1. Life at the Turn of the 20 th Century Ch 16 Notes

2. 16. 1: The Expansion of Education  Public Schools  By Civil War, more than ½ of nation’s white children were attending free public schools  Many left at early age to work  1870: only 2% of 17 yr olds graduated from high school  School year was November to April to help in fields with farming  People realized more schooling was required with industrialization  Pressured state govs to increase school funding, lengthen the school year, and limit child labor

3. Education Cont.  By 1900, 31 states had laws requiring children between 8 and 14 to attend school  By 1910, nearly 72% of American children attending school  Graduation rate among 17 yr olds rose to 8.6%

4. Schools  One-room schools  Learned many lessons by rote  Read aloud from texts called McGuffey Readers  Studied geography, history, grammar, reading, writing, and mathematics  Teachers disciplined with the threat of physical punishment

5. Immigrants and Education  Many immigrants valued American public education as way for their children to become successful Americans  Wanted their children to be literate  Not only children went to school  Played important role in assimilating immigrants (American cultural values, cook American foods, play American sports/games)  Some resisted Americanization  Immigrant cultures mixed with American too

6. Uneven Support for Schools  Not everyone benefited equally  Whites and African Americans were segregated and African American schools received less funding  Mexican Americans and many Asians were also separated and their schools got less $  In 1900, only small percentage of Native American children received any formal schooling

7. High Education Expands  Between 1880 and 1900 >150 new colleges and universities opened  Wealthy Americans endowed (gave $ or property to) institutions of higher learning  College enrollment >doubled between 1890 and 1910 (still small %)  By 1915 some middle class families were beginning to send their children to college  Advanced education made US different

8. Women and Higher Ed  Private women’s colleges opened like New York’s Vassar College in 1865  Increased pressure on men’s colleges to admit women  Many opened private schools for women like Harvard opened Radcliffe College in 1879  Coeducational opportunities also increased

9. Women’s ed continued  Most scholarships went to men  Women faced discrimination against educating women  Struggled to gain access to most state- funded institutions  Faced prejudice within the colleges

10. African Americans and Higher Education  Only a few colleges accepted African Americans  In 1890 only 160 African Americans were attending white colleges  Some African American colleges opened  Many accepted women but the number was small because of financial issues

11. Perspectives on African American Ed  Booker T. Washington  Teach skills and attitudes that would help succeed  Put aside desire for political equality and prove economic security  Vocational education  Will get white acceptance eventually  W.E.B. DuBois  First African American to earn PhD from Harvard  Brightest African Americans must step forward and lead their people in quest for political and social equality and civil rights  Seek liberal education not just vocational  Founded Niagara Movement that called for full civil liberties and end to racial discrimination  Worked with NAACP for long time

12. 16.3: World of Jim Crow  Post-Reconstruction Discrimination  Voting Restrictions:  Poll tax  Literacy tests  Grandfather clauses meant to get poor white vote back  Segregation  De facto: result of custom  Jim Crow laws (many in South but all over)

13. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)  Supreme Court upheld many Jim Crow laws  “Separate but equal” doctrine  Segregation is ok as long as it’s separate but equal  Separate was NOT equal

14. Violence Broke Out  System of customs or etiquette required black people to show deference to white people  Small breaches of this could lead to serious trouble for African Americans like losing their jobs or being subjected to violence

15. Lynching  Murder of an accused person by a mob without a lawful trial  Estimated 1,200 black people lynched between 1882 and 1892  Sometimes included a mock trial  Sometimes body was mutilated before being hanged or shot up  Those who did it were rarely punished  Most were in South but some in North

16. Race Relations in North  Not perfect  Many African Americans moved there to escape violence and legal segregation  Found de facto discrimination instead in schools, housing, and employment  Race riots in NYC in 1900 and Springfield, IL in 1908

17. Resisting Discrimination  Black leaders began to find new approaches to race problems  Some supported emigration to Africa  Niagara Movement: under Du Bois in 1905 to denounce all discrimination  NAACP formed in 1909 to abolish segregation and discrimination, to oppose racism, and to gain civil rights for African Americans  Works primarily through courts  First real victory in 1915 when Supreme Court declared grandfather clauses unconstitutional

18. Overcoming Obstacles  Early 1900s African American mutual aid and benefit societies multiplied  Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations developed separate programs for African American youth  National Urban League (1911) improved job opportunities and housing for blacks

19. Continued…  Intellectuals published literature, history, and groundbreaking sociological studies  George Washington Carver became known for scientific and agricultural research at Tuskegee Institute  American Negro Academy est in 1897  Black-owned businesses were est  Washington founded National Negro Business League in 1900 to help

20. Still more…  Madam C.J. Walker spoke at annual meeting of Negro Business League in 1912  Developed a successful business styling hair for African American women, opened mail-order business for hair products, and est a chain of beauty parlors and training schools  Moved to NYC and African American leaders gathered in her home  Gave speeches for black welfare, education, and civil rights

21. 16.2: New Forms of Entertainment  Vaudeville: inexpensive variety show  Minstrel Show: perpetuated racial stereotypes  Movies (nickelodeons)  Charlie Chaplin  Circus  Amusement Parks  Sports (baseball, horse racing, boxing, football, basketball)  Some for women too

22. What were people reading?  Newspapers  Yellow journalism: sensationalistic  Joseph Pulitzer: St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York World  William Randolph Hearst: New York Journal  Magazines  Cosmopolitan  Popular Fiction  Huck Finn

23. Musical Diversions  African American Spirituals  Folk songs performed for white audiences  Ragtime and Jazz  Ragtime: originated in South and Midwest  Jazz: originated in New Orleans  Became VERY popular  Music at Home  player piano, phonograph (birth of music biz)

24. 16.4: Changing Roles of Women  Work in the Home  Less physically demanding and time consuming  Vacuums, canned foods  Becoming Consumers  Departments stores: Macy’s in NYC  Rural free delivery (RFD)  Mail-order catalogs (Sears Roebuck and Co)

25. Working Outside the Home  1870: nearly 2 mill women/girls worked outside the home  Many were single  Domestic work (servants)  Factory work (16-24)  Nurses or teachers  Clerical work (typists)  Few physicians, ministers, and lawyers

26. Volunteering  During Civil War volunteer work needed  Continued afterward  Organizations for intellectual and social reasons  Groups combined into national associations  Women’s Christian Temperance Assoc.  National American Woman Suffrage Assoc.

27. New Ideas  Women wanted economic and political rights  Dress and behavior changed: shorter hairstyles, higher hemlines, skirts and blouses  Courting and Marriage customs changed  Higher expectations of fulfillment  Divorce rate rose