Name:___________________________________________

The Roaring 20’s Webquest

Movies in the 20’s: http://www.1920-30.com/movies
1. Which type of movies were available in the 1910s-1920s? (Hint: The 1920s movie goers experience was largely
Silent Movies
dominated by ….) _______________________________________________________________________________

2. Name two film stars of this era.

• ___________________________________________________
Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Pearl White, Francis X. Bushman
Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Mack Sennet
• ___________________________________________________

3. What was significant about the movie The Jazz Singer? (Hint: Look in the sixth paragraph of the “Silent Movies
The first feature length talking picture to feature a star singer and
Dominated until the Late 1920s” section.)___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
actor. This caused other studeios to begin to produce sound films.

New Technology of the 1920s: http://www.american-historama.org/1913-1928-ww1-prohibition-

era/inventions-in-the-1920s.htm
4. Pick four ‘20s inventions from this site and A) list the invention, B) give the year it was invented, and C) explain
the background of the invention.
Bulldozer- 1923
Liquid Rocket- 1926
• ________________________________________________________________________________________
US Radio Station: 1920-
Band-Aid-1921 Instant camera- 1923
________________________________________________________________________________________
Bread Slicer- 1927
Drive-in Restaurant- 1921 Loudspeaker System- 1924
• ________________________________________________________________________________________
Jukebox- 1927
Lie Detector- 1921 Earth Inductor Compass- 1924 Electrical Television System -1927
________________________________________________________________________________________
The Convertible 1922 Moviola- 1924
• ________________________________________________________________________________________
Garage Disposal - 1927
Audiometer - 1922 Radio Altimeter- 1924 Pressure Washer- 1927
________________________________________________________________________________________
• Television- 1925 Electric Razor 1928
________________________________________________________________________________________
Traffic Signal - 1923
________________________________________________________________________________________
Automatic Watch- 1923 Garage Door Opener- 1926 Sunglasses - 1929

1920s Slang: https://kcts9.org/prohibition/flapper-slang-talk-1920s-talk Frozen Food- 1929

5. Use the site to define the following slang terms from the 1920s:
Dressing Up
• Dudding Up:_____________________________________________________________________________
A chronic Bore
• Gimlet:__________________________________________________________________________________
• Bean Picker:_____________________________________________________________________________
An individual who attempts to patch up trouble
• Whiskbroom:_____________________________________________________________________________
Man with whiskers
Something highly sought after
• Cat’s Meow:______________________________________________________________________________
• Father Time:_____________________________________________________________________________
Any man over 30 years of age
Jazz: http://americanhistory.si.edu/smithsonian-jazz/education/what-jazz
A type of music in which improvisation
6. What is jazz? (Hint: Look in the first section titled “What is Jazz.”)______________________________________
is important. In most jazz performances players play solos which they make up on the spot.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
7. What are "call-and-response" patterns in jazz? (Hint: Look in the first section titled “What is
Jazz.”)________________________________________________________________________________________
Where one instrument, voice, or part of band answers another
______________________________________________________________________________________________
8. What city played a key role in the development of jazz? (Hint: Look in the section titled “The Growth of Jazz.”)
New Orleans
_____________________________________________
9. In what year were the first recordings of jazz made? (Hint: Look in the section titled “The Growth of Jazz.”)
_____________________________________________
1917
Flappers: https://www.stmuhistorymedia.org/the-roaring-20s-flappers/
10. Read the article about Flappers of the 1920s and list FIVE words that describe them.

. There are a variety of correct answers

. Flappers
.

. .
The Harlem Renaissance: https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/new-african-american-identity-harlem-
renaissance
11. Why did hundreds of thousands of African Americans relocate to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit,
Philadelphia, and New York? (Hint: Look in the third paragraph.)_______________________________________
Booming economies across the North and
______________________________________________________________________________________________
midwest offering industrial jobs for workers of every race.
12. How many African Americans were drawn to the Harlem section of Manhattan? (Hint: Look in the third
175,000
paragraph.) ________________________________________________
Poetry and prose, painting
13. What did the Harlem Renaissance encompass? (Hint: Look in the fifth paragraph.) _________________________
and sculpture, jazz and swing, opera and dance.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Name two intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. (Hint: Look in the sixth paragraph.)
W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Cyril Briggs
• __________________________________
• __________________________________
Walter Francis White
15. Name two performers of the Harlem Renaissance. (Hint: Look in the sixth paragraph.)
• __________________________________
Josephine Baker
• __________________________________
Paul Robeson
16. Name two writers/poets of the Harlem Renaissance. (Hint: Look in the sixth paragraph.)
• __________________________________
Zora Neale Hurston, Effie Lee Newsome
• __________________________________
Countee Cullen
17. Name two musicians of the Harlem Renaissance. (Hint: Look in the sixth paragraph.)
• __________________________________
Louis Carmstong, Count Basie, Eubie Blake, Cab CAlloway, Duke Ellington
• __________________________________
Billie Holiday, Ivie Anderson, Josephine Baker, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton etc.
18. Why was the “heyday” of the Harlem Renaissance cut short? (Hint: Look in the eighth paragraph.)___________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression
19. How was the Harlem Renaissance’s impact on America indelible? (Hint: Look at the ninth paragraph.) ________
The movement brought notice to the great works of African American art, and inspired and influenced future
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
generations of African American artists and intellectuals.

1920s Sports: https://www.ncpedia.org/sports/golden-age-sports

20. Why has the 1920s been called the Golden Age of American Sports? (Hint: Look in the first paragraph after the
sentences, “The 1920s has been called the Golden Age of American Sports. It also has been called the Age of the
Spectator.”)____________________________________________________________________________________
The US had a stong economy for most of the decade. Workers had more leisure time. New and
bigger stadiums and gymnasiums were built. Radio made it easier for fans to keep up with their teams.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Newspapers increased coverage of sports and improvements in roads made it possible to travel.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Baseball
21. What was the national pastime in the 1920s? (Hint: Look in the second paragraph.) ________________________
22. Who was the most famous athlete in the U.S. in the 1920s? (Hint: Look in the second paragraph.)
____________________________________________
George Herman "Babe" Ruth
23. What was the most famous 1920s college football team, and who coached that team? (Hint: Look in the second
paragraph.) ____________________________________________________________________________________
Notre Dame, Knute Rockne
Boxing, horse racing,
24. Name three other popular sports of the 1920s (other than baseball and college football). _____________________
golf, and tennis
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Aviation of the 1920s: https://www.aiaa.org/about/History-and-Heritage/History-Timeline

25. Choose one event from each year on the timeline of “The History of Flight from Around the World,” and describe
that event in your own words. (Scroll down and click on the “1920s” link.)
• 1920-___________________________________________________________________________________
First transcontinental mail service
________________________________________________________________________________________
Bessie Coleman becomes first African-American woman to receive FAI pilots license.
• 1921-___________________________________________________________________________________
Wesley May completed the first mid-air refueling
________________________________________________________________________________________
Began registration of American aircrast to benefit insurance companies
• 1922-___________________________________________________________________________________
USS Langley commissioned as an airplane carrier. More events listed
________________________________________________________________________________________
• 1923-___________________________________________________________________________________
Radio-controlled airplane flew without a pilot. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. delivers the TC_1, the
largest nonrigid dirigible. Many more events possible.
________________________________________________________________________________________
US Army Air Service planes avert a flood in Platte River Valley Nebraska
• 1924-___________________________________________________________________________________
First round the world flight is completed in Seattle, Washignton. ETC
________________________________________________________________________________________
• 1925-___________________________________________________________________________________
25 airplanes take scientists above the clouds to view a total eclipse of the sun
Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc., is organized
________________________________________________________________________________________
Post Office Department puts new 10-cent airmail stamp on sale.
• 1926-___________________________________________________________________________________
Robert Goddard launches the World's first liquid propellant rocket in an orchard
________________________________________________________________________________________
• 1927-___________________________________________________________________________________
Spirit of St. Louis : First nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic by Charles Lindbergh
________________________________________________________________________________________
The new Wright Field is dedicated in Dayton, Ohio
• 1928-___________________________________________________________________________________
Avro Avian: First solo England to Australia flight by Bert Hinkler
________________________________________________________________________________________
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to cross the Atlantic
William Green developed the first automatic pilot used on an airliner
• 1929-___________________________________________________________________________________
Fritz Opel of Germany flew the first rocket-powered plan for 1 minute 15 seconds.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Prohibition: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/unintended-consequences/
26. Prohibition was the attempt to outlaw alcohol in the United States. What did the 18th Amendment prohibit?
(Hint: Look in the "Uneven Enforcement" section in paragraph one.) Prohibited the manufacture. sale, and
transportation of intoxicating beverages.
__________________________________________
27. What did the 18th Amendment not outlaw? (Hint: Look in the "Uneven Enforceent" section in paragraph one.)
_____
It did not outlaw the possession or consumption of alcohol.
28. Explain how prohibition made the "plea bargain" a common practice in the American judicial system. (Hint:
There was a backlog of cases so they used the
Look in “The Greatest Consequence” section in paragraph two.)_________________________________________
plea bargain to clear hundreds of cases at a time.
______________________________________________________________________________________________