Chapter 16 – Life at the Turn of the 20th Century

What helped skyscrapers become a reality?

Invention of elevators and dev. of internal steel skeletons to bear the weight of a building

Louis Sullivan

Creator of modern skyscraper, mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright

Daniel Burnham

Designed Flatiron Building (NYC) + planned city of Chicago w/ emphasis on parks system

What allowed for commuters?

Electric streetcars (trolley cars) & new railroad lines

Frederick Law Olmstead

Landscape architect that helped design Central Park

Printing

Faster production & lower costs made magazines more affordable, rise in literacy rates

Orville and Wilbur Wright

• Bike manufacturers from Ohio

  • 1st successful flight @ Kitty Hawk, NC (120 ft for 12 seconds)

George Eastman

Developed Kodak camera (lightweight) which led to field of photojournalism

Flaws of school system

Bad teachers, strict rules + punishments, opportunities differ from white and black students

Why were immigrants encouraged to go to school?

Could quickly become “Americanized”, learn English, attain citizenship, get better jobs

Changes in school curriculum?

Expanded to include science, civics, and social studies & vocational courses prepped men for industrial jobs and women for office work

Booker T. Washington

Believed racism would end once blacks proved economic value to society, headed Tuskegee University

Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute

Headed by Booker T. Washington

W.E.B Du Bois

1st African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard, disagreed w/ Washington’s gradual approach, founded Niagara Movement

Niagara Movement

Promoted education in liberal arts

Voting restrictions

Literacy tests, poll tax, grandfather clause

Poll tax

$ paid before qualifying to vote

Grandfather clause

Even if a man failed literacy test + couldn’t pay poll tax, he could vote if his father/grandfather had been eligible to vote before 1/1/1867 (before freed slaves had the right to vote)

Segregation

Separation of people on the basis of race

Jim Crow Laws

Racial segregation laws passed, named after popular song

Plessy v. Ferguson

“separate but equal”, SC case that legalized racial segregation for ~60 years

Racial etiquette

Informal rules & customs between races

Lynched

Illegally executed w/o trial, happened to African Americans accused of violating racial etiquette

Ida B. Wells

Newspaper editor that fought problems of inequality

Debt peonage

Bound laborers into slavery to work off debt to employer

Amusement Parks

New & innovative form of entertainment

Bicycling

Small air filled tires made biking popular + safe, gave women greater freedom

Spectator sports

Boxing + baseball

Joseph Pulitzer

Pioneered large Sunday edition, comics, sports coverage, & women’s news

William Randolph Hearst

Owned NY Morning Journal, 2 papers constantly raised bar looking for sensational stories

Ashcan School

Early 20th century artists who painted realistic pictures of city life

Thomas Eakins

Believed art + lit should present life in a realistic manner

Dime novels

Glorified tales of the West

Mark Twain

AKA Samuel Langhorne Clemens

What was the attitude of museums + cultural institutions towards African Americans?

They were excluded from visiting many places

Rural free delivery

System by the Post Office that brought packages directly to every home

Montgomery Ward + Sears Roebuck

Developed catalog shopping

F.W. Woolworth

Offered 1st chain stores

Marshall Field

Brought department store concept to America