THE DAWN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The following text is from the 1900s Celebrate the Century stamp sheet.
"Sixty percent of Americans lived on farms or in small towns. Immigrants were arriving at an average of 100 an hour. Railroads dominated land travel, but 1900 saw the first U.S. auto show and 1908 the first family transcontinental car trip. In 1908, Henry Ford made automobiles more affordable with the Model T. The Wright brothers stunned the world with their first airplane flight in 1903, and the game of baseball grew up.
"President Theodore Roosevelt protected 148 million acres as national forests. The first daily comic strip, "Mutt and Jeff," appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. The Ash Can School brought realism back to the art world.
"Muckrakers exposed corruption: Ida Tarbell attacked monopoly in the oil industry, and Upton Sinclair revealed shocking conditions in the meat industry. In 1909, the newly formed NAACP promoted equal rights for African Americans. New words crept into the American vocabulary in this decade -- words such as cheerleader, filmmaker, phony, and psychoanalysis. "
IMMIGRANTS ARRIVE
Ellis Island was the nation's principal immigration station between 1892 and 1954. During the peak decade, 1900 to 1909, an average of 100 immigrants arrived each hour.
Question 1:
About how many immigrants came into the United States through Ellis Island between
1880 and
1930?
The Web site: http://www.ellisisland.org/immexp/wseix_4_3.asp?
You can find the answer to that question by clicking on the timeline for the
1880-1929 time period on the Ellis Island
Immigrant Experience Web page.
1904 ST. LOUIS WORLD'S FAIR
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 was also known as the St. Louis World's Fair. Americans were already enjoying ice cream, but the ice-cream cone became popular at the fair.
Question 2:
How much money did the United States Customs office collect in duties (taxes)
for foreign goods sold in the Palace of Manufacturers building?
The Web site: http://www.bitwise.net/~ken-bill/fair.htm
You can find the answer to that question at the Meet Me at the Fair Web site. Visit The
Heart of the Fair.
KITTY HAWK 1903
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, achieved the first controlled, powered flight in an airplane.
Question 3:
How many flying machines did the Wright Brothers build in their quest for a
practical aircraft?
The Web site: http://www.first-to-fly.com/History/Wright%20Story/inventin.htm
You can find that answer by reading about Inventing
the airplane.
MODEL T FORD
The low-priced, 4-cylinder, 20-horsepower Model T Ford made the automobile more affordable for the average American. One of its nicknames was the "Tin Lizzie."
Question 4:
The 1909 Model T came in four styles -- the touring car, the runabout, the coupe, and the
town car. What was the average cost of a brand new Model T car in 1909?
The Web site: http://www.modelt.org/thecars.html
The answer to that question can be found on the Web site of The Model T Ford Club International. Look
for the Prices link.
PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT
The 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, promoted conservation and earned the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
Question 5:
Teddy Roosevelt became president when President William McKinley was assassinated. Before
he became president, Roosevelt was the governor of New York and a war hero. In which war
did he lead a group called the Rough Rider Regiment to victory?
The Web site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/
You can learn the name of that war on the White House History and Tours Web
site. Click on Teddy Roosevelt on the Presidents Hall page.
ROBIE HOUSE, CHICAGO
Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of the nation's most innovative architects. The masterpiece of his early work, constructed in the Prairie House style, is the Robie House in Chicago.
Question 6:
Why were fireplaces centrally located in Prairie style homes?
The Web site:
http://www.westcotthouse.org/biography.html
You can read Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie style on the
Westcotthouse Web
page. Click "Prairie Style" on the left after reading his
biography.
FIRST WORLD SERIES
The championship games of 1903 are considered baseball's first (modern-day) World Series. Boston, of the American League, beat Pittsburgh, of the National League, five games to three in a best-of-nine series.
Question 7:
Most people didn't expect the Boston Red Sox to win the 1903 World Series, but the Sox did
it by winning the last four games. What was the score of the final game of the series?
The Web site: http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/worldseries/1903.html
Find the answer to that question on the History of the World
Series: 1903 Web page from The Sporting News.
W.E.B. DU BOIS, SOCIAL ACTIVIST
An educator and author, W.E.B. Du Bois promoted the cause of equality for all Americans. He helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Question 8:
In the Forethought section of The Souls of Black Folks,
W.E.B. Dubois identifies the great problem of the Twentieth Century. What is
that problem?
The Web site: http://www.bartleby.com/114/100.html
To find the answer to that question, read the Forethought to
The Souls of Black Folk
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY 1903
The Great Train Robbery, directed by Edwin S. Porter in 1903, was one of the most successful story films. This box-office hit became part of the Western genre.
Question 9:
The first narrative film ever made, The Great Train Robbery, was based on
a true event that happened in August 1900 near Table Rock, Wyoming. In this
movie, bandits blow up a safe and escape with cash. How much
cash did the bandits escape with?
The Web site: http://www.filmsite.org/grea.html
To find the answer to that question, read the story behind The Great Train Robbery.
CRAYOLA CRAYONS 1903
The first box of Crayola crayons was produced in 1903. It cost 5 cents and contained eight colors: black, brown, blue, red, violet, orange, yellow, and green.
Question 10:
Binney & Smith is the company that makes Crayola products.
A. How many colors are available today?
B.Choose your favorite color out of "America's top 50 colors"
and tell me what it is, what # it ranks, and one interesting fact about it.
The Web site: http://www.binney-smith.com/
To find the answer to that question, go to the Crayola
Web site and click on About Crayola on the left side bar.
Then click on
Color Corner. Finally click on
"America's favorite colors" for question A and "Crayola Crayon Colors" for B.