“We have seen man at his lowest, woman at her lightest, in the terrible
moral chaos of Europe. We have been forced to
question, and in many cases to discard, the
religion of our fathers…We have been forced to live in
an atmosphere of ‘tomorrow we die,’ and so,
naturally, we drank and were merry.”
~John F. Carter, Jr., Atlantic Monthly
Mass Media
•Literacy increases
-schooling is expanded to educate the masses
•Prosperous times and higher education standards
-new coverage of events began to shape public opinion
•Newspapers and magazines
-invention of radio became a powerful influence
•Shared experience of hearing things as they happen
Radio shows became the most popular form of mass media in the 1920s.
Many people were required to record a radio show, and those people showed
up to work dressed in their best attire. Radio shows also included many different sound effects to give the listener a feeling of actually being
“in” the show.
Cultural Arts
-George Gershwin
“Rhapsody in Blue”
•Merged traditional elements with jazz; truly American sound
-Georgia O’Keefe
•Painted colorful canvases to capture grandeur of NY
In Radiator Building—Night, New York (1927), Georgia O’Keefe showed the dark buildings of New York City thrusting into
the night sky.
Literature
-many writers felt alienated by the 20’s
•Too much materialism and loss of values
-Sinclair Lewis
•Nobel prize winner who criticized Americans for conformity and materialism
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
•“Jazz Age”
•Negative side of 1920s
“A sensational event was changing from the brown suit to the gray the contents of his
pockets. He was earnest about these objects. They were of eternal importance, like baseball
or the Republican Party. They included a fountain pen and a silver pencil…which
belonged in the right-hand upper vest pocket. Without them he would have felt naked. On his watch-chain were a gold penknife, silver
cigarette cutter, seven keys…and incidentally a good watch…”
~Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt
Literature
-Gertrude Stein
“Lost Generation”
•Group of American writers who hated 1920s life
-Ernest Hemingway
“For Whom the Bell Tolls”
“Farewell to Arms”
•Hated glorification of war
-T.S. Eliot
“Wasteland”
-Robert Frost
“Road not Taken”
“THE ROAD NOT TAKEN”Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Heroes
-increased leisure time allowed people to pursue pastimes
•Power of the individual
-Babe Ruth
•Famed baseball player
-Jack Dempsey & Gene Tunney
•Boxers
-Red Grange
•Football player
-Notre Dame
-Bobby Jones
•Golfer New York Yankee slugger Babe Ruth smashed home run after home run
during the 1920s. When this legendary star hit a record 50 home runs in 1927,
America went wild.
Lucky Lindy
-trans-Atlantic flight
-Charles A. Lindbergh
•Wants to win $25,000
-Spirit of St. Louis
-American hero
•Stood for honesty and bravery
-Amelia Earhart
•First woman to fly across the Atlantic
America’s most beloved hero of the time wasn’t an athlete but a small-town pilot named Charles Lindbergh, who made the
first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic. Lindbergh decided to go after a $25,000 prize offered for the first nonstop solo
transatlantic flight. On May 20, 1927, he took off near NYC in the Spirit of St. Louis,
flew up the coast to Newfoundland, and headed over the Atlantic. The weather was
so bad, Lindbergh recalled, that “the average altitude for the whole…second
1,000 miles was less than 100 feet.” After 33 hours and 29 minutes, Lindberg landed
just outside of Paris, France, amid beacons, searchlights, and mobs of enthusiastic
people.
Motion Pictures
-Hollywood emerges
-Charlie Chaplin
“Little Tramp”
-Clara Bow
“It Girl”
-Rudolph Valentino
-talking films, 1927
“Jazz Singer”
-Mickey Mouse, 1930
African American Goals
•Black is Beautiful
•NAACP fights for anti-lynching laws in Congress
-Black Nationalism
•Build a separate black society
-Marcus Garvey
-Back to Africa movement
•Help native Africans fight colonial rulers and build an empire
“In view of the fact that the black man of Africa has contributed as much to the world as the white man of Europe, and
the brown and yellow man of Asia, we of the Universal Negro Improvement
Association demand that the white, yellow, and brown races give to the black
man his place in the civilization of the world. We ask for nothing more than the
rights of 400 million Negroes.”
~Marcus Garvey
Harlem Renaissance
•World’s largest black community
-literary and artistic movement
-celebrated African American culture
•“New Negro” with pride in black experience
-Langston Hughes
-Claude McKay
-Zora Neale Hurston“If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, . . .
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!”
~Claude McKay“If We Must Die”
Writer of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
“Children’s Rhymes”~Langston Hughes
By what sendsthe white kids
I ain't sent:I know I can'tbe President.
What don't bugthem white kidssure bugs me:
We know everybodyain't free.
Lies written downfor white folks
ain't for us a-tall:Liberty And Justice--
Huh!--For All?
“I, too, Sing America”~Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed - - I, too, am America.
“Dinner Guest, Me”~Langston Hughes
I know I amThe Negro ProblemBeing wined and dined,Answering the usual questionsThat come to white mindWhich seeks demurelyTo Probe in polite wayThe why and wherewithalOf darkness U.S.A.--Wondering how things got this wayIn current democratic night,Murmuring gentlyOver fraises du bois,"I'm so ashamed of being white."
The lobster is delicious,The wine divine,And center of attentionAt the damask table, mine.To be a Problem onPark Avenue at eightIs not so bad.Solutions to the Problem,Of course, wait.
“Democracy”~Langston Hughes
Democracy will not comeToday, this yearNor everThrough compromise and fear.I have as much right As the other fellow hasTo standOn my two feet And own the land.I tire so of hearing people say, Let things take their course.Tomorrow is another day.I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.FreedomIs a strong seedPlantedIn a great need.I live here, too.I want freedomJust as you.
Black Artists
-Paul Robeson
•Actor
-Louis Armstrong
•Jazz Musician
-Duke Ellington
•Jazz Musician and Composer
-Bessie Smith
•Blues singerJazz was born in the early 20th century in New Orleans, where musicians blended
instrumental ragtime and vocal blues into an exuberant new sound. Famous for his
astounding sense of rhythm and his ability to improvise, Louis Armstrong
made personal expression a key part of jazz. Armstrong went on to become
perhaps the most important and influential musician in the history of jazz. Jazz was centered in Harlem, and people from all around would come to hear Louis
Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Bessie Smith.
