enhance your presentation.
Note taking guide:
You must provide a master copy of your note-taking guide on the day before the
presentations begin. It can be in any form you want, but it has to denote key names,
terms, concepts, etc. that your group is presenting. Use the detailed list you will receive
to help you formulate your note taking guide.
Visual Aids:
Visual Aids are to be an addition to your presentation, not the presentation itself. Visual
aids are not to have all the information you are going to say printed on them. They may
help in your presentation to enhance your presentation. The following items are
acceptable examples of visual aids:
*photographs
*graphs
*difficult words
*images
*bulleted key points
*names
*charts
*key terms
*dates
You should feel free to use PowerPoint for your project, but consider the fact that you
will need to use time outside of class to complete your presentation. Your PowerPoint
should be used in conjunction with other visual aids in the presentation.
Delivery:
Your group should not stand in front of the room and recite all of your information from
a prepared speech or note cards. You may have notes as a guide, but you need to be
comfortable enough with the material to maintain eye contact with the class while you are
presenting.
Your role as the audience:
You will be respectful and refrain from any behavior that will distract the teacher,
presenters, and audience. Your gathering of detailed notes on the note taking guide will
be of importance when you are in the listening audience. Any inappropriate,
disrespectful, or distracting behavior will result in a penalty on your grade for this project
and a teacher detention during tutorial.
1. Culture and Technology: You will find 12-3 and 13-3 in your
Americans text helpful with background information. You will also
receive several readings to help you focus you research.
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Radio and movies (silent and talkies)
Household electrical appliances
Food storage
Advertising
Buying on credit and margin buying
Chain stores (Safeway and A&P)
2. Route 66 and America’s love affair with the car: The Automobile:
You will find 12-3 and 13-3 in your Americans text helpful with
background information. You will also receive several readings to help
your focus.
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Mass production and assembly lines
Alternative industries boosted by automobile industry (list and how)
Highway systems and traffic laws
Henry Ford-brief bio
How automobiles changed the lives of Americans
Competition with railroads
3. Birth control and flappers: The Evolving role of American Women:
You will find 13-2 and “Youth in Roaring 20’s” page 444 + 445 in your
Americans text helpful with background information. You will also
receive several readings to help your focus.
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Flappers
Smoking and drinking in public (include references to Prohibition)
Loosening morals and sexual freedoms
Roles and opportunities in workforce
Changing role of women in the family
Fashion and dress
4. Tall buildings and their artists: American Art, Architecture, and
Music: You will find 13-3 in your Americans text helpful with
background information. You will also receive several readings to help
your focus.
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Architectural designs (bungalow-style house, Art-Deco, anti-Victorian)
Skyscrapers
Edward Hopper
Georgia O’Keefe
George Gershwin
Irving Berlin
5. The Babe, bootleggers, and Earhart: Heroes, Heroines, and
Villains: You will find 13-1 and 13-3 in your Americans text helpful
with background information. You will also receive several readings to
help your focus.
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Sport and hero worship (Babe Ruth, Gertrude Ederle, Helen Wills. Knute
Rockne, Jack Dempsey)
The Negro Leagues
Aviators-Lindbergh and Earhart
The Rogues: Al Capone, bootleggers, speakeasies, and organized crime
The KKK
6. Reflections of a “Lost Generation”: American authors comment on
American culture: You will find 13-3 in your Americans text helpful
with background information. You will also receive several readings to
help your focus.
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Reaction to post-WWI American culture
The Lost Generation (Gertrude Stein)
Expatriate writers in Europe (especially Paris)
Ernest Hemingway
Sinclair Lewis
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Rural/middle America vs. New Urban America
Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot
Resources:
Use the following web sites to research your roles. A brief description and helpful hints on navigation within the site are
provided. For simplicity, I have indicated the sites that would be particularly helpful for certain committees.
http://home.comcast.net/~mruland/USResources/boombust/boom.htm. Multiple resources for all groups
http://www.louisville.edu/~kprayb01/1920s.html Roaring vs. Boring Reviews * All groups should visit.
http://www.louisville.edu/~kprayb01/1920s-timeline-page.html 1920s Timeline * All groups should visit.
http://www.filmsite.org/20sintro.html The greatest films of the 1920s, including abstracts of many movies (and silent films)
* Heroes and Heroines group.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/capone/caponemain.htm Covers Al Capone and the St. Valentines Day Massacre * Heroes
and Heroines group.
http://www.1920s.net/namerica/usa/usa.htm An encyclopedia-like description of the 1920s * All groups should visit.
http://hometown.aol.com/roeyroad/myhomepageindex.html Article regarding family life in the 1920s * The Evolving role of
Women Group
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/journals/EH/EH37/Murphy.html A high-tech journal discussing the introduction of installment
plans through advertising in the 1920s * Culture and Technology group
http://www.natick.k12.ma.us/schools/nhs/departments/english/hagemeister/fitz_webquest/Fitzgerald.html A WEBQUEST
throwing a party for F. Scott Fitzgerald * American Authors group
http://www.esc20.net/etprojects/formats/webquests/friends/barbara/1920/default.html Check this one out it involves many
links for a webquest * All groups should visit.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/kukluxkl_thesecondkukluxklan.asp An encyclopedia article that explains the
Second Ku Klux Klan. * Heroes/Heroines group.
http://wapiti.pvs.k12.nm.us/~Computer/jazzage.htmhttp://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/webtheroarch.html#task A
WebQuest for journalists in the 1920s has some real great links! * All groups should visit.
http://www.ncwiseowl.org/WebQuest/amhistory/studentpage.htm Yet another WebQuest. Roles include editor, lead
historian, publishing specialist, layout specialist. * All groups should visit.
http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/womenofthecentury/decadebydecade/1920s.html Describes major women
of the 1920s *The evolving role of American Women group.
http://womhist.binghamton.edu/milit/introduc.htm Describes women and social movements in the United States; *The
evolving role of American Women group.