Junior Docent School Program - Milwaukee Art Museum

Growth and Change in the Nation (1871 – 1955)
The United States changed from a pioneer nation to a world power between 1890 and
1920. Industry produced coal, steel, and oil. Inventors produced electricity, the
telephone, phonograph, automobile, and airplane. Serious growing pains were felt in the
nation. Labor unions were organized and protested low wages and working conditions.
Farmers protested low prices. The U.S. was drawn into world politics.
Prosperity grew between 1920 and 1954. In the 1920s, people focused on the home
front and fun entertainment. The radio and movies were popular, as well as jazz. But a
sudden change occurred with the Great Depression of the 1930s. The economy
suffered greatly and many people saw their jobs disappear. Recovery was slow and the
country was in another war before the recovery was complete. World affairs and politics
became increasingly important.
1871 The Chicago fire – one third of the city is destroyed
1872 Yellowstone is named the first national park
1873 Oscar Levi Strauss sells his first pair of blue jeans
1876 Alexander Graham Bell applies for the patent for the telephone
1879 Thomas Edison develops the incandescent light bulb. He patents the phonograph in
1877.
1880 The Brooklyn Bridge is completed – longest suspension bridge in the world
1881 Clara Barton, a civil war nurse, founds the American Red Cross
1886 The American Federation of Labor is founded and replaces the Knights of Labor
1888 George Eastman invents an inexpensive camera for popular use
1889 Jane Addams opens Hull House in Chicago – to provide services for the slum dwellers in
the growing city
1893 The Panic of 1893 causes business failures and unemployment
1898 Hawaii is annexed by the United States
The Spanish-American War – Spain and America battle over land in the Caribbean and
the Pacific
1901 Theodore Roosevelt becomes President
1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully fly the first airplane
1904-14 The Panama Canal is built to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
1909 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is organized
1914 World War I breaks out in Europe
1915 The Ku Klux Klan is organized in Georgia
1917 Communists overthrow the Russian government
1917-18 U.S. in World War I
1920 The 19 th Amendment is passed giving women the right to vote
1921-29 Congress begins passing laws to restrict immigration
1924 Indians are granted American citizenship
1927 The first talking motion picture is released, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson
1927 Charles Lindbergh flies his plane alone, The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic Ocean
from New York to Paris. It takes 33 hours.
1929 The stock market crashes leading to the Great Depression
1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes President
Congress passes Social Security Act
1933-38 The New Deal begins as Congress passes programs, including the Emergency Banking
Relief Act, Agricultural Adjustment Act, Tennessee Valley Act, National Industrial
Recovery Act, Social Security Act, Fair Labor Standards Act.
1939 World War II begins in Europe
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JDSP – Docent Packet
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