Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Names
Clarence Darrow - an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil
Liberties Union, defended John T. Scopes in the so-called "Monkey" Trial (1925), in
which he opposed the statesman William Jennings Bryan.
John Scopes - a teacher in Tennessee, was charged on May 25, 1925 with violating
Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in Tennessee
schools. He was in court in a case known as the Scopes Trial.
Warren G. Harding – Republican, the 29th President of the United States, from
1921 to 1923. At age 57, Harding died from a heart attack while staying at the
Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California. One of the least successful Presidents.
Charles Forbes –
Albert Fall – Under Harding, sold Navy oil reserves to others for money.
Herbert Hoover – Helped send food in WWI. He tried to combat the Depression
with volunteer efforts and government action, none of which produced economic
recovery during his term. President.
“Babe” Ruth - an American Major League baseball player from 1914 to 1935. His
home run hitting prowess and charismatic personality made him a larger than life
figure in the "Roaring Twenties". He was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one
season.
“Curly” Lambeau - the founder, a player, and the first coach of the Green Bay
Packers professional football team.
Jack Dempsey - an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from
1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and punching power made him one of
the most popular boxers in history.
Knute Rockne - an American football player and is regarded as one of the greatest
coaches in college football history.
Charles Lindbergh - an American pilot famous for the first solo, non-stop flight
across the Atlantic, from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Paris in 1927 in the Spirit of
St. Louis.
Sacco and Vanzetti - two Italian-born American laborers and anarchists, who were
tried, convicted and executed via electrocution on August 23, 1927 in
Massachusetts for the 1920 armed robbery and murder of two payroll clerks. Today,
their execution is considered by many to be a miscarriage of justice.
Al Smith - elected Governor of New York four times, and was the Democratic U.S.
presidential candidate in 1928. He was the first Roman Catholic and Irish-American
to run for President as a major party nominee. He lost the election to Herbert
Hoover.
Amelia Earhart - a noted American aviation pioneer, author and women's rights
advocate.
Huey Long - Though a backer of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential
election, Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933 and allegedly planned to mount his
own presidential bid.
Charles Coughlin - a Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest . He was one of the first
political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as more than forty million
tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the 1930s. Fascist.
“Bonnie and Clyde” - notorious outlaws, robbers and criminals who travelled the
Central United States during the Great Depression.
J. Edgar Hoover - the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the
United States. He founded the present form of the agency, and remained director
for 48 years until his death.
Francis Perkins - the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first
woman ever appointed to the cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend Franklin D.
Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition.
Wendell Wilkie - a corporate lawyer in the United States and the Republican Party
(GOP) nominee for the 1940 presidential election, despite having never held a prior
elected political office.
Jesse Owens - an African American track and field athlete. He participated in the
1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame
by winning four gold medals.
Francis Townshend - an American physician who was best known for his revolving
old-age pension proposal during the Great Depression. Known as the "Townsend
Plan," this proposal influenced the establishment of the Roosevelt administration's
Social Security system.
DATES
1923 – Warren G. Harding dies.
March 4, 1933 -
THINGS
Prohibition - refers to attempts to legally ban alcohol sales and consumption. The
term often refers specifically to the period from 1920 to 1933.
Women’s suffrage - refers to the economic and political reform movement aimed
at extending suffrage — the right to vote — to women. 19th Amendment granted
this.
Geneva Convention - set the standards for international law for humanitarian
concerns.
Panay Incident - a Japanese attack on the United States Navy gunboat Panay while
she was anchored in the Yangtze River outside of Nanjing on December 12, 1937.
CIO - Union
UAW – United Auto Workers, one of the largest labor unions in North America.
Wagner Act - a 1935 United States federal law that protects the rights of most
workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective
bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in
support of their demands.
“fireside chats” - a series of thirty evening radio speeches given by United States
President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944
Dust Bowl - a series of dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural
damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936
Hindenburg - it was the largest rigid aircraft ever built. During its second year of
service, it went up in flames and was destroyed while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air
Station in Manchester Township, New Jersey, U.S., on 6 May 1937. Thirty-six people
died in the accident, which was widely reported by film, photography and radio
media.
ESSAYS
(1) The 1920s have been described as a struggle between “city” and “small
town”. What is meant by these terms? Over what issues did they struggle?
How was the Election of 1928 an example of this struggle? Prohibition?
(2) Discuss the following persons and their impact on US history (Choose 6)
a. John J. Pershing
b. A. Mitchell Palmer
c. Red Grange
d. Jack Dempsey
e. Babe Ruth
f. Louis Armstrong
g. Rudolph Valentino
h. Charles Lindbergh
(3) Discuss the Great Depression (1929 – 1932). What factors brought on the
Depression? What role did the Stock Market play? How did President Hoover
address the Depression? Discuss the election of 1932.