Building a Museum of the 1920s: A History Webquest

Transcription

1 You are the curator! Building a Museum of the 1920s: A History Webquest Introduction "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." Charles Dickens "We are the first nation in the history of the world to go to the poorhouse in an automobile." Will Rogers The twenties and thirties were a dynamic period of boom and bust. In the 1920s Americans were discovering a new consumer culture. Our country was enjoying unprecedented prosperity and economic growth. By the 1930s an overwhelming portion of our population learned about poverty in a very personal way. Over these years the elusive American Dream appeared almost within reach, vanished from the hands of many, and experienced a variety of reinterpretations. As a museum curator you will give young people a feel for this turbulent period of American history! The Scene: Welcome curators! We are pleased to announce a new museum to open this year--where else, but in lovely downtown Central City! You have the opportunity to create a Smithsonian-like exhibit focusing on your area of historical specialty--the 20s. The museum director is awfully fussy about historical accuracy

2 and aesthetics. Your exhibit must authentically represent the period to museum visitors. Using artifacts, news stories, and images, it must creatively draw the attention of all museum-goers! The Task: Your assignment is to: Create an authentic looking exhibit to share with our museum visitors. Each item in the display should be labeled Create and record a script that will appropriately explain the importance of your exhibit and its relation to the American Dream Present your exhibit in class using the script you have created Make sure your exhibit offers the class an interactivity. Engage visitors in your presentation! Document your sources with a Works Cited page Previous museum exhibits: You may choose any of the following categories or invent one of your own (with permission):

3 Technology in the 20s Automobile Movies/Films Radio Household Appliances Lindbergh Flight Era of Suspicion Nativism Immigration Quotas New KKK Red Scare Palmer Raids Sacco & Vanzetti Prohibition & Organized Crime 18th Amendment Speakeasies Bootlegging Volstead Act Mafia Chicago/Capone WCTU: Woman's Christian Temperance Union/Anti-saloon League 21st Amendment Women's Movement 19th Amendment ERA Carrie Chapman Catt Flappers Margaret Sanger Occupational Changes Politics of the 1920's Harding-Normalcy Coolidge Hoover Ohio Gang Boom-Business Cycle Vet's Bureau Scandal Teapot Dome Scandal Sports Celebrities and Heroes Baseball - The Babe Black Sox Scandal Boxing - Jack Dempsey Football - Red Grange Tennis - Bill Tilden/Helen Wills Golf - Bobby Jones Harlem Renaissance Jazz Age Cotton Club Joseph Baker Literature Langston Hughes Entertainment Movies Fads Dancing Amusement Parks Miss America Barnstormers Lost Generation Fitzgerald Lewis Hemingway Philosophy Eliot Pound African-American Independence NAACP Marcus Garvey Rural vs. Urban Values Scopes Trial Revivalism Billy Sunday Art and Architecture Cubism Expressionist NY Museum of

4 UNIA Modern Art The Process The Exhibit: Make sure your exhibit uses an authentic (of the period!) format (See above. For instance, Flapper model in Charleston dance pose.) Please includes the following somewhere in your exhibit: A graphic organizer or timeline of the major events relating to your 20s theme At least five authentic and relevant historic photographs, at least three should come from the AP Photo Archive At least three actual news clippings. A good source for these is the New York Times archived in ProQuest Historical Newspapers At least two documents relevant to your experience during the period (speech, legislation, advertisement, program, etc.) At least three artifacts (or images of) with explanations. These might include: posters, drawings, political cartoons, representations of clothing/fashion, buttons, graphs Every item in your exhibit should be labeled--dated and annotated with a couple of sentences explaining its importance. If asked, you should be able to present the museum director with a rationale for the inclusion of every artifact and image in your exhibit. Make sure every item you select presents a message in a meaningful way. Be historically accurate, but feel free to embellish and to be creative! The Script: You will need to describe your exhibit to visitors. You will be formally introducing your exhibit with the help of this organizer. Summarize your theme in one paragraph Your script should answer the question: How did the culture or events I explored represent, dispel, or reinterpret the American Dream? in a concluding paragraph. The Documentation: Submit a Works Cited page as part of the package. Use MLA Citation format The Presentation:

5 During your presentation: Speak as if you were real museum curator and an expert in your area of knowledge Offer detailed explanations of the contents of your exhibit Engage your audience with good stories and solid presentation skills! Be able to answer questions that your audience presents about your area Resources: Databases: Use our databases, including: Important: Use GaleNet's Student Resource Center Gold, Literature Resource Center, and Biography Resource Center in Catalogs and Databases History Study Center ABC-CLIO American History ProQuest Historical Newspapers and History Online AP Photo Archive Beyond Books Greenwood Daily Life Online Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion History Reference Center (In ACCESS PA EBSCOhost) netlibrary will take you to more than 50,000 ebooks! Some useful links: American Cultural History 20s Kingwood College Chico High School's Links on the 20s Multnomah Homework Center on the 1920s Yahoo! 20s Links History/By_Time_Period/20th_Century/1920s/ BigChalk: Age of Imperialism (1920s) Famous Trials Scottsboro: An American Tragedy Photographs of Signs Enforcing Racial Segregation Jump Jim Crow or What Difference Did Emancipation Make? History of Jim Crow Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance Work 'n' Progress: Stories of Southern Labor Remember: MLA Citation format