History 3457/Children’s Studies 3120
1920s Youth Culture and Legal Issues
5 February 2013
I. The Taft Court & The Young
1. The Constitution according to William Howard Taft (the Taft Court—WHT, Pierce
Butler, Sutherland, McReynolds, Willis Van Devanter; conception of role—professionalization
and celebration of judiciary)
2. The Court & 1920s Politics (blocking attempts to regulate child labor—from Hammer
v. Dagenhart to Bailey v. Drexel Furniture (1922)—child labor; Adkins v. Children’s Hospital
(1923)—minimum wage; progressives on the defensive: failure of Child Labor amendment, La
Follette and 1924 campaign)
3. The Court & 1920s Education (nativism, nationalism, and legacy of World War I;
Meyer v. Nebraska: WWI law prohibiting instruction of foreign languages, Supreme Court
overturns NE decision; Pierce v. Society of Sisters: 1922 Compulsory Education Act—targeting
parochial schools, annulled by Court—liberty interests of students & parents; long-term
significance—expansion of 5th amendment guarantee of due process to non-economic issues)
II. Cultural Confrontations
1. The 1920s Divide (Prohibition and its effects; rise of KKK; cultural polarization—
Democratic 1924 convention; Republicans and “normalcy”; Democrats and ethnic voters;
weakness of progressives; Al Smith and 1928)
2. Scopes Trial (anti-evolution movement and transformation of American
fundamentalism; Scopes prosecution; ACLU and Darrow; national attention and press bias;
Darrow and Bryan strategies—highlight broad effects of issue; cross-examination of Bryan;
verdict and effect)
III. The Trials of A. Lawrence Lowell
1. The Ideal Harvard Student Body (Harvard and elite culture; Wilcox suicide and reports
to Harvard; Lowell creation of “Secret Court”; expulsions & cover-up; Lowell and idea of Jewish
quota; test scores and difficulty of merit-based admission; student & media resistance;
implementation through “geographic diversity” criterionJews limited to 15%)
2. Effects of Academic Freedom: Sacco and Vanzetti (anti-radical sentiment and World
War I; role of anti-immigrant sentiment and federal government; conviction and trial violations;
Felix Frankfurter and legal committee; international reaction)
3. Juvenile Justice (Darrow & Leopold/Loeb; prison reform and juvenile justice—debate
between punishment or treatment as purpose; from IL juvenile code to NY Children’s Court Act)