US II Unit 1 Writing Project
Using notes and additional research, students will create two historical journal
entries describing the life of an American in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Students will make up an identity and write in the first person - thinking like that
person, describing what life was like at that time.
Students must remain balanced between being creative and demonstrating
historical expertise.
Select 2 of the 6 Events:
1. You join the Rough Riders and help the US defeat the Spanish in Cuba (1898)
2. You fight against the forces of Emilio Aguinaldo in the Philippine-American War (1900)
3. You join the efforts to build a canal across Panama (1904)
4. You narrowly escape death as German U-boats sink the Lusitania (1915)
5. You deliver the intercepted Zimmermann Telegram to President Wilson (1917)
6. You join the Committee on Public Information and travel across the US (1917)
In each entry, the event must be described in detail as well as exactly how the
event impacts America and the life of the student’s chosen identity.
In both entries, knowledge and understanding must be evident.
Graphic Novel
He‛s a larger than life
kind of guy. Most folks
call him T.R., or Teddy.
For years people dreamed of a
channel crossing the isthmus of Panama, a
37-mile-wide strip of mosquito-infested jungle
separating the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Faced with many obstacles, Theodore Roosevelt,
the 26th president of the United States, was
the man who finally made that dream come true.
Speak Softly and Dig a Big Ditch
I proclaim that this new sea,
and all the land it touches, belongs to
His Majesty King Ferdinand of Spain.
25 days to go
45 miles—this place is
fit for El Diablo!
In 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa
was the first European to cross
the isthmus of Panama
to reach the Pacific Ocean.
I know a thing or two
about canals, I built the
Suez Canal. This one should
be a piece of cake.
Quel Dommage!
This project—
she is impossible.
I‛m outta here.
I never want to see
another mosquito!
In 1881, after buying the rights
to the isthmus from Colombia, the
French began construction of a
canal under Ferdinand De Lesseps.
Great profits were anticipated.
The French were eager for a
shortcut to avoid the long and
dangerous route around South
America and Cape Horn.
Whew,
it‛s hot here!
The French efforts ended in 1889,
troubled by the harsh climate, disease,
and financial mismanagement.
Speak Softly and Dig a Big Ditch
We can pick up where
the French left off
—only better.
Let‛s make
it happen!
We‛ll give France $40 million
for the partial canal and
all the equipment.
Oui, oui, it‛s a deal.
Now all you need is
the okay from Colombia.
Roosevelt and his Secretary of State,
John Hay, knew that whoever controlled
the completed canal would have a
military and economic advantage.
Grrrrr!
If it were up to me,
it would be a go.
The Colombian Congress
doesn‛t like the deal.
Teddy will find a way!
You know, Mr. President,
the Panamanians want their
independence from Colombia.
Let‛s make sure
they get it.
November, 1903
In support of Panamanian
independence, ten U.S. warships
were sent to Panama City, as well
as a large U.S. military force.
Speak Softly and Dig a Big Ditch
When Panamanian leaders
declared independence,
Colombia was powerless to stop it.
Libertad!
Woo Hoo!
Problem solved!!
Viva
Panamá!
Adios,
Colombia!
But not everyone on Capitol Hill was happy.
How can Teddy send
U.S. troops without
our approval?
He‛s gone too far.
Panama? Why there?
It should be in Nicaragua!
Two days later, the newly
formed nation of Panama
signed a treaty with the
United States, securing the
canal zone and rights to build
for $10 million.
Get me the best
engineers and commanders—
we‛re building a canal.
Colombia is furious with us.
This will hurt our relationships
in Latin America.
I took the isthmus, started the
canal, and then left Congress not to
debate the canal, but to debate
me…But while the debate goes on the
canal does too.
Speak Softly and Dig a Big Ditch
All we have to do is dam the
Chagres River, using several
locks, to create lakes and
control the water flow.
The isthmus is above sea level. A system of
locks is needed to raise ships to the higher
elevations, then back down to sea level.
Construction began in 1904,
but from the beginning, the effort
was riddled with problems.
along with torrential rains
and dangerous mudslides.
Problems included
blazing heat and humidity,
poor housing and food,
Most serious of all, disease and illness plagued
the canal workers. Mosquitoes that carried
yellow fever and malaria were everywhere. After
one year, the effort seemed destined for failure.
Teddy will fix
this problem!
Speak Softly and Dig a Big Ditch
Things started to look up when
John Stevens was appointed
chief engineer in 1905.
You‛ve built railroads through swamps,
deserts, and mountains. Stevens, I want
you to take over canal construction
and get us back on track.
.
The mosquitoes had to be
controlled for construction
to be successful. The first
thing Stevens did was ask
Colonel William Gorgas to put
his anti-mosquito strategies
to work.
Gorgas had standing water and ditches drained and screens installed. Within
two years most of the deadly mosquitoes were eliminated, reviving canal
construction as well as local towns and businesses.
Pedro Miguel Canal Zone:The President visited the
canal construction zone personally in 1906, trying
his hand at operating a steam shovel and eating
lunch with canal workers.
Hey!
Watch it!
It‛s hard to keep
a guy like Teddy sitting
around at home.
Speak Softly and Dig a Big Ditch
In May 1913, the Panama Canal—a system of lakes, locks,
and dams was completed. It was one of the greatest feats
in engineering history. The canal required a tremendous
amount of time, labor, and money, as well as the personal
force of a remarkable president, to build.
It‛s about time.
President Roosevelt, though no longer in office at the time
of its completion, had left a lasting legacy.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs,
even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those
poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they
live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt, "The Strenuous Life”
Speak Softly and Dig a Big Ditch
Background Summary
In the late 1800s, the United States wanted to expand its holdings and ports around the world
in order to increase trade. The isthmus in Panama, controlled by Colombia, was one target of
expansion. Building a canal across the isthmus to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans would
increase trade as well as add naval protection. President Theodore Roosevelt understood the
advantages of a canal and pushed for its creation. This novel shows the many obstacles he overcame to gain control of the canal zone and complete the canal’s construction.
In 1901, the United States bought the rights to own and run the canal from France for $40 million. Part of this treaty included negotiating land rights with Colombia, but Colombia refused to
agree to a deal. In an effort to acquire the land, Roosevelt and Secretary of State John Hay
encouraged the Panamanian people to declare independence. Two days after declaration, the newly
formed nation of Panama and the American government signed a treaty. The United States
secured the canal zone and the rights to build the canal for $10 million.
Construction of the canal began in 1904 and was riddled with problems from the beginning.
While the canal workers faced disease, poor living conditions, and forces of nature, Roosevelt
dealt with the political problems. The President continued to push for the project’s completion.
The canal opened on August 15, 1914—with little notice from the rest of the world, which was
distracted by the start of WWI. France and the United States spent over $639 million on the Panama Canal. Canal construction required the work of 80,000 people and over 30,000 lives were
lost in the effort.
Activities
Illustrating
Although the Panamanians tried to gain independence before 1903, they were unsuccessful until
the United States government intervened. In the 1890s, the Hawaiian government was overthrown and the territory was eventually annexed and became a state. These actions were
opposed by the majority of Hawaiians. Americans disagreed about the government’s action in
both Hawaii and Panama. Have students review the text and create a graphic organizer comparing American actions and motivation in Panama and Hawaii. Discuss their findings in class. Would
they have supported the president in these cases?
Opinion Writing
Explain how the work done by the government or a business for a specific purpose can affect an
entire community—positively or negatively. Ask students why getting rid of the mosquitoes to
build the canal also helped businesses and towns in Panama. What types of construction or work
done today might have similar affects?
Perspectives on U.S. Intervention
Location Details About U.S. Intervention
From the perspective of the
U.S.,
From the perspective of
Panama,
Because . . .
Because . . .
From the perspective of the
U.S.,
From the perspective of
Mexico,
Because . . .
Because . . .
From the perspective of the
U.S.,
From the perspective of Puerto
Rico,
Because . . .
Because . . .
Location Details About U.S. Intervention
From the perspective of the
U.S.,
From the perspective of the
Philippines,
Because . . .
Because . . .
From the perspective of the
U.S.,
From the perspective of
Hawaii,
Because . . .
Because . . .
From the perspective of the
U.S.,
From the perspective of China,
Because . . .
Because . . .
US Imperialism
Differing Viewpoints
As the United States approached the end of the 1800s, Americans began to debate whether or
not the country should continue to expand overseas. Read the four viewpoints on this handout.
Henry Cabot Lodge: The U.S. Must Expand to Compete
Pointing to the European scramble for colonies, some Americans argued that from a practical
perspective, the United States must expand to compete economically. Their arguments often reflected
a social Darwinist emphasis on “survival of the fittest.” Henry Cabot Lodge, a powerful member of the
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, strongly urged the country to join the imperialist club:
Small states are of the past and have no future. The modern movement is all toward the concentration of people and territory into great nations and large dominions. The great nations
are rapidly absorbing for their future expansion and their present defense all the waste places of the earth. It is a movement which makes for civilization and advancement of the race. As one of the great nations of the world, the United States must not fall out of the line of march.
—Henry Cabot Lodge, “The Business World vs. the Politicians,” 1895
Carl Schurz: The U.S. Should Become a Power for Peace
Others saw imperialism as fundamentally un-American. They wondered how the United States could
spread its democratic ideals abroad if it did not respect the rights of other nations. Anti-imperialist
politician and reformer Carl Schurz acknowledged that the nation should defend its interests. But he
also believed that U.S. foreign policy should promote peace, not conquest:
In its dealings with other nations [the United States] should have scrupulous regard, not only for their rights, but also for their self-respect. With all its . . . resources for war, it should be the
great peace power of the world . . . It should seek to influence mankind, not by heavy artillery, but by good example and wise counsel. It should see its highest glory, not in battles won, but in wars prevented. It should be so invariably just and fair, so trustworthy . . . that other nations would instinctively turn to it as . . . the greatest preserver of the world’s peace.
—Carl Schurz, from a speech to the New York Chamber of Commerce, 1896
Josiah Strong: The U.S. Should Spread “Anglo-Saxon Civilization”
Still other Americans supported imperialism from a moral rather than an economic perspective. They
saw much of the world as living in darkness. It was the duty of the United States, in their view, to
bring the light of freedom and Christianity to those dark places. Josiah Strong, a Christian missionary
leader, was a leader of this group. In his influential book Our Country, Strong wrote that the United
States had a “divine mission” to spread its “Anglo-Saxon civilization” around the world. When he used
the term Anglo-Saxons, Strong was referring to white English-speaking peoples. In his view, AngloSaxon civilization was superior to all others because it was founded on the twin ideas of civil liberty
and Christianity. “To be a Christian and an Anglo-Saxon and an American,” he wrote, “is to stand at
the very mountain top of privilege.” While such views seem racist today, they were widely accepted a
century ago. Strong wrote,
It seems to me that God, with infinite wisdom and skill, is training the Anglo-Saxon race for an hour sure to come in the world’s future . . . Then this race of unequalled energy . . . the representative, let us hope, of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the highest civilization . . . will spread itself over the earth . . . This powerful race will move down upon Mexico, down upon Central and South America, out upon the islands of the sea, over upon Africa and beyond . . . Is there room for reasonable doubt that this race . . . is destined to dispossess many weaker races, assimilate others, and mold the remainder, until, in a very true and important sense, it has Anglo-Saxonized mankind?
—Josiah Strong, Our Country, 1885
Alfred T. Mahan: The U.S. Must Become a Great Sea Power
Other supporters of imperialism were more concerned with national power than the spread of
civilization. This was true of naval officer and military historian Alfred T. Mahan. In an important
book titled The Influence of Sea Power upon History, Mahan argued that sea power was key to national
greatness. The time had come, he believed, for Americans to pay more attention to becoming a major
world power. To Mahan and his supporters, becoming a world power meant building a strong navy.
This would require ships, well-protected harbors, naval repair facilities, and coaling stations overseas in
U.S.-controlled territories like American Samoa. Mahan wrote that influence in world affairs
requires underlying military readiness, like the proverbial iron hand under the velvet glove. To provide this, three things are needful: First, protection of the [nation’s] chief harbors by fortifications and coast-defence ships, which gives defensive strength . . . Secondly, naval force, the arm of offensive power, which alone enables a country to extend its influence outward. Thirdly, it should be an inviolable [unbreakable] resolution of our national policy, that no foreign state should henceforth acquire a coaling position [station] within three thousand miles of San Francisco . . . For fuel is the life of modern naval war; it is the food of the ship; without it the modern monsters of the deep die.
—Alfred Thayer Mahan, “The United States Looking Outward,” Atlantic Monthly, 1890
World War I Song Lyrics
Over There
On Patrol in No-Man’s Land
by George M. Cohan
by James Reese Europe
Johnnie get your gun, get your gun, get your gun
What’s the time? Nine?
Take it on the run, on the run, on the run,
Fall in line
Hear them calling you and me,
Alright, boys, now take it slow
Every son of liberty.
Are you ready? Steady!
Hurry right away, no delay, go today,
Very good, Eddie.
Make your daddy glad to have had such a lad,
Over the top, let’s go
Tell your sweetheart not to pine,
Quiet, lie it, else you’ll start a riot
To be proud her boy’s in line.
Keep your proper distance, follow ’long
Cover, brother, and when you see me hover
Chorus
Obey my orders and you won’t go wrong
Over there, over there,
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming,
There’s a Minenwerfer [German mortar] coming
—look out
The drums rum-tumming everywhere,
Hear that roar, there’s one more
So prepare, say a prayer,
Stand fast, there’s a Very light [flare]
Send the word, send the word, to beware,
Don’t gasp or they’ll find you all right
We’ll be over, we’re coming over,
Don’t start to bombing with those hand grenades
And we won’t come back till it’s over,
There’s a machine gun, holy spades!
Over there.
Alert, gas! Put on your mask
(Repeat)
Adjust it correctly and hurry up fast
Send the word, send the word, over there,
Johnnie get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,
Johnnie show the Hun, you’re a son-of-a-gun,
Hoist the flag and let her fly,
Yankee doodle-doo or die.
Pack your little kit, show your grit, do your bit,
Yankees to the ranks from the towns and the tanks,
Make your mother proud of you,
And the old red white and blue.
Chorus
Drop! There’s a rocket from the Boche [German]
barrage
Down, hug the ground, close as you can, don’t stand
Creep and crawl, follow me, that’s all
What do you hear? Nothing near
Don’t fear, all’s clear
That’s the life of a stroll
When you take a patrol
Out in No-Man’s Land
Ain’t it grand?
Out in No-Man’s Land
Expectations for Celebrity Guests
You are cordially invited to attend a Roaring Twenties party. All celebrity guests attending the
party should understand and follow this list of
guest expectations.
1.When the music is playing, all celebrity guests will mingle with
each other.
2.Use the masks, costumes, or props, in addition to the fun facts on Notebook Handout:
Roaring Twenties Guest List, to determine the identity of each guest. Approach a guest and
ask, “Are you (celebrity guest’s name)?” If you correctly identify the guest, proceed to Step
3. If not, move on to the next guest and ask again.
3.As you talk with each guest about his or her achievements, fill in the appropriate information
on your guest list.
4.When you finish talking with one celebrity, find a new celebrity and repeat Steps 2 and 3.
5.If the music stops playing, stop talking and look at the party host (your teacher). The party
host will select two of the “trend” groups to step into the middle of the dance floor. The
music will play for about 30 seconds while the celebrities in the middle dance the Charleston.
Anyone not dancing should clap, cheer, and shout encouragement to the dancers.
6.Once the dancing and applause stop, return to mingling. As you talk
to different celebrities, repeat Steps 2 and 3. You need to meet at least one celebrity from
each “trend” group: consumerism, transportation, mass media, women’s rights, the Jazz Age,
literature and art, and sports heroes.
Barton’s philosophy was that good advertising appealed
to consumers and created desire for a product. According
to Barton, “The American conception of advertising is
to arouse desires and stimulate wants, to make people
dissatisfied with the old and out-of-date.”1 Barton told his
employees that their ads should have a theme, an interesting
headline, and a purpose to direct consumers to act in a
particular way (usually to buy a product).1 His ads often
used catchy slogans. His advertising firm was also one of
the first agencies to use radio, rather than newspapers and
magazines, for advertising.
Bruce Barton was an enterprising young boy. He started
by selling newspapers. At the age of 16, he was making
more than $600 a year selling his uncle’s maple syrup.1 He
got his start in advertising by selling ad space for Collier’s
magazine. In 1919, he cofounded the advertising firm that
would become Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. His
agency’s main clients included General Electric, General
Motors, and U.S. Steel. Barton grew to be one of the most
successful advertising executives of the 1920s.
Fun Facts
• I began my business career selling newspapers.
• I wrote a bestselling book, The Man Nobody Knows, in
which I depicted Jesus Christ as a successful salesman
and publicist who could serve as a role model for
modern businessmen.
• As part of an ad campaign, I created the character Betty Crocker.
Bruce Barton
Numerous U.S. presidents, heads of foreign states, and
business leaders met or studied with Carver. In 1943, after
Carver’s death, President Franklin Roosevelt established a
national monument for Carver, the first national monument
dedicated to an African American.
In 1896, he became a researcher and professor at Tuskegee
University in Alabama. There, he devised a crop rotation
system to help poor Southern farmers. Part of the rotation
included introducing peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans,
which added nitrogen to replenish the soil. To make these
crops profitable, he invented new uses for them, such as
turning them into dye, printer’s ink, glue, and molasses. He also developed more than 300 new uses for the peanut
(though not peanut butter, as is commonly believed).
George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Missouri.
He learned a great deal about plants while wandering the
fields of the plantation. Carver earned his master’s degree
at Iowa State, where he was the first black student and, later,
the first black faculty member.
Fun Facts
• When working in the laboratory, I often wore a white apron.
• I discovered more than 300 uses for peanuts.
• Because of my love for nature, I was given the nickname
“the Plant Doctor.”
George Washington Carver
Despite the fame that surrounded them, the Lindberghs tried
to lead a normal quiet life. However, tragedy struck on the
evening of March 1, 1932, when their 20-month-old son was
kidnapped from their home and murdered.
After this heroic flight, Lindbergh was honored with awards,
celebrations, and parades. President Calvin Coolidge gave
Lindbergh the congressional Medal of Honor and the Distin­
guished Flying Cross. Lindbergh used his fame to promote
the development of commercial aviation.
While working as an airmail pilot between Chicago and St.
Louis, he decided to compete for a $25,000 prize to be the
first person to fly nonstop from New York City to Paris. On May 20, 1927, Lindbergh’s plane, the Spirit of St. Louis,
took off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, and
landed 331_2 hours later at Le Bourget Aerodrome in Paris.
Charles Lindbergh bought his first airplane in 1923 and
worked as a barnstormer around the country. He earned
many nicknames, the most famous of which was “Lucky
Lindy.”
Fun Facts
• I dropped out of the University of Wisconsin to become
a barnstormer. • On my transatlantic flight, I brought only five sandwiches
with me. • I received the largest ticker-tape parade in New York
City’s history.
Charles Lindbergh
On June 1, 1937, Earhart set off on her 29,000-mile trip
around the world. By June 29, when Earhart and her
navigator, Fred Noonan, landed in Lae, New Guinea, all
but 7,000 miles had been completed. On July 2, Earhart
and Noonan disappeared. Their last report was received at
8:45 A.M. that day. The U.S. government reportedly spent
$4 million searching for them. At the time, it was the most
expensive, intensive air-and-sea search in history.
In 1921, she received her pilot’s license. In June 1928,
she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as a
passenger, making her a worldwide sensation. In 1932, she
became the first woman to complete a solo transatlantic
flight. Then, in 1935, she became the first person to fly
solo across the Pacific Ocean, from Hawaii to California.
Amelia Earhart’s first flight, piloted by Frank Hawks, was the
beginning of her dream to make her mark in aviation. “By
the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground,”
she said, “I knew I had to fly.” Odd jobs, borrowed money,
and a strong desire to succeed pushed her closer to her dream.
Fun Facts
• To keep warm on my cold flight across the Pacific, I
brought a container of hot chocolate.
• While flying, I often wore dresses or suits instead of typical flying gear. I also usually wore a scarf and goggles.
• The U.S. government spent $4 million trying to find me
after my disappearance.
Amelia Earhart
This mass production of automobiles allowed his cars to be
produced at affordable prices. Before Ford’s Model T, cars
were produced individually and cost about $2,000. The cost
of a Model T was less than $500, making it affordable for
many more families. This helped make Americans more
mobile and allowed for the growth of new industries, such
as gas stations and motels, that served mobile Americans.
Henry Ford had a lifelong curiosity and fascination with
machinery. As a young man, he held several jobs as a mech­
anic and accepted apprenticeships with car manufacturing
companies. In 1896, he built his first experimental car,
called the Quadricycle. It ran on bicycle tires and weighed
only 500 pounds. In 1903, he started the Ford Motor
Company, where he applied the principals of an assembly
line to the production of automobiles. Each car was exactly
the same, including the color: black.
Fun Facts
• The first car I invented used bicycle tires.
• I built and drove race cars early in my career.
• I ran, unsuccessfully, for Congress.
Henry Ford
Sarnoff also pushed for the creation of the National Broad­
casting Company (NBC) in 1926. In 1928, he cocreated the
Radio-Keithe-Orpheum (RKO) movie production company.
Sarnoff quickly became a leader in the media industry,
proposing new ideas and inventions, such as the “radio
music box.” Until this time, radios were used primarily
by the military for communication. Sarnoff predicted that
radios would soon be used for entertainment purposes.
In 1920, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) hired
Sarnoff to develop the idea. In 1921, he was promoted to
general manager and then, in 1930, became president of
the company. His vision and passion brought radio into the
homes of many Americans. RCA sales rose considerably
during his time there.
David Sarnoff’s first taste of fame came from his job as a
wireless telegraph operator in New York during the Titanic
disaster. Sarnoff was one of the first to hear and report the
incident. He spent 72 hours straight reporting the names of
the survivors to relatives and the media.
Fun Facts
• People called me “the General,” because I achieved that
rank during World War II.
• I spent 72 hours relaying, by telegraph, the names of the
survivors from the Titanic.
• I predicted the invention of both color television and the
videocassette recorder.
David Sarnoff
Chaplin wrote, directed, and edited most of the films he
appeared in. He made many of the funniest, most popular
movies of his time. He was also one of the most popular
silent film stars. By the end of his career, he owned his own
studio and had cofounded United Artists, a motion picture
production and distribution company. A 1995 worldwide
survey of film critics named him the greatest actor in movie history.
When his hopes, his dreams, his aspirations vanish, he only
shrugs his shoulders and turns on his heel. It is rather a
paradox to admit that this tragic mask has created more laughs
than any other character on the screen or stage. This proves
that laughter is very close to tears and vice versa.
In 1914, he introduced the character that was to become his
trademark: the Tramp. Charlie Chaplin summed up the Tramp’s
popularity:
Charlie Chaplin spent much of his youth in London
orphanages. At the age of 10, he left school to work in British
vaudeville. In 1913, he joined Keystone Films in New York
for $150 a week. By 1916, he was earning $10,000 a week,
making him the highest-paid actor in the world at that time.
Fun Facts
• In my films, I often wore a bowler hat, a dusty suit, and a
small black mustache and carried a bamboo cane.
• I wrote, directed, and starred in most of my own films and
even composed the music.
• I continued to make silent films even after “talkies” had
become popular.
Charlie Chaplin
Paul never saw the ERA become law. Although it was introduced in every session of Congress between 1923 and 1970, it
never made it to the floor for discussion until 1971. Although
both houses of Congress approved it in 1972, it fell three states
short of being ratified. It has since been reintroduced in every
session of Congress since 1982.
Paul was a major organizer of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She was also one of the leading figures responsible for
passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. In 1923, Paul drafted
the equal rights amendment (ERA) and presented it at the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the 1848 Seneca Falls
Declaration of Sentiments. The amendment was a simple one,
which stated, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of sex [gender].”
Alice Stokes Paul was a highly educated woman with six college degrees. After hearing a British suffragette speaker in
London, Paul was inspired to join the Women’s Social and
Political Union in the United States. Due to her activity in this
organization, she was arrested and jailed three times. While in
jail, she went on hunger strikes to protest women not having
the right to vote.
Fun Facts
• In college, I challenged traditional beliefs about women by
participating in field hockey, tennis, and basketball.
• I chained myself to the White House fence once while protesting for women’s suffrage.
• I fought for women’s suffrage by going on hunger strikes.
Alice Paul
Although she was considered wildly radical, her efforts and
ideas paved the way for middle-class voices to be heard and for
less costly, more effective contraceptives to become available.
Her work led to the 1965 Supreme Court decision Griswold
v. Connecticut, which made birth control legal for married
couples—a right that was extended to unmarried people in
1972.
By 1914, Sanger was challenging laws that banned
distribution of contraceptive information. In 1916, she opened
the nation’s first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York.
After being in business only nine days, the clinic was raided.
Sanger and her staff were put in jail. In 1923, Sanger opened
the nation’s first legal birth control clinic. She later formed
a committee to lobby for birth control legislation granting
physicians the right to distribute contraceptives legally.
Margaret Sanger’s mother, Anne Higgins, died from tuber­
culosis at the age of 50. Margaret was the sixth of 11 children,
and she blamed her mother’s early death on her frequent
pregnancies. That belief was the driving force behind Sanger’s
great work on behalf of the women’s birth control movement.
Fun Facts
• I was a trained nurse and worked for years in New York City.
• After being arrested in 1914, I jumped bail and fled to
England for two years.
• I started The Woman Rebel, a radically feminist newspaper.
Margaret Sanger
Armstrong first achieved fame as a cornet and trumpet
player, and his improvisations were legendary. As his
career progressed, his talent as a jazz vocalist became more
important, and he is remembered for his gravelly voice and
inspiring duets. Armstrong is often remembered for making
jazz music widely popular to both white and black audiences.
Jazz musician Louis Armstrong was born into extreme
poverty in New Orleans. As a child, he would sing for
pennies with other kids who wandered the New Orleans
streets, trying to earn money for food. He taught himself
to play the cornet, a brass instrument similar to a trumpet.
He played in brass bands on steamboats traveling along
the Mississippi River, often entertaining wealthy white
audiences. As a young man, he traveled to Chicago and New
York, playing with well-known band leaders. He later began
recording his own music.
Fun Facts
• I often wore a suit while playing the trumpet.
• Because I played more than 300 “gigs” a year and traveled worldwide, I earned the nickname “Ambassador
Satch.”
• I helped write the first ever autobiography of a jazz
musician, Swing That Music.
Louis Armstrong
Smith was popular with both blacks and whites. Her broad
singing range, as well as the emotional intensity of her stage
performances, served as inspiration to other musicians.
By 1920, she had gained a reputation as a performer and
had developed her own act in the vaudeville circuit, which
included singing the blues. In the early 1920s, blues had
become popular enough to sell records. Colombia Records
signed Smith in 1923. Throughout the 1920s, she made
and sold many recordings, often with other famous jazz
musicians, like Louis Armstrong. Smith, known as the
“Empress of the Blues,” was one of the biggest African
American stars of the time. She toured and performed
constantly, which also made her one of the highest paid
musicians in the world, with a reported salary of more than
$2,000 a week.
Bessie Smith is considered one of the most popular blues
singers of all time. She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee,
and was orphaned by the time she was nine years old. In
1912, she was hired as a dancer in a famous traveling show.
Fun Facts
• I often wore long evening gowns.
• The blues songs I sang were often emotional responses to
everyday events.
• People often believe, rather incorrectly, that I bled to
death after an auto accident because a white hospital
refused to treat me on the basis of the color of my skin.
Bessie Smith
Hughes was very influential in the Harlem Renaissance. His
poetry and fiction often centered on the lives of workingclass black Americans, portraying their struggles and joys.
Although he was and continues to be popular with both
blacks and whites, Hughes has served as an inspiration to
generations of African American writers and artists.
In 1925, while working as a busboy in a Washington,
D.C., hotel, he slipped three poems into the bag of Vachel
Lindsay, a guest of the hotel. Lindsay was famous for
public readings and performances of poetry. His rendition
of Hughes’s poems led to an enthusiastic response from
the public, as well as a scholarship for Hughes at Lincoln
University in Pennsyl­vania. By the time Hughes graduated,
he had published two volumes of poetry and one of prose.
Langston Hughes was one of the most prolific poets and
novelists of his time. He began writing poetry as a teenager
and was a published poet before he entered college. His
unhappy childhood and the racist tensions of the time served
as inspiration for many of his poems.
Fun Facts
• When I was younger, my jobs involved extensive travel,
including serving as a messboy on ships and a cook at a
Paris nightclub.
• I have been called the “poet laureate of the Negro race.”
• In my image on the “Black Heritage” U.S. postal stamp, I am featured wearing a fedora.
Langston Hughes
Although Fitzgerald made a good living from his writing,
he and his wife lived extravagantly, renting beautiful homes
and partying and traveling extensively. By the mid-1930s,
Fitzgerald was an alcoholic, in debt, and unable to write.
Despite his enduring legacy, Fitzgerald died believing
himself a failure.
His writing was primarily a social history of the Jazz Age.
He wrote, “It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art,
it was an age of excess, and it was an age of satire.” His
second novel, The Beautiful and Damned, was popular at
the time. However, it was his third novel, The Great Gatsby,
that secured him a place as one of America’s most enduring
writers.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s success as a writer came at an early
age. He began neglecting his studies while at Princeton in
favor of writing. He then dropped out of college and enlisted
in the army during World War I, although the war ended
before he was to be sent overseas. He wrote his first novel
during that time. This Side of Paradise was published and
won him overnight fame and fortune.
Fun Facts
• My wife Zelda and I often did wacky stunts, like bathing
fully clothed in a New York City fountain.
• I once decorated my room with 122 rejection slips from publishers.
• My stories in Tales of the Jazz Age portrayed the wild
youth and the lavish, partying lifestyle of the 1920s.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
O’Keeffe was heavily influenced by, and had an influence
on, the modern art movement of the 1920s. She continued to
produce art into her 90s and remains an inspiration to artists.
In the mid-1920s, O’Keeffe began painting flowers up close.
These have become her most famous works. Nature and
the environment affected her work profoundly. Whether
painting a flower, a skyscraper, or the southwestern horizon,
she successfully used magnification and geometric patterns
in her art. Her work is described as calm and mystical. It
seems driven by emotion and passion.
One of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Georgia
O’Keeffe’s natural talent was recognized and encouraged
early in her life. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago
and the Art Students League in New York. After initial success, she stopped painting, believing she could never achieve
greatness working within the confines of traditional art. Four
years later, after a summer course for art teachers that introduced her to a new method of approaching art, O’Keeffe
began painting again, this time using more abstract methods.
Fun Facts
• My bold paintings were often close-ups of flowers or
parts of flowers.
• Though I was born in Wisconsin, I lived most of my life
in New York and New Mexico. • In college, I joined Kappa Delta sorority. I am now considered their most famous alumna.
Georgia O’Keeffe
His professional sports career in the 1920s eventually earned
him such awards as “Most Outstanding Athlete of the First
Half of the 20th Century” and “Athlete of the Century” from
ABC’s Wide World of Sports. In 1982, 29 years after his
death, Thorpe’s Olympic titles were restored and his name
was put back into the record books.
Thorpe went on to play professional baseball before moving into professional football. He helped form the American
Professional Football Association (later to become the NFL)
and served as its first president in 1920. Between 1920 and
1928, Thorpe played on six professional football teams and
played 52 NFL games before retiring at the age of 41.
In 1912, at the age of 25, Jim Thorpe won gold medals in the
pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympics in Sweden. Upon
returning to the United States, Thorpe was honored with a
ticker-tape parade in New York City. The next year, news­
paper reports claimed that Thorpe had been paid for playing
minor league baseball, violating the strict rules of amateur
status for the Olympics. The Amateur Athletic Union and the
International Olympic Committee voted to revoke his gold
medals and remove his name from the record books.
Fun Facts
• My Native American name, Wa-Tho-Huk, means “Bright Path.”
• In high school, I played football and ran track.
• I won two gold medals in the 1912 Olympics and was
called “the greatest athlete in the world.” Jim Thorpe
Ederle was among the first female athletes to prove that
women were neither physically inferior to men nor incapable of heavy physical activity. Her determination and hard
work illustrated that women could achieve greatness in the
sports arena.
Ederle is most famous for being the first woman to swim
across the English Channel. Her second attempt was successful, despite wind, rain, and heavy swells. She completed
the trip in 14 hours 31 minutes, shattering the existing
record, which had been set by a man, by nearly 2 hours.
At the age of 14, Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle demonstrated
her long-distance swimming abilities by defeating 51 other
women in a 31_2 -mile race. By the age of 17, she held 18
world swimming records and was a member of the U.S.
Olympic swimming team. In the 1924 Olympics, she competed in all five swimming events that were open to women,
winning a gold and two bronze medals. The following year,
she swam from the Battery, in lower Manhattan, to Sandy
Hook, New Jersey. She made the 21-mile swim in 7 hours
11 minutes, beating the men’s record. By that time, she
already held 29 national and world records.
Fun Facts
• I won a gold and two bronze medals at the 1924 Olympics.
• I had to coat myself with lots of lanolin during my swim
across the English Channel.
• As a result of ear damage that I got during my swim
across the English Channel, I eventually became deaf.
Gertrude Ederle