Life at the Turn of the 20th Century

INNOVATIONS

“A new thing under the sun…”

– Frank Lloyd Wright

• The Skyscraper – considered one of America’s

greatest contributions to the world.

• Able to build taller buildings because of:

– Steel & Elevators

INNOVATIONS

• The Wainwright Building

• Louis Sullivan

• 1890-1891

• St. Louis, Missouri

INNOVATIONS

• The Flatiron Building

• Daniel Burnham

• 1902

• New York City

INNOVATIONS

• How did skyscrapers help to

alleviate some of the issues cities

faced during the Gilded Age?

INNOVATIONS

Electric Transit:

HOW DID ELECTRIC TRANSIT ALLEVIATE

SOME OF THE ISSUES CITIES FACED

DURINGTHE GILDED AGE?

INNOVATIONS

City and Urban Planning:

• Need for recreational space in cities.

• Frank Law Olmstead – Landscape Architect

– Central Park, New York City

– Also planned landscapes and parks for

Washington D.C., Boston, and St. Louis

INNOVATIONS

City and Urban Planning:

• Steel suspension bridges helped to connect

cities – recreational usage

BROOKLYN BRIDGE

INNOVATIONS

• How did city and urban planning help to

alleviate the issues that cities faced

during the Gilded Age?

INNOVATIONS

Revolution in printing:

• More durable paper created from wood pulp

– Could withstand new, high-speed, electrified

presses. Print on both sides continuously.

• Mass circulation of Newspapers - $0.01

• Higher literacy rates – 90% by 1890

• Rise in popular fiction �Samuel Clemens

INNOVATIONS

• Why do you think books such as these would

appeal to people during this time?

INNOVATIONS

AMUSEMENT PARKS:

1893

1884

INNOVATIONS

AIRPLANE:

• Orville and Wilbur Wright

• First Successful Flight: Dec. 17, 1903

• Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

• Covered 120 ft. – lasted 12 sec.

INNOVATIONSPersonal Photography:

• Prior to 1880s = heavy equipment,

professional activity

• 1888: George Eastman � Kodak Camera

• Small, easy to use. Photos for all!

LEISURE

• Spectator Sports � Baseball

– First World Series: 1903 � Pilgrims vs. Pirates

• Promotion of Fine Arts � Realism

– Ashcan School: Thomas Eakins, Robert Henri

• Urban Shopping:

– Department and Chain Stores

• Rise of Advertising

• Bicycling and Tennis

EXPANSION OF PUBLIC

EDUCATION

“…provide ladders upon which the aspiring can

climb.” –Andrew Carnegie

• 1871: 7.6 million � 1920: 21.6 million

• 1865-1895: 12-16 weeks annually of school

attendance by students between 8 and 14

• Kindergartens on the rise

• Sought to “Americanize” Immigrants

EXPANSION OF PUBLIC

EDUCATION

• 1880 – only 2.3% of the American population

attended college

• Professional schools and Medical schools est.

• Entrance Exams � High School Diploma

EXPANSION OF PUBLIC

EDUCATION

• African American’s Excluded: 1890, 1%

attended high school � 3% by 1890

• Booker T. Washington: racism would end

when blacks proved economic value

– Tuskegee Normal And Industrial Institute

• W.E.B. Du Bois: First African American to

receive doctorate from Harvard

– Niagara Movement: well-educated leaders

SEGREGATION AND

DISCRIMINATION

• VOTING RESTRICTIONS:

– Poll tax

– Grandfather Clause

– Literacy Tests

• JIM CROW LAWS

• Plessy v. Ferguson – Established the

“Separate but equal” doctrine

• Violence � 1400 lynched 1882-1892

SEGREGATION AND

DISCRIMINATION

• Other racial groups as well…

• Mexicans:

– Railroad work in the SW � Less $ than others.

– Debt Peonage: bound laborers in slavery in order

to work off a debt to the employer.

• 1911, violation of the 13th amendment

• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882