1. Music and Popular Culture Ch. 22, Section 3
The Jazz Age
Music and Popular Culture
Ch. 22, Section 3

2. Fads and Heroes of the 1920’s
Dance fads that expressed the energy and optimism of the 1920s included the Charleston, Lindy Hop, Black Bottom and the Breakaway.
Other fads included flag pole sitting,
Mah-Jongg and dance marathons.
Jazz Age Chapter 22, Section 3

3. Heroes Sports stars became American symbols and heroes
Baseball player: Babe Ruth
Swimmer: Johnny Weissmuller
Football player: Red Grange
Golf Champion: Bobby Jones
Tennis Stars: Bill Tilden, Helen Willis
Boxer: Jack Dempsey
The most loved hero of the decade was Charles Lindbergh. He was the first to make a nonstop flight across the Atlantic. His flight symbolized American energy and optimism.

4. Jazz Greats
Jazz was born in the nightclubs and dance halls of New Orleans.
Jazz combined rhythms from west Africa, work chants and spirituals from the rural south and harmonies from Europe.
Many famous Jazz artists included Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and Duke Ellington.
Jazz emphasizes improvisation and experimentation.
Older generations actually believed that Jazz undermined the morals of America’s young people.

5. Literature
The 1920’s produced some of the most influential writers in American history.
Some novels reflected the exuberance of the era as well as criticized its excesses.
These novels included F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt.
Ernest Hemingway’s book A Farewell to Arms captured the antiwar sentiment of the time.

6. Harlem Renaissance
A vibrant African American culture known as the Harlem Renaissance began to develop in New York City neighborhoods.
African American writers reacted to the prejudices African American writers faced.
The works of Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson and Zora Neale Hurston expressed racial pride.
Langston Hughes is one of the most famous poets to come out of this decade. He wanted his poems to express pride in African American culture.