General Pages

Welcome to the 1920s
Just being another decade on the timeline was not good enough for the 1920s. When its brief turn came, it had to be the biggest, the loudest, and the brightest. A calamity gave it birth, and a calamity ended it. It was a decade of giants, like none before or since. This site aims to raise awareness about an amazing time in history, and to serve as a guide to the best sites on the web devoted to aspects of the 1920s.

American Cultural History: 1920-1929
The purpose of this web/library guide is to help the user gain a broad understanding of the Roaring 1920s.  In a very small way, this is a bibliographic essay.

1920-1929 - Early Broadcasting
A timeline of the development of radio broadcasting technology and the experimenters and pioneers who made it possible is provided through this timeline. Within the timeline one can follow links to more information about some of the people mentioned and the terms used.

Illinois Trails Welcomes You to The 1920s
Probably one of the most dramatic decades in United States history, the 1920s had it all: women's rights, political scandals, crimes of the century, and economic upheaval. This was a time where the old and the new clashed, and that clash caused some of the most sensational events in our history. This is a good place to start for an exploration of this time period, unfortunately some links don’t work.

Jazz Age Slang
Herein is contained an alphabetical listing of slang words used in the 1920's. The twenties were the first decade to emphasize youth culture over the older generations, and the flapper sub-culture had a tremendous influence on main stream America; many new words and phrases were coined by these liberated women. These are the most common words and phrases of the time, many of which we still use today!

Murder and Mayhem-The Great Gatsby: the Facts behind the Fiction
In order to appreciate historical fiction, students need to understand the factual context and recognize how popular culture reflects the values, mores, and events of the time period. Since a newspaper records significant events and attitudes representative of a period, students create their own newspapers utilizing primary source materials from several American Memory collections. This unit is primarily designed for 11th grade American Literature. However, the lesson may be adapted to any American historical novel at any grade level.

Promises, Promises: The Allure of Household Appliances in the 1920s
This article from Modern Architecture Magazine explores the history of the emergence of household appliances and the advent of convenient machines. It discusses Buckminster Fuller and his Dymaxion House.