D.C. Renaissance

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Volume 3, Issue 7 D.C. Renaissance

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program

D.C. R enaissanc e In the F ield KidsPost Article: “The Unboring Illustrated True Story of the ➤ http://www.soulofamerica.com/ Washington Area from 1600 to Right Now, Part 7” cityfldr2/wash15.html U S treet/Sha w District L esson: The 1920s and 1930s the Chrysler Building. More than 20 years before the Harlem were decades of development, U Street and Howard University Renaissance, the D.C. Renaissance was daring and dangers, and the D.C. were the center of a thriving taking place on U Street. Jazz singer Renaissance during which writers, African American community. Pearl Bailey gave U Street the nickname musicians and artists were a Musicians, artists and writers “the Black Broadway.” Visit history and significant part of D.C. life. joined the doctors and attorneys, see today’s renaissance taking place in L evel: All beauticians and barbers, Duke Ellington’s old neighborhood. newspapers and bank of Shaw. Subjects: History, social studies, Before the Harlem Renaissance ➤ http://americanhistory.si.edu/ art, music was the D.C. Renaissance of Duke youmus/ex11fact.htm F ield to Factory, Na tional Museum o f R ela ted A ctivity: Language arts, Ellington, The Washingtonians, American History geography, technology Jean Toomer and Sterling Brown. If you couldn’t be there, radio Explores the movement of thousands About T his Series: brought jazz, blues and new voices from the rural South to the new This is the seventh of nine parts into the American home. technology and culture of the North of KidsPost’s illustrated look at the ➤ www.phillipscollection.org history of the Washington area. R e ad and Discuss Each installment treats a different Phillips Gallery Give students “Q&A,” a period—European settlement, the The Phillips Gallery, opened in 1920, was reproducible that provides creation of the nation’s capital, the first private collection of modern art information about the daring and the Civil War era, the turn of the to be opened to the public for viewing. dangers of early aviation. In earlier century, up to the present. See works of 19th and 20th century guides, explorers were highlighted. French and American artists while in a These are the explorers of a more April: T he D.C. R enaissanc e home of the period. modern age. Military aviation and The Armistice Day celebration of ➤ airmail service were introduced http://www.nps.gov/glec/ Nov. 11, 1918, expressed gratitude in the D.C. area. From the Glen E cho Park for the end of war and survival of Wright brothers to Wrong Way Began in 1891 as a National Chautauqua the Spanish influenza epidemic in Corrigan, the American spirit of Assembly, then became an amusement which nearly 3,500 area residents determination and dreams are park where you could dance to music had died. Government jobs and evident. of Glen Miller or ride a bumper car. economic stability were drawing You can ride the restored 1921 Dentzel many to move north to D.C. R e ad Art carousel. The menagerie carousel has 40 Between 1920 and 1940 Give students copies of “A handcarved animals. technological advances brought New Day.” Find examples of ➤ http://www.radiohistory.org/ the unimaginable: nylon stockings, transportation and improvements Museum.htm skyscrapers, passenger airplanes in safety, personal use of the radio Radio-Television Museum and penicillin. The Art Deco style and telephone, mail delivery, Duke Bowie in decorative arts and architecture Ellington and a president’s wife Showcase for a radio-related walk reflected the combination of with her pet, entertainment and through history, as reflected in technical modern spirit and industrial daily life. equipment and consumer products. Open growth as seen in automobiles What does the artist think is Saturdays and Sunday, 1-4, self-guided. and diners, air travel, the grace important to know about the era? and strength of the Golden Gate Call Dwight Heasty, 301-894-0550, to Bridge, the bravado and elegance of arrange a weekday group tour. Free admission. 2 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program

D.C. R enaissanc e (c ontinued) Arts & Artists

Check out Geograph y by Dorothea Lange and other ➤ http://www.pbs.org/ Give students “Map It.” These photographers who took part in the treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/faberge_ two decades saw the creation WPA. nav/main_fabfrm.html of West Potomac Park and Peter Carl Faberge, 1846-1920 construction of today’s favorite Ex amine the Ar chitecture Faberge eggs and other jeweled items monuments. Marshland and some Students are introduced to Art of the Potomac River were claimed Deco that emerged as the Supreme ➤ http://www.pbs.org/ for these projects. A growing Court Building, Lincoln Memorial treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/ population and advances in and Jefferson Memorial were built. transportation are also evident. “What Is Art Deco?” covers the guernica_nav/gnav_level_1/2process_ basics of the architectural and guerfrm.html Under st and the Era design style. “Art Deco Drive” Pablo Picasso, 1881-1937 Through art one can gain insight encourages students to visit Art Cubism into a time period—its economics, Deco structures that remain in our its sensibilities, its dreams. Use area. Geography, map reading and ➤ http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ the “Art & Artists” sidebar list and sequencing skills can be practiced K/kandinsky.html timeline as starting points. Works with this activity. In what order Wassily Kandinsky, 1866-1944 of all, but Fabergé, are found at would students visit the locations? Abstract the National Gallery of Art (many Which is nearest to their homes? online at www.nga.gov). The Phillips Art Gallery (http://www. D.C. R enaissanc e ➤ http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/ phillipscollection.org), America’s Although the Harlem Renaissance background/index.html first modern art gallery that is better known, Washington, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 1887-1986 opened in 1921 in the Georgian D.C., had an equally important Dadaism and surrealism Revival home of Duncan Phillips, role in the literary, musical and has examples of Vuillard, O’Keeffe artistic outpouring of African ➤ http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/psearch? and Picasso as well as many 20th Americans. The reproducibles in Request=S&imageset=1&Person=7860 century artists. Fabergé’s work this guide introduce U Street and Willem de Kooning, 1904-1997 can be seen at Hillwood Museum the individuals who were key to its & Gardens (D.C.), Walters Art vitality. Abstract expressionism Museum (Md.) and Virginia “U Street—The Place To Be” Museum of Fine Arts. Works by introduces students to key people ➤ http://www.joslyn.org/permcol/ Kandinsky, Thomas Hart Benton and places in the D.C. Renaissance 20thcen/pages/wood.html and O’Keeffe are in the Hirshhorn. as they locate addresses on a Grant Wood, 1891-1942 After an introduction to these map. “D.C. Renaissance” can Fauve palette, Realism artists, you might ask which best be done in groups or with each reflects the spirit of the writers and student considering aspects ➤ http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ musicians of the D.C. Renaissance. of the awakening. Some of the H/hopper.html This study would also show activities encourage use of Web Edward Hopper, 1882-1967 students how museums developed sites to give students practice in in D.C. The Phillips Gallery, using the Internet for research. Realism Hillwood Museum & Gardens, When students read the works of the National Gallery of Art and Langston Hughes, make the D.C. ➤ http://www.corcoran.org/collection/ Hirshhorn—all have fascinating connection with “Langston Hughes highlights_main_results.asp?ID=36 stories. Discovered in D.C.” This can also Thomas Hart Benton, 1889-1975 Look also for photographs be an exercise to read a map and Realism 3 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program

D.C. R enaissanc e (c ontinued) R e ad About It plot locations visited by Hughes. Broadcasting System (CBS) Blumenthal, Karen. Six Days in Younger students can be in 1927, and the American October: The Stock Market Crash of introduced to the D.C. Renaissance Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1929 by reading selected biographies 1943. The latter was created when Wall Street Journal writer covers the on the D.C. Renaissance Web the owner of Lifesaver, Edward events, people and ignored warning site (http://www.dclibrary.org/ Nobel, bought the NBC Blue signs that contributed to the crash of blkren). Categorize each as artist, Network (“Red” remained NBC). 1929. Gr. 7+ musician or writer. Listen to The suggested activity has examples of the musicians’ works. students becoming acquainted Feinberg, Barbara. Black Tuesday: The How does each one make you feel? with the period’s entertainment Stock Market Crash of 1929 The following questions are programming and then producing Helping children understand the crash modified from a NewsHour forum their own radio pilot. Give and Great Depression on the Harlem Renaissance (http: students “Radio—All the Rage.” //www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/ This activity asks students to Hahn, Mary Downing. Anna All Year february98/harlem_2-20.html). become script writer/recording Round You might ask older students: team for a 15-minute radio show. Meet friends and family of 8-year-old • Did the D.C. Renaissance use Limiting the time requires students Anna during a year in Baltimore just exotic, sensual images to celebrate to use every minute wisely. “On before World War I. African-American culture? Air” sidebar lists prominent • With so many economic shows of the era. The directions Lasky, Kathryn. A Time for Courage and cultural hurdles, was D.C. have been left open as to whether Thirteen-year-old Kathleen Bowen lives Renaissance art and writing the program is to be taped or in Washington, D.C., in 1917. In her optimistic in tone? presented live to the class who are diary she records her concerns about • Did the D.C. Renaissance playing the role of NBC program the national battle for women’s suffrage, affect the politics leading up to the director. You decide if one “hit” the war in Europe and her family. Civil Rights Movement? will be named. “The Big Broadcast with Ed Rawlings, Majorie. The Yearling Turn the Dial Walker” (http://www.wamu.org/ Jody Baxter, living in Florida in the People sat by their radios bigbroadcast/) provides 1930s, confronts danger and adventure for news and entertainment. programming from radio’s after his wish is fulfilled to have a pet. Throughout his presidency, 1933- golden age. Go online to check Author Rawlings’ girlhood home was at 1945, FDR addressed America by the schedule for the week’s 1221 Newton St. N.E. radio in what came to be known as shows. Another resource online “Fireside Chats.” Walter Winchell is the Museum of Broadcast Saunders, Bo. Feathers, Flaps & Flops: and Edward R. Murrow, radio Communication (http: Fabulous Early Flyers commentators in the ‘30s and //www.museum.tv/archives/ Wrong Way Corrigan, Beryl Markham ‘40s, set the standard for future index.shtml), the A.C. Nielsen, Jr. and other aviators who loved to fly generations. “War of the Worlds,” Online Research Center collection. and advanced the world of flight. the product of Orson Welles and Teachers may wish to visit the Elementary students. his Mercury Theater players, was Radio-Television Museum (301- so disturbing real that people fled 390-1020) in Bowie. Here you Weatherford, Carole. The Sound That in fear of Martian invaders. will find examples of shows of Jazz Makes The networks were established the era, sound effect how-to and In four-line stanzas and colorful, oil in this period. The National premiums. They have audio tapes illustrations, the story of jazz from Broadcasting Company (NBC) of commercials and records of 100 African drum beat to today’s rapper. Gr. was formed in 1926, Columbia sound effects. 3-6 4 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program

D.C. R enaissanc e (c ontinued) The Times ➤ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ Ex amine the F ir st Draft o f History Linder provides maps and pictures, influenza/ Newspapers of the period carried transcripts and court records, Inf luenza 1918: T he Wor st Epidemic reports of courtroom proceedings. timelines and other rich resources. Some of the trials of the 1920s If you wish to go more indepth PBS special includes people, events, and ’30s remain as markers in our on one or more of the trials, maps and teacher’s guide societal development and doors there are sources such as this to understanding a period in our one available online: http:// ➤ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- history. They are as fascinating as www.theatlantic.com/unbound/ srv/local/2000/raceriot0301.htm any Perry Mason or The Practice flashbks/saccovanzett.htm Rac e Rio t o f 1919 Ga ve Glimpse o f Future episode. They also provide a Attorney Felix Frankfurter gives a S truggles research project that can be done resume of the case in The Atlantic Post reporter Peter Perl looks at the online, through newspaper indexes Monthly, March 1927, and argues or books. The Black Sox trial is one that the district attorney and conditions, including press coverage, that that younger students could study presiding judge had been blatantly caused the 1919 outburst. and relate to today’s sports world. biased against the defendants. Also, These can also be the stimulus to links to Katherine Anne Porter ➤ http://www.pbs.org/gointochicago/ follow a contemporary trial that is (1977) and W.G. Thompson (1928) index.html reported in The Washington Post. articles. Goin’ to Chicago “First Draft of History” provides PBS documentary on the Great six famous trials. Each trial was L e arn about La w and Or der Migration, includes poetry and art, covered in The Post where research Give students “Law and Order: could begin to follow the proceed- Amending the Constitution” and historic perspective and teacher’s guide. ings. Students could be asked to “Road to the 19th Amendment.” Film available for purchase. cover the following: After reviewing the amendment 1. Summarize the charges against process and the history behind the ➤ http://www.nytimes.com/library/ the accused. passage of the 19th Amendment, financial/index-1929-crash.html 2. What evidence did the divide the class into three groups L ooking Back a t the Crash o f ‘29 prosecution provide? and ask each group to answer New York Times coverage, Oct. 28-Nov. 3. What evidence did the defense one of the following groups of 1; includes “Stock Market Crash Quiz” provide? questions. 4. Read at least five newspaper •Why did women seek articles about the case and trial. enfranchisement? Does it surprise ➤ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ Was coverage fair and balanced? you that the process began before buildingbig/index.html Select a quotation from an article the Civil War? Do you think Building Big: Bridges, Domes, and two to three significant details women have equal rights today? Skyscraper s, D ams, Tunnels provided by the reporters. •Compare what you now PBS special gives highlights of the 5. What political or social know about the women’s suffrage world’s biggest engineering projects, labs, attitudes of the time or community movement with what you know student challenges and examples might have influenced the trial? about the civil rights movement. 6. Why do you agree/disagree What similarities and differences with the decision of the court? do you see? Did the civil rights ➤ http://baseball-almanac.com/ws/ A good online source for more movement seek a constitutional yr1924ws.shtml information on the trials is Famous amendment? Why or why not? Baseb all Almanac, 1924 Trials (http://www.law.umkc.edu/ •Explain the constitutional 1924 World Series at Griffith Stadium; faculty/projects/ftrials/ requirements to amend the Walter Johnson pitching for The ftrials.htm). Law professor Doug Constitution. If you were the leader Senators 5 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program

D.C. R enaissanc e (c ontinued) Art Dec o of a movement designed to pass an time from the perspective of the ➤ http://www.erte.com/ amendment to the Constitution, men who were President of the Erté, 1892-1990 what would your amendment be? United States and the programs Cover, costume and stage designer Why do you think it is a necessary they presented. Begin with amendment? Describe your Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) and political strategy for passing your end with Franklin Delano Roosevelt ➤ http://ndm.si.edu/EXHIBITIONS/ amendment. (1933-45). The class could be lalique/start.htm For more information, divided into five that would include The Jewels of Lalique see the following Web sites: Harding, Colidge and Hoover. Artist-jeweler and glass maker Charters of Freedom (http:// 3. As the weather warms, older www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/ students may enjoy an adventure. charters_of_freedom/constitution/ Go to a bullfight. Read Ernest ➤ http://lartnouveau.ifrance.com/ 19th_amendment.html); Hemingway’s Death in the lartnouveau/art_deco.htm Nineteenth Amendment & Afternoon, completed in 1931. 1925-1940: Art Dec o the War of the Roses (http: In it, Hemingway explains the View examples of Art Deco motifs in //www.blueshoenashville.com/ technical aspects of bullfighting suffragehistory.html); Iron Jawed and “the emotional and spiritual decorative objects, posters, postage Angels, HBO Original Film, 2003 intensity and pure classic beauty stamps, interiors and more. (http://www.hbo.com/films/ that can be produced by a man, an ironjawedangels/). animal, and a piece of scarlet serge ➤ http://www.adsw.org draped on a stick.” Class discussion Art Deco Society of Washington Extension can address the nature of cowardice 1. Read more about the L’Enfant and bravery, sport and tragedy, and Preservation projects and information on and McMillan Commission plans Hemingway’s commentary on life Art Deco buildings in D.C. for Washington, D.C. Begin and literature. at the National Park Service Combine art and technology. ➤ http://www.greatbuildings.com/ register of historic places (http: View Édouard Manet’s The Dead buildings/Chrysler_Building.html //www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/ Toreador and the Bullfight, painted lenfant.htm). What goals of the 1864. The NGA Classroom page William Van Alen, 1883-1954 McMillan Plan were achieved in includes an introduction to the Art Deco architecture this period? painting and x-radiograph to reveal 2. From New Freedom to New layers painted below the present Deal. Approach the study of this one. Credits Illustra tion by Pa tter son Clark, The Washington Key (for use with Page 8) 9. T he Linc oln Memorial was c omplet ed in Post; Map by Gene Thorp, The Washington 1. A Boy Sc out salut es. 1922. Temporary buildings on the Mall fr om Post; R ese ar ch and reporting for the K idsPost 2. She’s known as a f lapper, someone who World War I wer e no t yet t orn down. series by Fred Barb ash, The Washington Post; r eject s c on ventional dr ess and beha vior. 10. War Memorial Bridge, s ymbolic o f the unit y Q&A by Carol Lange, Post NIE educa tion o f North and South, was built bet ween 1926 3. F ir st lady Grac e Coolidge and R ebecca, her c onsult ant pet racc oon, which was allowed t o r o am fr eely and 1932. thr ough the Whit e House. 11. An electric str eet light. La w and Or der, Theresa Barb adoro , a sec ond- 4. A family in a For d Model T. 12. A Black & Whit e t axicab. ye ar la w student a t American Univer sity 5. Pla ying f ir eman in a pedal car. 13. Jaz z musician and c omposer Duke Ellingt on, Washington College o f La w, currently te aches 6. Tuning in t o an e arly radio . bef or e he moves t o Ne w York. as a Mar shall-Brennan Fellow a t H.D. Woodson 7. Using the t elephone t o call about a r ecipe. 14. Pa ving the cit y’s str eet s. Senior High School and will be te aching a t 8. A mail plane. T he f ir st airmail-servic e planes 15. A suf fragist, whose pr o t est s helped bring W ilson Senior High School in the District during f le w fr om College Park, Maryland. about the 19th Amendment, which ga ve women the 2004-2005 academic ye ar. the right t o vo t e in 1920 6 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY How They Did It In the illustration above, the background shows how the region might have looked from the Virginia side of the Potomac in early evening. The foreground shows examples of how people lived then. The scene takes place at the turn of the 20th century, when modern Washington, D.C., began to take shape. As in previous drawings, four surprises are included in the drawing. Can you find the Indian axe, raccoon, crow and arrowhead? — Patterson Clark, Washington Post news artist Map It

The work of architects, builders and pavers was seen throughout the District. Automobiles, displacing horses and streetcars, slowed only during the hard times of the early 1930s. The New Deal’s WPA brought more federal employees, the National Arboretum and the Supreme Court. Monuments and public buildings were carefully placed as parkland expanded.

1. Robert Todd Lincoln, the oldest son of Abraham Lincoln, as well as Union and Confederate veterans of the Civil War were present at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial on May 30, 1922. Is the memorial at the south, north, west or east end of the Mall?

2. Locate the bridge dedicated in 1932 as a “War Memorial Bridge,” symbolizing the unity between North and South following the Civil War.

3. The McMillan Commission called for the expansion of L’Enfant’s concept of a monumental city to include Arlington. Trace the route of the road to Mt. Vernon.

4. The width of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers is continuing to narrow. Why would authorities want this to happen?

5. The first airport in the area was built by the Wright brothers. Locate the College Park Airport on the map.

6. The first fatality in an airplane accident took place at Fort Myer. Identify the military base.

7. What building is now located where Washington-Hoover Airport stood? Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program Q&A The Patent Office, the Smithsonian Institution and legislators who might support their efforts drew inventors to Washington, D.C. Alexander Graham Bell became the second president of the National Geographic Society. Dr. Herman Hollerith invented the electric tabulating machine in a Georgetown waterfront warehouse. By 1920, the wealth that technological advances created was evident in the grand houses, paved and tree-lined streets and new construction. A decade later as the number of automobiles in D.C. began to create the first rush hours and the demise of the streetcar, airplanes were taking off. These were decades of daring and disaster.

Did the Wright Bro ther s build more straight for the ground.” Around 2,000 on one approach and a smoky dump airplanes after 1903? people witnessed the accident. Selfridge nearby . . . a masterpiece of inept They worked on several different died hours later from a fractured skull; siting,’ according to a U.S. Department designs and established a business. Wright had a broken hip and leg. Four of Transportation history,” reported On October 5, 1905, in their Flyer days later, Wilbur set a new world The Washington Post. “Between 1926 III, they flew 24 miles in 38 minutes, record in France—one hour and 31 and 1938, there were 37 congressional landing when the gas tank was empty. minutes aloft. He continued to set and other studies calling for a new In 1908, a year after receiving a bid for records to give the press more positive airport.” a flying machine, they delivered their news about flight. President Franklin Roosevelt first airplane to the War Department. When did airmail servic e begin in “authorized construction while In June 1909, the Wrights delivered a America? Congress was in recess, and Congress redesigned airplane to Fort Myer—it later questioned the legality of that The U.S. Postal Service’s first flight averaged 42.5 miles per hour, carrying funding, but ‘the project moved took place on May 15, 1918, when a passenger on a flight of 10 miles— forward under its own momentum,’ the a U.S. Army biplane took off from the world’s first military airplane. The Department of Transportation history Washington, D.C. The New York Smithsonian Air and Space Museum says,” reported the Post. National delivery was delayed when the plane now has this plane. Airport opened June 16, 1941. landed in Maryland after flying the wrong direction. A train delivered the When did airplanes begin p assenger servic e? When did the f ir st fa t ality in an airplane first “airmail,” but soon after regular crash t ake plac e? service began from coast to coast. In 1926 when its mail services Where was Washington’s f ir st airport? became so profitable that it flew Orville had been giving flight trials scheduled passenger routes too, during spring and summer of 1908 College Park Airport is the oldest Western Air Express (later part of at Fort Myer for the U.S. Army. On working airport in the world. It was TWA) became the first scheduled and Sept. 17, Lt. Thomas Selfridge was his built by the Wright Brothers in 1909 to sustained airline in the USA. Also in passenger, the third person to ride with demonstrate their redesigned airplane 1926, for $85 passengers could fly him. He had made three laps of the to the Army. from Miami to Havana or Nassau on parade ground at an altitude of 150 feet Washington-Hoover Airport was Aeromaritime Airways’ “flying boats.” when a propeller broke and the plane located in the 1920s where the These might be considered the first suddenly veered to the right. Wright Pentagon is today. Arlington’s Military vacation flights. reported how he tried to regain control, Road crossed the main runway. Guards With its fleet of new Boeing B-40 mail “. . . I continued to push the levers, put chains across the road whenever a planes in 1927, Boeing Air Transport when the machine suddenly turned to plane was going to land or take off. won the San Francisco-Chicago route. It the left. I reversed the levers to stop “Washington-Hoover was ‘bordered carried 6,000 passengers and 1300 tons the turning and to bring the wings on on the east by Highway 1, with its of mail in the route’s first two years. a level. Quick as a flash, the machine accompanying high-tension electrical By 1930 passenger transport had turned down in front and started wires, and obstructed by a smokestack become an industry and the major

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program Q&A airlines—American, Eastern, United Wh y is Amelia Earhart remembered? one civilian member of the ground and TWA—competed for passengers. Amelia Earhart took her first flying crew died in the flames of one of Nazi The invention of radar in 1935 lesson in January 1921 when she was Germany’s finest dirigibles. facilitated air travel’s safety. a social worker. Six months later, Who was Wrong Wa y Corrigan? she bought a two-seater. After she Is there a c onnection bet ween modern In 1935, a man with little money and set the first women’s record flying at art and f light? a beat-up plane asked for permission to an altitude of 14,000 feet, she was Just as aviation was breaking fly across the Atlantic. Only 10 people invited by book publisher George boundaries, the Cubists were altering had done this and federal authorities Putnam to join two men and fly across traditional perception of people and could not approve of his plane. the Atlantic. On June 17, 1928, they objects. Picasso and Henri Rousseau [Little known fact: Douglas Corrigan landed in Wales 21 hours after take were among artists who included assembled the wing on the “Spirit of St. off in Newfoundland. She married airplanes in their work. Louis” and installed its gas tanks and Putnam in 1931; he supported her solo instrument panel.] After three years Who was the f ir st per son to f ly solo transatlantic flight in 1932. President of working on his plane, he only had across the Atlantic Oc e an? Hoover awarded her the Distinguished official sanction to fly California-New Flying Cross, the first given to a Almost twenty-four years after the York round trip. Douglas Corrigan woman. In 1935, she was the first Wright brothers’ 120-foot successful took off from Brooklyn on July 17, person to fly solo across the Pacific, flight, Charles Lindbergh made the solo 1938, heading east. When he landed flying from Honolulu to Oakland, flight across the Atlantic. On May 20, in Ireland 28 hours, 13 minutes later, Calif. On July 2, 1937, she was 7,000 1927, he took off from Roosevelt Field he told officials there, “Guess I went miles away from achieving her goal of in NYC. He landed the “Spirit of St. the wrong way.” He never changed his being the first woman to fly around the Louis” 33.5 hours later at Le Bourget story. world. The flight from New Guinea to Field outside Paris. Wrong Way Corrigan captured the a small island in the Pacific would be spirit of perseverance during the Great Wha t American airline f lew the f ir st very difficult. Instead of another first Depression. The New York Post printed interna tional routes? announced, headlines read “Amelia a front-page headline—“Hail to Wrong Pan American Airways, founded by Earhart Lost at Sea.” In a letter to her Way Corrigan!”—backward. New York 28-year-old Juan Terry Trippe, made the husband, she wrote, “Women must try City threw him a ticker-tape parade, first scheduled international flight on to do things as men have tried. When and he became a folk hero. Oct. 28, 1927. Loaded with mail sacks, they fail, their failure must be but a the Fokker trimotor flew from Key challenge to others.” West to Havana, Cuba, in one hour and Wha t happened to the Hindenbur g? ten minutes. In November 1935, Pan Am’s “China Clipper” completed the The hydrogen-filled airship, first transpacific flight. In May 1939, Hindenburg, began ferrying passengers, Pan Am’s “Yankee Clipper” inaugurated mail and freight between the United transatlantic flights. Five years later, States and Germany in May 1936. the first successful around-the-world One of the largest aircraft to fly, the flight was another Pan Am first. flying hotel had a promenade from which the 50 passengers could view Were women allowed to f ly a plane? the earth and sea below. Ten round-trip Women flew first as nurses who were flights were made in 1936. On May attendants on airplanes. If they had the 6, 1937, it burst into flames as it was money and a willing trainer, women mooring in Lakehurst, New Jersey. WWW. CENTENNIALOFFLIGHT. GO V could take flying lessons. Thirteen passengers, 22 crewmen and Corrigan, the Se abiscuit o f a via tion.

10 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY Timeline (1915-1940) WORLD 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 History 1918: WWI ends 1920: League of Nations founded 1931: Japan attacks Manchuria 1920: Gandhi leads nonviolent disobedience movement, India 1933-45: Hitler, chancellor of Third Reich 1922: Mussolini, Fascist government, Italy 1936-39: Spanish Civil War 1928-53: Stalin leader of U.S.S.R. 1939: Outbreak of WWII Invention 1925: John Baird, televised human face, Scotland 1927: First public transatlantic phone service, New York-London 1928: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin 1935: Lazlo and Georg Biro, non- leaking ballpoint pen, Hungary 1935: Sir Robert Watson-Watt, practical radar system, Scotland

Literature 1919: William Butler Yeats, The Wild Swans at Coole 1922: Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha 1924: Hitler, Mein Kampf 1924: Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain 1925: George Bernard Shaw wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Arts 1919-1921: Édouard Vuillard, Yvonne Printemps and Sacha Guitry 1923: Wassily Kandinsky, Composition VIII 1925: René Lalique, exhibit at Exposition des Arts Décoratifs 1928: Béla Bartók, String Quartet No. 4 1937: Picasso, Guernica NORTH AMERICA 1915-1940: Great Migration of African Americans from South to North 1929: Stock Market crash, Oct. 1917: U.S. declares war with Germany, April 2 29 1918: Flu epidemic kills 20 million 1930: Ruth Graves Wakefield, invents chocolate chips 1919-1929: Harlem Renaissance 1935: George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess 1920: Volstead Act, Jan. 16; 19th Amendment ratified 1939: Marian Anderson sings 1924: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby on Easter Sunday at 1926: Goddard launches first of many successful rocket designs Lincoln Memorial 1927: Spoken voice in a feature film, “The Jazz Singer” 1939: John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program Wha t Is Art Dec o?

Buildings that we usually think of as being Washington, Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes had inspired exhibitions D.C.—Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and Supreme to express the times—industrial and modern. This modern Court—are classical in style. Constructed in the 1920s and design didn’t get a name until 1968 when historian Bevis 30s, they are what we expect to see in a capital city. They Hillier coined the phrase Art Deco. were made of marble and modeled on Greek and Roman You might be familiar with Art Deco details. Comic book architecture. illustrators in the 1950s and 1960s found they had to go back At the same time, a modern style of architecture and in time to depict the future. Buildings with Art Deco features design began to appear. It reflected the grace of fine lines, are found in The Flash and Adam Strange. The planet the coolness needed to fly an airplane and the metal that had Krypton is portrayed in a modern Deco style. There are two strength to buffet winds. The 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Art Deco periods: Decorated Art Deco and Streamline. Dec ora ted Art Dec o (1926-1936) Art Deco buildings in this style have more details, especially around doors, windows and along rooflines. Think of Lalique jewelry for the floral details. Think of geometry for the angles and abstract forms. D.C. polic e he adquarter s a t 300 Indiana Ave. NW FILE PHOTO—THE WASHING TON PO S T

S tre amline (the 1930s) The Great Depression influenced this starker style. There wasn’t money for expensive details. Rounded corners, banded stripes, porthole windows and lots of glass block are seen in this variation. Buildings are often smooth, white stucco. Architect Charles Goodman incorporated Art Deco elements in the design of the Washington National Airport built in 1941. The movement spilled over into industrial design as well, as is seen in the vintage radio below. FILE PHOTO—THE WASHING TON PO S T T he Chrysler Building, right c enter, shares the New York skyline with T he Empire S t a te Building.

The Chrysler Building was not only the tallest building in the world when it was built in 1930, it was a distinctive Art Deco work of art. It combined straight and rounded lines, rising to its crown that glistened in the New York skyline. Manufacturer Walter P. Chrysler could see features of his automobiles in the gargoyles and the spire that was inspired by a radiator grill. PHOTODIS C

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program Art Dec o Drive

Superman might think he was on Krypton if he flew by surprising that surviving examples of the Art Deco are the Silver Theatre on Georgia Avenue. He would recognize found in diners. By the late 1920s when more people owned the clean lines and glint of light off metal surfaces. Art Deco automobiles and paved roads were extending beyond city inspired comic-book illustrator Wayne Boring and theater limits, diners appeared as havens to travelers. architect John Eberson to design truly modern structures. By the time you finish this drive, you may be hungry for More than 75 years old, Art Deco style is seen still in the popcorn and a large soda. Some of the finest examples of Art exterior architecture and nuances of interior lines, art, Deco are found in movie theaters. Hollywood’s golden age furniture and accessories in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia. and the sleek, modern lines of Art Deco were a perfect match Inspired by modern technology and inventions, it is not as theaters were built around the country.

➤ 1 7 W. M a rk e t St. , L e e s b u r g , Va. Ta l l y H o T h e a t re ’s m a rq u e e , c l e a n l i n e s a n d p o r t h o l e w i n d ow s a n n o u n c e i t s 1 9 3 1 A r t D e c o p re s e n c e . I t ’s f i tt i n g t h a t “T h e M a j e s t i c ” i n s p i re d i t s re n ova t i o n . ➤ I n t e rs e c t i o n of Ro u t e s 2 9 & 1 2 3 , Fa i r fa x C i ty, Va. O n a n o l d a n d b u s y ro u t e , 2 9 D i n e r i s a l a t e r ex a m p l e o f A r t D e c o . T h e 1 9 4 0 t s l a n d m a rk h a s c u r v i l i n e a r g l a s s b r i c k a n d s t a i n l e s s s t e el p ro j e c t i n g , ex t e r i o r l i n e s . ➤ 4 5 5 5 Wi s co n s i n Av e . , N.W. , D. C . L o o k fo r t h e a rc h i t e c t u ra l d e t a i l s o f t h e Se a rs D e p a r t m e n t S t o re . T h e A r t D e c o So c i e t y o f Wa s h i n g t o n fo u g h t fo r t h e p re s e r va t i o n o f t h i s 1 9 4 1 D e c o b u i l d i n g . ➤ 5 6 1 2 C o n n e c t i c u t Av e . , N.W. , D. C .

O n e o f Wa s h i n g t o n’s o l d e s t ex t a n t FILE PHOTO—THE WASHING TON PO S T t h e a t e rs , t h e Ava l o n T h e a t re o p e n e d T he Greyhound terminal o f the 1970s. i n 1 9 2 2 . I t s A r t D e c o ex t e r i o r a n d d o m e d c e i l i n g t h a t f e a t u re s a m u ra l T h e Pe n n T h e a t re ’s A r t D e c o f a ç a d e s t re a m l i n e d M o d e r n e s t yl e . a re p ro t e c t e d o n t h e D. C . I nve n t o r y o f wa s save d i n t h e m i d - 8 0 s w h e n i t ➤ 1 4 0 1 N e w Yo rk Av e . , N. E. , D. C . H i s t o r i c Si t e s . b e c a m e a c o n d o . Ta ke n o t e o f t h e l i n e a r L o o k fo r ge o m e t r i c s h a p e s a n d ➤ 3 4 2 6 C o n n e c t i c u t Av e . , N.W. , d e t a i l s o n t h e ex t e r i o r. b a n d e d s t r i p e s o n t h e H e c h t C o m p a n y D. C . 3 4 2 6 C o n n e c t i c u t Av e . , N.W. , D. C . ➤ 3 0 0 I n di a n a Av e . , D. C . Wa reh o u s e . B u i l t i n 1 9 3 7 , i t b e c a m e a I n t h e s t re a m l i n e t ra d i t i o n o f D e c o ra t i ve A r t D e c o b l e n d s w i t h l a n d m a rk i n 1 9 9 2 . t h e D e p re s s i o n -e ra , t h e Up t ow n c l a s s i c a rc h i t e c t u re a s d i s p l aye d i n t h e ➤ 8 6 1 9 C o l e s v i l l e Ro a d, Si l v e r Sp r i n g , T h e a t e r o p e n e d i n 1 9 3 3 w i t h l i tt l e D. C . Po l i c e H e a d q u a r t e rs . T h e “g r i l l ” M d. o r n a m e n t a t i o n . T h e l i n e s o f t h e f a ç a d e e n t ra n c e a n d o t h e r d e t a i l s c r y D e c o T h e Si l ve r T h e a t re , b u i l t i n 1 9 3 8 a s p a r t we re m a t c h e d b y t h e l i n e s o f v i ewe rs w h i l e t h e m a rb l e w h i s p e rs el e ga n c e . o f t h e A r t D e c o Si l ve r S p r i n g Sh o p p i n g w h o c a m e t o a tt e n d f i rs t- r u n m ov i e s a n d ➤ 1 1 0 0 N e w Yo rk Av e n u e N.W. , D. C . C e n t e r, b ro u g h t t o ge t h e r t h e m o t o r- t h e wo rl d p re m i e re o f “ 2 0 0 1 : A S p a c e T h e 1 9 4 0 G re yh o u n d Te r m i n a l i s a s a ge a n d go l d e n a ge o f c i n e m a . Si l ve r O d ys s e y” i n A p r i l 1 9 6 8 . s l e ek a n d s t re a m l i n e d a s i t s n a m e sa ke . S p r i n g b e c a m e a p o p u l a r s h o p p i n g a n d ➤ 6 5 0 Pe n n s y l v a ni a Av e . , D. C . T h e o r i g i n a l t e r m i n a l s h owc a s e d t h e e n t e r t a i n m e n t d e s t i n a t i o n .

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program D.C. Renaissanc e

Hollywood had screen idols Rudolph art and letters would be an ample Swing,” to “Sophisticated Lady.” Valentino, Mary Pickford and Charlie achievement”? Chaplin. Clark Gable in “Gone With Performing Arts the Wind” and Al Jolson in “The Jazz V isual Arts Drama productions are often tried Singer” were on the movie screen. F. James A. Porter was an artist, teacher out before they get to the Broadway Scott Fitzgerald glamorized the Jazz and researcher. In 1933 he was awarded stage. Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle Age in This Side of Paradise. the Arthur A. Schomburg Portrait Prize performed their Shuffle Along in D.C. But real, live jazz and entertainment and in 1965 the National Gallery of in 1921 before it became a Broadway were happening on U Street. Art selected him as one of the nation’s hit. Listen to these songs from it: “I’m Although the Harlem Renaissance is 25 best art teachers. His awarded Just Wild About Harry,” “Gypsy Blues” better known, Washington, D.C., had work, “Woman Holding a Jug” can be and “Shuffle Along.” How do they make an equally important role in the literary, viewed online (http://www.uiowa.edu/ you feel? What is their message? musical and artistic outpouring of ~english/faculty/boos/galleries/ African Americans. afamgallery/source/porterwomanju Litera ture Visit the “Black Renaissance in D.C.” g1932.html). Write a review of the oil Read about the race riots that took site to meet significant contributors painting. Include colors he used, his place in 1919. Read Claude McKay’s to the D.C. Renaissance. Begin with subject’s expression and tone of the sonnet “If We Must Die,” a response the following to get a sampling of the work. and call for courage. Summarize vitality of the period. McKay’s main ideas. Music While a student at Howard Te acher and Mentor Duke Ellington was born in D.C. in University, Zora Neale Hurston How important is it to have a mentor? 1899. He became a member of The published her first story, “John Redding At Howard University, professor Washingtonians in 1923, playing for Goes to Sea” and a poem, “O Night” Alain Locke encouraged students in local clubs and parties. Soon he was in Howard’s literary magazine in 1921. the visual arts, literature and theatre. leader of the band, and it was on its She became interested in folklore. What Read about Locke’s philosophy. Do you way to Harlem. Compare “It Don’t is folklore? How is an author’s use of agree that “enrichment of life through Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That dialect connected to folklore?

MOORLAND- SPRINGARN RESEAR CH C OL LE CTION Facult y member s o f Howar d Univer sit y in the la t e 19th c entury.

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program U S treet—The Plac e To Be Known as Washington’s “Black Broadway,” the U Street corridor attracted big-name entertainers such as Duke Ellington, Pearl Bailey and Miles Davis to play in its theaters and clubs. Nearby Howard University was important to the intellectual, business and cultural life of D.C. Visit the places that were part of the vibrant community. Before you take a walk, plot these locations on the map. After you are done, plan the route you will take.

• The Thurgood Marshall Center for Hotel at 1839 13th Street, N.W., opened R enewal Service and Heritage is located at in 1919 for blacks. Its developer, John ➤ http://www.dclibrary.org/blkren 1816 12th Street N.W. This elegant Whitlaw Lewis had come to D.C. Black R enaissanc e in D.C. structure was opened in 1912 as the as a laborer in 1894 and eventually Twelfth Street Branch of the YMCA, established the Industrial Savings Bank. Biographies of 26 influential the nation’s first black YMCA. Paul Robeson, Cab Calloway and boxer individuals, include Sterling Brown, Joe Lewis were among prominent black James A. Porter, Jean Toomer and • The Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U Street, Americans who stayed in its luxury Florence Mills. Timeline, resources. where Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong apartments. and Ella Fitzgerald once thrilled ➤ http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/ audiences, has been renovated to its • Technically, not part of the Black information2550/information.htm?ar 1920’s glory. As you walk along U Renaissance, Griffith Stadium was part ea=2529 Street, look for businesses participating of the entertainment of the period. U S treet/Sha w in the Heritage Window Display Located between U and W streets and An overview of Duke Ellington’s program. They will have photographs 5th Street, N.W. and Georgia Avenue, neighborhood and heritage walking that reveal the history and culture of Griffith was the baseball field for 71 tour map the area. years. It was used by American League Senators and Negro League Homestead ➤ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/ • Find 1212 T Street. Edward “Duke” Grays and the Black Senators. It was laic/episode5/e5_mm.html Ellington grew up in this house. (On demolished in 1965. Cosmopolis, 1914-1931 another map, see if you can locate 2121 Episode 5 of the PBS site for kids Ward Place, N.W. This is where he was • Howard University, 2400 6th Street includes “Changing Times,” “Harlem,” born.) N.W., between W and Fairmont streets. Opened after the Civil War, Howard “The Jazz Age,” “Wall Street & the • Where would entertainers who came played an important role in the D.C. 1929 Crash.” to segregated D.C. stay? The Whitlaw Renaissance. ➤ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ aaohtml/exhibit/aopart7b.html T he Harlem R enaissanc e and the F lowering o f Cre a tivity American Memory introduces personalities, events and music

➤ http://www.nga.gov/education/ classroom/bearden/ R omare Be ar den He called his work “Patchwork Cubism.” Bearden grew up with D.C. Renaissance figures visiting his family. FILE PHOTO—THE WASHING TON PO S T Children’s guide to his art available on T he Ellingt on mural hangs on the wall o f the True R eformer Builder on U str eet. NGA Kids page. 15 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program Langston Hughes Disc overed in D.C.

Langston Hughes is considered one of 20th century America’s significant writers. He wrote poetry, plays, novels and nonfiction. In the 1940’s, he wrote a column for the Chicago Defender newspaper in which a fictional character, Jesse B. Semple, commented on life. As a young man, he was “discovered” in D.C.

In late 1924, Langston Hughes joined his mother and younger brother at the home of relatives in LeDroit Park. They stayed in the 1900 block of 3rd Street, N.W., and later moved to an apartment, located at 1749 S Street. On Saturdays, he stopped by author Georgia Johnson’s home at 1461 S Street to discuss literature and eat cake. He worked at several jobs. During his leisure hours, he spent time on 7th Street, N.W., where ordinary black people lived. Along the storefronts, he observed them eating barbecue and fish sandwiches. Seventh Street residents were poor but cherished life. They shot pool and told many tall tales. Here, Hughes saw something else of interest. People sang and played the blues. Although the songs were happy or sometimes sad, they often contained the theme of the underdog moving on FILE PHOTO S—THE WASHING TON PO S T despite social unrest. Langst on Hughes in Ne w York in the 1960s and as a busboy, inset, in 1925 in D.C. Hughes got a job as Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s assistant. At 1539 9th policy, Hughes could not attend the poems to contests and for publishing Street, N.W., Woodson edited the poet’s reading in the auditorium. Using consideration would have recognized Journal of Negro History, not far the ingenuity characterized by his his talent, but Hughes was not hurt by from the 12th Street YMCA (1816 fictional creation, Jesse B. Semple, Lindsay’s “discovery” and publicity. 12th Street N.W.) where Hughes once Hughes devised a plan. After writing In January 1926, his poem, “The stayed. At a salary of $55 per week, out three of his poems, “Jazzonia,” Weary Blues,” placed first in a Hughes’ tasks included cleaning the “Negro Dancers,” and “The Weary competition offered by the National office and reading proofs. Blues,” he placed them beside Lindsay’s Urban League’s organ, Opportunity. Because reading proofs irritated his dinner plate one evening. As he This led writer Carl Van Vechten to ask eyes, Hughes quit and began work as picked up trays of dishes, Hughes him if he had enough poems for a book. a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel. saw Lindsay reading them. Lindsay Alfred A. Knopf published Hughes’ first Working at the hotel, located at 2660 presented the poems that night at collection of poetry, The Weary Blues. Woodley Road, N.W., resulted in a his reading, announcing that he had On one occasion, for a $1 admission, he stroke of good luck for the money- discovered a “bona fide poet.” The read from it at the Playhouse, located at strapped Hughes. American poet next day, in local newspapers, Lindsay 1814 N Street, NW. Vachel Lindsay was staying there in informed the world of his discovering Hughes moved to Harlem in late 1925. Because of D.C.’s segregated a “Negro busboy poet.” Submitting his January 1926.

S OUR CE: Based on Langst on Hughes’ biograph y f ound on the D.C. Library Web sit e, Black R enaissanc e. Visit this sit e t o le arn mor e about the D.C. R enaissanc e. 16 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program Radio—All the Rage

Picking up the telephone to talk to friends and family or to take care of business was magic. In the 1920s a new innovation—broadcasting music, sound effects and the spoken word —was compelling. Radio brought the world of music, art and drama into one’s home and took away the demands of daily life. One could be transported to a place where good guys won and laughter abounded. By the late 1930s, radio sets were owned by eight of 10 adults. This was the radio age. What an opportunity for creative individuals to provide content for the new media. You are a team of writers and performers. You are to write the script for and produce a 15-minute pilot for a radio show that you know will be a hit. You will submit it to the program director at NBC.

Under st and the c ompetition Broadway or popular tunes will be On Air Get acquainted with successful played? What will be the theme of your Comedy/So ap Opera programs in the Comedy/Soap play? Opera, Adventure/Hero and Drama/ • If Comedy/Soap Opera, what Amos ‘n Andy Show Variety categories. The Drama/ aspect of contemporary life do you want The Jack Benny Show Variety programs provided musical to include? Where is your program set? performances, plays and conversations What sound effects will help you to The Geor ge Burns and Gracie Allen Show with movie and Broadway stars and convey the setting? What products will The Fred Allen Show authors. Both the Comedy/Soap Opera be advertised during commercials? and Adventure/Hero shows helped • If Adventure/Hero, what qualities Phil Harris/Alic e Fa ye Show listeners to forget their daily concerns are exhibited by your main character? F ibber McGee and Molly or to laugh with others who were Will your hero be modeled after—Clark L um and Abner bumbling through each day. Gable, the Lone Ranger or King Kong? How will you convey the meanness of The Gre a t Gilder sleeve Decide which type o f show you the villain? The Ber gen and McCarthy Show will produc e • If Drama/Variety, Under st and the Medium what writer (Pearl • You have to pace A dventure/Hero S. Buck, F. Scott yourself and project Fitzgerald, emotion without Jack Armstrong, All American Boy Sinclair Lewis), the benefit of a live Sky K ing athlete (Babe audience. The L one Ranger Ruth, Gene • The voice Tunney, Knute and sound effects The Green Hornet Rockne) or work together Gunsmoke performer to create the (John illusion of time Sar ge ant P reston o f the Yukon Barrymore, and place. The Shadow Mary • Music helps Pickford, to create mood Superman Charlie and make Chaplin) transitions. will you • Narrative Drama/Variety interview? is essential. Mer cury The a tre On the Air Which The Chase and Sanborn Hour

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program F ir st Draft of History: He adlines on Trial Is being accused of a crime enough for a conviction? Would professional athletes lose on purpose? If public sentiment is against you, can a good lawyer win your freedom? The complexity of the social and political climate of the two decades between 1920 and 1940 can be understood through study of well-known trials. Through them local and national attitudes are displayed. Facts and details of each case confront laws and justice, innocence and public perception, witnesses and media coverage. Begin reading about your case as it was covered in the pages of The Washington Post.

1921 1924 1931-37 T he Black Sox Trial Illinois vs. L eopold and L oeb Trial Sc o t tsboro Boys Trials Eight Chicago White Sox players were Intelligent and sons of wealth, Nathan In one of the most famous legal cases accused of deliberately losing the 1919 Leopold and Richard Loeb were of the century, nine black teenagers, World Series. Though acquitted, the arrested for the thrill-killing of another who became known as “the Scottsboro eight were banned from baseball for life young man. Their defense’s summation Boys,” were arrested in 1931 for raping by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, is a classic attack on the death penalty. two white women on a train traveling baseball’s first commissioner, above. through Alabama—crimes they clearly did not commit.

1921 1925 1935 Sacc o and Vanzet ti Trial Tennessee vs. John Sc opes Trial Bruno Hauptmann Trial Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco, a “The Monkey Trial” became a clash of An immigrant who served in the shoemaker, and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a legal titans. John Thomas Scopes goes German army in WWI is accused of fish peddler, were arrested for the 1920 on trial for violating Tennessee law by kidnapping and killing the infant son robbery and murder of two men in teaching evolution in his science class. of America’s hero Charles Lindbergh Braintree, Mass. and his wife and author Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program La w and Order Amending the Constitution: The Story Behind the 19th Amendment

A quick glance at the United States than one organization materialized amendment. With President Wilson’s Constitution tells you that in order as leaders of the movement. In the support, the women’s suffrage bill to pass an amendment, a two-thirds early part of the 1900s, two prominent received the two-thirds majority in majority of Congress and three-fourths women’s suffrage organizations both houses of Congress in 1919. The of the states must vote for its passage. struggled for control over the direction bill was then sent to the states, where Sounds simple, right? Now consider of the movement: the National it passed in 1920 by the narrowest that in its two hundred plus years American Woman Suffrage Association of margins —one vote in the state of existence, the Constitution has (NAWSA) and the National Women’s of Tennessee. The decisive vote was only been amended seventeen times Party (NWP). NAWSA, under the cast by 24-year-old legislator Harry (the first ten amendments being the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, Burn, who switched from no to yes in Bill of Rights). What makes passing refused to pressure President Woodrow response to a telegram from his mother an amendment so difficult? The Wilson for a constitutional amendment. saying, “Hurrah, and vote for suffrage!” story behind the passage of the 19th Rather, NAWSA members believed a Amendment demonstrates the difficult state-by-state campaign would result in political calculus involved in obtaining voting rights for women. On the other In the Know the necessary majority to pass a hand, the NWP, led by Alice Paul, were constitutional amendment. convinced that a federal amendment Amendment: To revise or change by to the U.S. Constitution was the only adding a section to a document. The Don’t All Citizens Ha ve T he Right To way to ensure women’s suffrage. While U.S. Constitution requires a formal Vo te? the two groups were dedicated to the process: two-thirds of Congress must In the early years following the same goal, their methods of political approve an amendment, then three- passage of the U.S. Constitution, the lobbying could not have been more voting class was restricted to white, different. NAWSA solicited elite society fourths of all states’ legislatures must male property-owners. Over time, the women in a particular state to pressure ratify it before it can be added to the class expanded to include non-property- the state legislatures into granting Constitution. owning men, and, with the passage of women the right to vote within their the Fourteenth Amendment, African- state. Conversely, the NWP comprised Disenfranchised: To deprive the rights American men. Women were always more of working class women engaged of citizenship, especially the right to left disenfranchised. As early as the in sustained non-violent protest of the vote 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, women White House. began forming political organizations to Enfranchised: To endow with the right lobby for the right to vote. In the 1874 Political Power-Pla y of citizenship, especially the right to case Minor v. Happersett, the Supreme With the outbreak of World War I, Court decided that individual states Alice Paul made the unprecedented vote could grant women the right to vote; decision to picket the White House however, only a handful of progressive during wartime. The risky move paid Ra tify: To approve or express legal states exercised this option. In 1878, off, as NWP suffragists were harassed confirmation the early women suffragists succeeded and eventually arrested. The bogus in getting a federal women’s suffrage arrests of the suffragists, along with Suf frage: The right of privilege of being bill introduced to Congress; however, Paul’s prison hunger strike, led to front- able to vote the bill failed to gain a majority vote. page headlines. The public controversy over the suffragists’ imprisonment Suf fragist: An advocate of the extension T he S truggle W ithin helped force President Wilson into of political voting rights, especially to As with any political movement, more public support of a women’s suffrage women 19 April 27, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY Volume 3, Issue 7

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program Road to the 19th Amendment Amending the Constitution: The Story Behind the 19th Amendment

T he 19th Amendment “T he right of citizens of the United Sta te s to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United Sta te s or by any sta te on acc ount of sex. Congre s s shall have power to enf orc e this article by appropria te legisl a tion.”

The Americans who wrote the Constitution intended for those who believed the document should stand alone and it to establish the basic framework for government, but were those who believed it would need to change over time. For aware that it was not perfect. They intended for it to be a example, George Washington strongly supported the first 10 living, breathing document that could adapt to changing amendments (known as the Bill of Rights), but he cautioned times. For that reason, they included the amendment process to avoid excessive use of the amendment process because he in the main document. There was a struggle between believed it could undermine the nation’s political stability.

T imeline o f Enfranchisement 1848 1916 draws intense criticism and results in Seneca Falls, New York, hosts the first NAWSA president Carrie Chapman many suffragists being arrested at the women’s rights convention. The women Catt and Alice Paul split over differing White House. adopt a “Declaration of Sentiments and opinions on the political strategy to Resolutions” detailing the goals for the gain women’s suffrage. Carrie Catt A ugust 26, 1920 women’s movement. and NAWSA adopt a state-by-state The Nineteenth Amendment is ratified campaign. Alice Paul splits with by a narrow margin. Alice Paul and 1878 NAWSA to form the National Woman’s other suffragists turn their attention The first women’s suffrage amendment Party (NWP). The NWP sets out to to a new cause—the Equal Rights is introduced in Congress but fails to use non-violent political protest to gain Amendment (ERA). The ERA is still gain a majority vote. support for a federal amendment giving awaiting ratification. women the right to vote. 1890 The National American Woman 1917 Suffrage Association (NAWSA) President Woodrow Wilson refuses to is formed under the leadership of support a federal amendment giving Elizabeth Cady Stanton. women the right to vote. In response, the National Woman’s Party organizes 1913 daily pickets in front of the White Alice Paul and Lucy Burns organize a House in a civil disobedience campaign. parade in support of women’s suffrage in downtown Washington, D.C. More 1918 to 1920 than 5,000 women attend. A rowdy World War I causes a major disruption crowd ends up disrupting the march to the suffrage movement as many with violence, leading to a public outcry suffragists are afraid to picket the over the treatment of the marchers. President during wartime. Unfazed, The event ends up becoming a media Alice Paul and the NWP continue to coup for the suffragists. stage daily pickets outside of the White LIBR ARY OF C ONGRES S House. The NWP’s wartime protest Ne w Jer sey suf frage camp aign.

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program Women Get the Vo te Amending the Constitution: The Post reports passage of the 19th Amendment

With leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, the push for female suffrage began in earnest in the mid- 19th century. An amendment to the Constitution that would let women vote was first introduced in Congress in 1878, and though it was defeated, it was reintroduced in every session for the next 40 years. In 1919, the Senate finally passed what would become the 19th Amendment and sent it to the states for ratification.

Exc erpt from A ug. 27, 1920 Post: rival organizations that Secretary amendment of the Constitution. Promulgating the woman Colby affixed his name when he did. “It was decided not to accompany suffrage amendment at 8 o’clock The certificate of ratification by the simple ministerial action of my yesterday morning as a part of the thirty-sixth State did not arrive part with any ceremony or setting. the Constitution of the United at the State Department, in fact, This secondary aspect of the subject States, Secretary of State Colby last until 3:45 o’clock yesterday morning. has, regretfully, been the source night addressed a mass meeting The Secretary was notified at of considerable contention as to of suffragists at Poli’s Theater, his home and he at once called F. who shall participate in it and who carrying the personal greetings and K. Nielsen, department solicitor, shall not. Insomuch as I am not congratulations of President Wilson. instructing him to examine the interested in the aftermath of any The White House message, as papers for possible legal flaws and of the frictions or collisions which delivered, was: to bring the proclamation to the may have been developed in the “Will you take advantage of the Secretary’s home at 8 o’clock. long struggle for ratification of the opportunity that will be offered to The Secretary later issued the amendment, I contented myself with say that I deem it one of the greatest following statement: the performance in the simplest honors of my life that this event so “The certified record of the manner of the duties developed upon stoutly fought for so many years action of the legislature of the me under the law. should have occurred during my State of Tennessee on the suffrage “I congratulate the women of administration as President? And amendment was received by mail the country upon the successful please tell my fellow citizens that this morning. Immediately on its culmination of their efforts, which nothing has given me more pleasure receipt the record was brought to my have been sustained in the face of than to do what I could to hasten house. This was in compliance with many discouragements and which the day when the womanhood of my directions and in accordance have now conducted them to the America would be recognized on the with numerous requests for prompt achievement of that great object. equal footing it deserves.” ... action. “Today marks the day of the The early hour of the signing “I thereupon signed the certificate opening of a great and new era of the declaration was a required of the secretary of State in the political life of the nation. disappointment to leaders of this morning at 8 o’clock in the I confidently believe that every both suffrage organizations, the presence of Mr. F. K. Nielsen, the salutary, forward and upward force National Woman’s Party and the solicitor of the State Department, in our public life will receive fresh National American Woman Suffrage and Mr. Charles L. Cook, also of the vigor and reinforcement from the Association, who had hoped to State Department. The seal of the enfranchisement of the women of the make of the signature something United States has been duly affixed country.” of a ceremony, and it was partly to to the certificate and the suffrage prevent any frictions between the amendment is now the nineteenth (c) 1999 The Washington Post Comp any

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program

Academic Content S t andards (The main lesson addresses these academic c ontent st andar ds.) This lesson addresses academic content standards of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Among those that apply are: Maryland V ir ginia Washington, D.C. Social Studies United States History: 1877 to the Music History. Grade 4: Describe political, Present Cultures. Grade 3: The student identif ies ec onomic and social changes in modern Turmoil and Change. The student will and describes roles (p ast and present) o f Maryland. demonstra te knowledge o f the social, musicians in and/or from Washington, D.C. ec onomic and technological changes o f the Geography. Grades 7: Analy ze and describe e arly twentieth c entury by Social S tudies popula tion growth, migra tion and settlement • describing the social changes tha t took Political Ide as, Turning Point s and p a tterns. plac e, including prohibition and the Gre a t Institutions. Grade 3: The student describes Migra tion north; ex amples o f famous lives, holida ys, United S t a tes History • ex amining art, litera ture and music monument s and buildings tha t rela te to la w, Go al 3.1: S tudent s analy ze the major from the 1920s and 1930s, emphasizing justic e, pe ac e, security and government. political, social, ec onomic, technological and Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington and cultural development s o f the period from Geor gia O’Keef fe and including the Harlem Chronology and Sp ac e in Human History. 1919-1945. These include R enaissanc e; Grade 9: The student rec ognizes the • The 19th Amendment and it s imp act • identifying the causes o f the Gre a t prominent monument s in Washington, D.C. • American response to the world wide Depression, it s imp act on Americans and the c ommunist movement: Sacc o & Vanzetti major fe a tures o f Franklin D. R oosevelt ’s New R eligious, E thical, and Philosophical For c es in Af fair (1927) De al. History. Grade 3: The student demonstra tes • Inf luenc e o f the Harlem R enaissanc e an under st anding o f people, event s, • Continuing imp act o f the Gre a t Migra tion o f English problems and ide as tha t were signif icant in African Americans Writing. Grade 6: The student will write cre a ting the history o f Washington, D.C. Go al 3.1.2: Analy ze the causes o f the Gre a t narra tives, descriptions and explana tions. Depression and e arly responses to it. A c omplete list o f S t andar ds for Te aching and L e arning o f the District o f Columbia P ublic Schools R e ading/English Language Art s A c omplete list o f S t andar ds o f L e arning o f can be found a t ht tp://www.k12.dc.us. Writing: S tudent s will c ompose ef fective Vir ginia can be found on the Web a t ht tp:// www.pen.k12.va.us/. expressive, informa tional and per suasive writing.

A c omplete list o f S t a te Content S t andar ds o f Maryland can be found a t ht tp:// www.mdk12. or g/mspp /st andar ds/.