Research Report Topics
1. AUTOMOBILES: Between 1920 and 1929, automobile registrations rose from 8,000,000 to
23,000,000. What effects did automobiles have on the lives of American people (pollution, gas use,
industry, roads, car accidents) back then? How did Ford contribute to the automobile industry?
2. SPORTS: The 1920's are often called the Golden Age of Sports. How did sports evolve in the
1920s? What role did they play in American society? Pick either a single sports/event or focus on a
specific athlete and discuss in depth.
3. WOMEN’S FASHIONS: How did women's fashions change in the twenties? Have these styles
survived or ever been revived? How do they reflect the new freedoms many women were enjoying?
4. IMMIGRATION: Immigrants began to come into the United States in large numbers after WWI.
Research the history of immigration to the U.S., particularly during the 1920's. What legislation was
passed by Congress concerning immigration in the 1920's (see the Emergency Quota Act of 1921,
and the Immigration Act of 1924)?
5. ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES: In The Great Gatsby there are many references to illegal activity--World
Series fixing, bootlegging, police involved in crime. Research criminal activity in the 1920's and report
on a particular topic, like maybe the Harding Administration scandal or the Teapot Dome scandal.
6. STOCK MARKET CRASH: Discuss the Stock Market crash of 1929. Why did it happen and
what was its aftermath? How did it lead to the Great Depression?
7. PROHIBITION: The 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was passed in 1919. How and why did the
temperance movement win this battle? How did it affect the country? When and why was it repealed?
8. LINDBERGH: Charles A. Lindbergh was a very important figure in the 1920's. In 1927 he made
the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight. How did this flight affect Americans? And what other parts of
Lindbergh's life became important in the psyche of the American people?
9. WOMEN VOTING: The Nineteenth Amendment was made effective in 1920. Trace the history of
the women's suffrage movement. What arguments were made for and against women's suffrage.
Were any of these ideals or worries realized? How has women's right to vote changed the United
States?
10. HARLEM RENAISSANCE: The Harlem Renaissance was a period of literary and intellectual
flowering that fostered a new black cultural identity in the 1920's and 1930's. Report on the variety of
arts and people involved in the Harlem Renaissance. Why did it happen in such a specific place and at
such a specific time?
11. MAJOR AUTHORS: Research a few of the major literary figures of the 1920's discuss their
contributions to American literature. Some of these writers include: F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Weldon
Johnson, Ernest Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, Robert Frost, Eugene O'Neill, Langston Hughes,
Zora Neal Hurston, Claude McKay, Carl Sandburg.