The Golden Twenties

At the New York Public Library, a young boy decides to write a school paper about the 1920s. To help him, historian Frederick Lewis Allen announces that he will cover manners and customs of the period; comedian Robert Q. Lewis will talk about Broadway, movies, theater and nightclubs; radio commentator Allen Prescott will point out the lighter moments of history; sports announcer Red Barber will discuss sports; and news commentator Elmer Davis will look at politics. As the United States celebrates the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson meets with European leaders, hoping to make the world "safe for democracy." Meanwhile, Americans watch baseball and "human flies," people who climb tall buildings. Skirts are shortened; traffic jams are seen for the first time; airplanes fly across the ocean; and the post office starts airmail service. Prohibition begins. War heroes Sergeant Alvin York, General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing and Admiral William Sims are honored, and the American Legion is formed by war veterans. In some cities, there are race riots and the Ku Klux Klan spreads through the country. Prolonged and savage strikes are led by people like Mother Jones, William Green of the A.F.L. and Phil Murray and John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers. In Boston, a police strike is ended by Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge. Communist organizations are raided, and Emma Goldman and others are deported. The Sacco and Vanzetti case raises controversy around the world. Vaudeville stars such as Harry Houdini and Gallagher and Shean are so popular that they are mobbed after every performance. Beauty parades and marathon dances are held. Ruth St. Denis starts a dance troupe, and artists Anna Pavlova and Feodor Chaliapin leave Russia after the Bolshevik takeover. Pole Ignace Paderewski scores as a politician as well as renowned pianist, while operatic tenor Enrico Caruso enjoys immense popularity. Despite Wilson's efforts, the U.S. Senate, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. keeps the country out of the League of Nations. Women win the right to vote. After he is elected president, Warren G. Harding pardons socialist leader Eugene V. Debs and calls a conference to limit naval armaments. The jazz age begins, signaled by short hair and no corsets for women. The increasingly accessible automobile makes sex easier for young people. Movie producers hire Will Hays to keep sex and violence out of films. Famous stars of the times are Rudolph Valentino, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Will Rogers, Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. Al Jolson makes the first full-length sound movie. Gangsters such as Al Capone are supported by wealthy bootleggers. Looking for moral leadership, people turn to evangelists like former baseball player Billy Sunday. Dr. Adolf Lorenz develops a bloodless surgery technique. After educator John Scopes is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, Clarence Darrow defends him against William Jennings Bryan's prosecution, but Scopes is found guilty. Harding dies in 1923 and Vice-President Calvin Coolidge becomes President. Soon after, irregularities in the Harding administration are revealed. The biggest scandal, known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, concerns the secret lease of government-owned oil fields to millionaire Harry F. Sinclair's oil company. In 1924, Coolidge is elected president. A boom in Florida real estate sales ends after a hurricane destroys much land there. In sports, Babe Ruth breaks home run records and helps the Yankees win the 1927 World Series against the Pirates in four straight games. American Bobby Jones wins the British Open, the British Amateur, the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur golf tournaments. Man O'War wins nine out of his ten horse races as a two-year-old and all eleven as a three-year-old. Resd Grange and Knute Rockne are football stars. Johnny Weismuller earns accolades as the fastest swimmer in the world, and Gertrude Ederle swims the English Channel in fourteen and a half hours to set a new record. Bill Tilden, Molla Mallory and Suzanne Lenglen are tennis champions, but Helen Wills is the best of all. Jack Dempsey, known as the Manassa Mauler, is boxing champion for seven years until his loss to Gene Tunney. Michael Arlen, Joseph Conrad, H. G. Wells and John Galsworthy are popular writers of the period. Radios broadcast new jazz bands and news about the sensational Halls-Mills murder. Floyd Collins is trapped in a cave and dies before rescue workers reach him eighteen days later. In music, Lawrence Tibbett, Rosa Ponsell, Madam Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Grace Moore, Marion Talley, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin are well-known names. Music hall star Harry Lauder visits from England. Earl Carroll's Vanities shows display the beauty of American women. Rudolph Valentino's funeral draws thousands. Automobile racing is popular and advances in aviation lead to Charles Lindbergh's solo crossing of the Atlantic. The automobile industry booms. In politics, The Kellogg-Briand Pact outlaws war as an instrument of national policy. Alfred E. Smith, the Democratic nominee for president, is defeated by Herbert Hoover. Prosperous Americans vacation in Florida and frequent nightclubs, until the 1929 stock market crash ushers in the Depression.