Essays

• Historiography of the 1920s

  Some points of view about the 1920s have changed over the years but many have remained the same. This is not to say that the ideas were missed completely but…

  April 30, 2025

• Revisiting the History of the 1920s: An Analysis of Historiographical Articles

  Summaries In 2007, David J. Goldberg, a white professor of history at Cleveland State University,  provided an overview of the evolving way in which historians have analyzed the 1920s in…

  April 29, 2025

• Historiography of the 1920s

  Introduction As the context in which history is interpreted changes, historical interpretations change as well. For example, the way that historians view minority groups today is very different from how…

  April 24, 2025

• The Winter Olympics and Pluralism

  Since the dawn of time, sporting events served as a space where people of different cultures and backgrounds can come together in the spirit of athletics and friendship… One of…

  April 2, 2025

• The Banana Massacre: A Story of Corporate Violence 

  On December 5th, 1928, Colombian laborers and their families gathered at Ciénaga’s train station to negotiate the terms of their strike against the United Fruit Company with the Governor of…

  April 1, 2025

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  Miss America: Religion and the Callback to Older Ideas of Femininity

  In the 1920s, American culture was increasingly becoming more secularized, creating tensions between modernity and traditional religious values. The first “Miss America” pageants embodied these conflicts, as it became both…

  April 1, 2025

• Prohibition and the Rise of Ice Cream

  The rise of ice cream was directly related to Prohibition in the 1920s. Prohibition was a change in ideas about the way people lived and acted, with some motivations that…

  April 1, 2025

• Bessie Coleman, Pluralism, and being Black During the 1920s

            Growing up as part Native American and part African-American in the early 20th century, Bessie Coleman was a prime example of the struggles of handling a pluralistic identity during the…

  March 29, 2025

• The Weary Blues of Prohibition and “The New Woman”

  Langston Hughes was one of the most prominent voices of the 1920s through the Harlem Renaissance which celebrated Black culture, creativity, and intellectualism. Langston Hughes’ poetry Collection The Weary Blues…

  February 26, 2025

• A “New Woman” Gertrude Ederle: The First Woman to Successfully Swim the English Channel.

  The idea of the “new woman” began on August 18, 1920. This date signified the day women were given the right to vote on a national level. Empowered by growing…

  February 26, 2025