Twentieth Century

 

Based on the collections of the Georgia Historical Society, the following online educational exhibit has been prepared for students and educators. Ten events from the twentieth century have been identified and are illustrated with a brief description and examples of supporting primary documents.

 

For larger images of the visual materials presented, you may click on the thumbnails of documents in each section. Click on the thumbnails of documents to enlarge them, or for hard-to-read documents, click on the link to transcript for a typed version of the text.

 

Automobile Racing	Women's Suffrage Movement	Korean War
Wright Brothers	Great Depression & New Deal	Civil Rights Movement
Girl Scouts of America	Gone with the Wind
World War I	World War II

 

 

Automobile Racing

The Southern High-Powered Cup, March 18, 1908   MS 2168 Julian K. Quattlebaum Collection, Series 1, Box 1, Folder 5

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Charles and Frank Duryea unveiled the first gasoline-powered automobile in 1892 and applied for a United States patent in 1895. As the automobile spread through the nation during the early 20th century, racing became an important tool to introduce the vehicles to different levels of society and encouraged development of the technology. A group of Savannah, Georgia, businessmen brought automobile racing to Savannah in 1908. The first set of races, held on March 18 and 19, 1908, drew thousands of spectators along the course on the outskirts of the city. The races, combined with Henry Ford's system of assembly line production, introduced the automobile to middle-class American families and cleared the way for the development of suburbs outside of cities, in areas previously inconvenient to jobs and stores.

   

Official Program from the Savannah Automobile Races, March 18-19, 1908

MS 2168 Julian K. Quattlebaum Collection, Series 1, Box 1, Folder 1

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Julian K. Quattlebaum wrote The Great Savannah Races in 1957, recalling the three

years of automobile races held in Savannah from March 1908 through November 1911. A collection of his papers and research includes several mementos and souvenirs of these races, and photographs of the route and teams.

 

"Watching the Races," March 19, 1908

MS 2168 Julian K. Quattlebaum Collection, Series 1, Box 1, Folder 3

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Teaching Tips:

1. Discuss how the races specifically led to the development of many of Savannah's suburban roads.
2. Discuss how the automobile impacted where and how people lived.
3. Discuss how assembly line production changed American industry.

 

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In the United States, the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, are generally credited with the design and construction of the first practical airplane and the first controlled, powered flight. The Wright brothers spent three years in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina experimenting with gliders. In 1903, they applied for a patent for a "Flying-Machine"
which gave the pilot the ability to control movement. In the same year, they built the
Wright Flyer powered by an engine and wood propellers. On December 17, 1903, both brothers made two historic flights in the Wright Flyer, witnessed by five people.

Arthur Joseph Funk (1898-1975), a Savannah educator and politician, learned to fly on a single propeller plane similar to the one seen in this photograph. On the back of the image of Ginger he wrote, "I learned to fly safely and also acrobatics in it - AJF."

 

Teaching Tips:

1. Discuss important milestones in aviation history, including the first flights across the Atlantic Ocean and around the world.
2. Discuss the national space program and its achievements.

 

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Girl Scouts of America

 

Girls Scouts of Savannah with their founder, Juliette Gordon Low, c.1917-1919

MS 403 Walter John Hoxie Papers, Item 8

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On March 12, 1912, Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927), known as Daisy, organized the first troop of Girl Scouts in Savannah, Georgia, with only eighteen girls. Low based the youth organization for girls on the Boy Scouts of England after meeting its founder, Robert Baden-Powell, in London. Low desired to give all young girls something to bring them out of their homes to serve the community and experience the open air. The first Girl Scout Camp was at Lowlands at Bona Bella, outside of Savannah.

Walter John Hoxie (1848-1934), a native of New York, had moved to Bona Bella in
1901. The naturalist formed a nature group for young girls, many of whom were among the first Girl Scouts. Hoxie wrote the first Girl Scout Handbook called How Girls Can Help Their Country.

 

Professor Hoxie playing his violin for the Girl Scouts, at Lowlands, Bona Bella, c.1917-1919

MS 403 Walter John Hoxie Papers, Item 7

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Teaching Tips:

1. Visit the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace at 10 East Oglethorpe Avenue in Savannah (www.girlscouts.org/birthplace).
2. Discuss how students can make a difference in the community through various organizations and programs.

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World War I

 

World War I, also known as the "Great War" or the "War to End All Wars," was sparked by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, in June 1914. However, the roots of the conflict trace back to a complex system of alliances between European powers starting during the mid-19th century. The United States, adhering to a policy of isolationism, stayed out of the conflict until April 6, 1917, when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare became unbearable. The war ended on November 11, 1918, when Germany signed an armistice with the Allied Nations.

 

Oliver Jelks Diary, May 17-22, 1918

MS 1652 Jelks Diaries

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Typed transcript

 

The affects of World War I would be far reaching. In no previous war had so many
soldiers been mobilized, so many nations involved, and so many casualties suffered.
Chemical weapons were used for the first time and trench warfare played an important role. The war ended absolute monarchy in Europe with the collapse of four royal dynasties. The defeat of Germany and the failure of the nations to resolve the actual causes of the war led to the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany and the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and later to the Cold War.

 

"The Casuals, and the wounded men, in automobiles, passing the Community Service Club in the parade which started a day of festivities in Savannah to commemorate the return of the men in uniform. The Community Service Club, at the left, awakens many pleasant memories in the men," March 4, 1919 MS 835 War Camp Community Service Club of Savannah, Box 1, Folder 2, Item 39	Click on thumbnail below for large version

In 1917, soon after the United States entered the war, brothers Oliver Robinson Jelks (1893-1974) and Howard Coates Jelks (1897-1984) enlisted in the Aviation Section of the United States Army Signal Corps. The brothers received pilot's training and were stationed in France. The war ended with neither seeing active combat. Both brothers kept diaries while in training. Oliver's diary, kept from November 17, 1917, until September 1, 1918, recorded descriptions of military duties, camp conditions, and sight-seeing treks, as well as their first solo flights in May 1918.

 

"The trenches, these are real loveable trenches, dug especially for the old time barbecue which Savannah held after the parade for the men in uniform who had returned. This barbecue is one of the many original features of a whole day's Welcome Home Celebration for all returned soldiers, sailors and marines. All the men are participating in the attack on the barbecue. No slackers here," March 4, 1919 MS 835 War Camp Community Service Club of Savannah, Box 1, Folder 2, Item 45

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The War Camp Community Service Club of Savannah was established in February 1918 for the purpose of entertainment and beneficial services for servicemen stationed in Savannah. In their headquarters, on Bull and Liberty streets, they maintained a cafeteria, tea room, library, game room, and rooming facilities, supported by local subscription. The club sponsored dances, concerts, lectures, community sings, and visits to hospitals and military bases to keep up soldier morale. The Club ceased operations at the end of hostilities. On March 4, 1919, a "Welcome Home" celebration was held for returning soldiers and sailors.

 

"These six get to the barbecue first. While the other are attacking the meats and Beve and pickles and cake, these men saw a chance to get into the picture with their best faces on. The Barbecue was only one of the many splendid features of a day of Welcome Home Festivities," March 4, 1919 MS 835 War Camp Community Service Club of Savannah, Box 1, Folder 2, Item 42
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Following the war, many regions of Europe were devastated, particularly France which was the site of many battles. Sarah Alexander Cunningham (1887-1976), a local leader of the suffragette movement, worked with the American Committee for the Devastated Regions of France between 1919 and 1920.

 

Sarah Cunningham in her American Committee for the Devastated Regions of France Uniform, n.d.

MS 194 Sarah Alexander Cunningham Collection, Item 186

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 Teaching Tips:

1. Discuss the punishment that Germany was forced to accept and how it contributed to World War II.
2. Look at examples of American and German World War I posters and discuss how governments use propaganda to muster national support.

 

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Women's Suffrage Movement

 

Women's Suffrage Movement Newspaper Clippings

MS 1267 Stewart Huston Collection, Box 5, Folder 54

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The Women's Suffrage Movement was an international social, economic, and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage (the right to vote) to women. The National Woman Suffrage Association was formed in 1869 with the goal of securing an amendment to the U. S. Constitution giving women the right to vote. Between 1869 and 1919, the organization obtained a hearing before every Congress. After several failed attempts to pass a bill in Congress for the proposed amendment, on May 21, 1919, the House passed the bill calling for women's suffrage. After being passed by the Senate, two-thirds of the states had to ratify the amendment. Within a few days, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan had passed the ratifications. Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment fulfilling the two-thirds majority requirement. The 19th Amendment, allowing women the right to vote, was ratified in the summer of 1920, and women voted in the 1920 Presidential election.

 

Emily C. McDougald to Mrs. Leaken, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22, 1917

MS 1267 Stewart Huston Collection, Box 5, Folder 54

The Equal Suffrage Party of Georgia led the statewide suffrage movement in Georgia.
During 1917, they led a letter writing campaign to Congress urging them to vote in favor of a bill to create a Woman's Suffrage Committee in the House of Representatives. In September 1917, Emily McDougal wrote suffragist Ruth Stewart Leaken expressing her frustration, "I feel such a disgust for the Legislature in wrangling over the "age of consent" bill and everything else that concerns the welfare of women, that it seems to me that suffrage work in Georgia is a waste of energy." Leaken was a prominent clubwoman and State Chairman of the Women's Committee of the Liberty Loan Drives making her an ideal suffragist.

 

Women's Suffrage Movement Newspaper Clippings

MS 1267 Stewart Huston Collection, Box 5, Folder 54

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Teaching Tips:

1. Compare the Women's Suffrage Movement with the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
2. Discuss how American women's roles during World War I helped to bring about the 19th Amendment.

 

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The Great Depression & the New Deal

 

The Great Depression was an international economic slump lasting approximately from 1929 until 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. In the United States, the Great Depression began with the catastrophic collapse of the stock market on October 29, 1929, known as "Black Tuesday." The collapse of the market led to the failure of more than 10,000 banks, the nationwide loss of confidence in the economy, and therefore reduced spending and output. The result was widespread unemployment (an estimated 12 to 15 million workers were unemployed at one time) and U. S. manufacturing falling 54%.

 

W. F. Stevenson to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Washington, D. C., October 26, 1933; Franklin D. Roosevelt to W. F. Stevenson, the White House, November 2, 1933

MS 1044 William F. Stevenson Papers, Items 1 and 2

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Economic distress led to the election of Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During his first one hundred days of office, in early 1933, Roosevelt introduced a large number of programs aimed at relief, recovery and reform. The new programs included the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The New Deal, as Roosevelt's programs became known, failed to end the Great Depression. The Depression did not end until the outbreak of World War II when American factories were flooded with orders for arms and munitions. The New Deal has influenced the role of the federal government ever since, it enhanced the power of the federal government over state governments and created a system of government action in the face of a recession to prevent another great depression.

The HOLC, organized in 1933, helped people keep their homes by refinancing mortgages. William Francis Stevenson, a South Carolina attorney and politician, served on the Federal Home Loan Bank Board from 1933 to 1939. In October 1933, Stevenson reported the progress of the HOLC during its first year to President Roosevelt, informing him that 257 offices had already been established. Roosevelt replied congratulating him on the HOLC's accomplishments.

 

Billy McCormick to Mama, Oregon, December 13, 1937 MS 1261 William A. McCormick Papers, Item 11	Cascadian Company 5463, Camp Applegate F-41, Ruch, Oregon Newsletter, n.d. MS 1261 William A. McCormick Papers, Item 18       Click on thumbnail at right for large version
Click on thumbnail above for large version   Typed transcript

The CCC, created on March 31, 1933, was an environmental program which put 2.5 million boys and men to work maintaining and restoring forests, beaches, and parks for $1 a day and room and board. The CCC was one of the most successful and well-received New Deal programs. It was discontinued in 1942 as men were needed for service in World War II. William A. McCormick joined the CCC in 1937 and was placed at Camp Applegate in Ruch, Oregon. He was discharged in March 1938, and later went on to enlist in the United States Army in 1942.

  

"W. P. A. Achievement Week Observance May 20th-May 25th"

MS 1250 Works Progress Administration-District 8 Papers, Scrapbook, Savannah 1941, Folder 4

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The largest and most comprehensive New Deal program was the WPA, established in 1935 to provide work through a variety of public-work projects, many in the construction field. The local Savannah WPA program (Works Progress Administration-District 8) kept a scrapbook of professional and service projects, including photographs, pamphlets, sketches, and miscellaneous items relating to local projects like the Georgia State Indexing Project and the Education Project. The WPA was discontinued in December 1943 with increased employment generated by World War II.

 

Education Project Pamphlet, n.d.

MS 1250 Works Progress Administration-District 8 Papers, Scrapbook, Savannah 1941, Folder 4

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The Federal Writers' Project was established, along with other cultural projects in theater, music and art, to provide work for unemployed artists and writers. The Savannah Unit of the Georgia Writers' Project was begun in 1936 and operated, first as part of the Federal Project and then as part of the State Project, until the end of 1942. During this period, the local unit compiled historical research resulting in the publications The Savannah Guide (1937), Drums and Shadows (1940), Savannah River Plantations (1947), and numerous sketches of local historical personalities and important sites. One such piece is the handwritten historical sketch of the log blockhouse in Jackson County, Georgia, built in 1793.

 

"Fort Yargo," n.d.

MS 1355 Works Progress Administration-Georgia Writers' Project, Savannah Unit Box 1, Folder 20, Item 72

 

Teaching Tips:

1. Have students talk to those who remember the Great Depression and discuss their experiences and how it changed their lives.
2. Visit Fort Pulaski National Monument and discuss the CCC camp that was stationed there with a Park Ranger (Fort Pulaski National Monument, Cockspur Island, Tybee Island).
3. Talk about other New Deal related projects in the area which the community still benefits from (public buildings, newspaper indexes, etc.).

 

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Gone with the Wind

 

Gone with the Wind, an American novel by Margaret Mitchell, of Atlanta, Georgia, was published in 1936 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. The novel is one of the most popular of all time and relates the story of a rebellious Georgia woman named Scarlett O'Hara and her travails with friends and family in the midst of the antebellum South, the American Civil War, and the Reconstruction period. Mitchell's work reflected a strong commitment to the Confederacy and a romanticized view of Southern culture before the Civil War.

 

"The Hibernian Society of Savannah, Georgia 128th Anniversary Dinner March Sixteenth Nineteen Hundred and Forty" (program)

MS 919 Margaret Mitchell Papers

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Film producer David O. Selznick purchased the rights to the book for $50,000, a record amount at the time. Gone with the Wind, the most expensive film produced up to that time at $4 million, premiered in Atlanta on December 15, 1939, starring Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable. The movie, one of the few films made with three-color Technicolor at the time, earned thirteen Academy Award nominations and eight Academy Awards.

 

Margaret Mitchell to Joseph W. McAvoy, Atlanta, Georgia, March 20, 1940

MS 919 Margaret Mitchell Papers

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On March 16, 1940, the Hibernian Society of Savannah, Georgia, held a dinner for their 128th anniversary. For the program, they chose an image of Tara Hall, the plantation home from the novel. Four days after the dinner, Margaret Mitchell wrote Joseph W. McAvoy explaining why she chose the name "Tara," to honor Tara's Hill, Ireland, an important Irish historical landmark and memorialized in the poem "The Harp that Once through Tara's Hall."

 

 

Teaching Tips:

1. Explain to students what stereotypes are. Discuss how the book and then the movie reinforced stereotypes of the South and African-Americans.
2. Discuss how the technology of film, radio and television has impacted our lives in the 20th and 21st centuries.

 

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World War II was a global conflict starting in 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland and ending in 1945 with the surrender of the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan). The causes of World War II are greatly a result of unresolved issues from World War I and many consider the second war merely an extension of the first. Approximately 57 million people died as a result of the war, many from the Nazi genocide act known as the Holocaust. Following the war, Europe was divided into Western and Soviet spheres of influence contributing to the ensuing Cold War.

 

"Fight by His Side, 5th War Loan..." (pamphlet), 1944

MS 1548 World War II Exhibit Collection, Folder 17

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On the Home Front, American families supported the soldiers in Europe and the Pacific. Women filled the empty spaces in factories, children grew victory gardens, and families rationed food, gasoline and silk. Many things were conserved to turn into weapons later, such as fat left over from cooking to make explosives. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated that the efforts of civilians at home to support the war through personal sacrifice was as critical to winning the war as the efforts of the soldiers themselves.

 

"Wanted! 250 Million Pounds of Kitchen Fats for War Use" (pamphlet), n.d.

MS 1548 World War II Exhibit Collection, Folder 11

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Teaching Tips:

1. Look at maps of Europe before and after World War II and discuss how countries were divided according to Cold War policies. Discuss the construction and fall of the Berlin Wall.
2. Have students talk to WWII veterans about their experiences.
3. Visit the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum at 175 Bourne Avenue in Pooler.
4. Discuss the meaning of genocide and provide examples (ex. Rwanda).

 

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Korean War

 

The Korean War was fought between June 25, 1950, and July 27, 1953, between North Korea and South Korea aided by the United States and its allies (aligned with South Korea) and the communist countries of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China (supporting North Korea). Following the end of World War II and liberation from 35 years of Japanese rule, the peninsula of Korea was divided along the 38th parallel (38 degrees north latitude) into North and South Korea. Both sides desired to reunite the two halves under their own governments, led by the policies of the United States and the Soviet Union. On June 25, 1950, North Korean General Secretary Kim Il-Sung invaded South Korea. President Truman authorized U. S. military support of South Korea without actually declaring war. In the midst of the Cold War, the United States was intent on curbing the spread of communism. After more than three years of fighting, the war ended in a stalemate with a cease-fire on July 27, 1953. The 38th parallel is still maintained as the most heavily defended border in the world, patrolled by American and South Korean troops on one side and North Korean troops on the other. No peace treaty has ever been signed. The Korean War was the first armed confrontation of the Cold War and resulted in around 54,000 U. S. fatalities. Superseded by the legacies of the two World Wars and the Vietnam War, it is often referred to as the "Forgotten War."

 

John C. Bell to Elder John B. Glisson, Japan, August 22, 1952  MS 314 John B. Glisson Paper

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In 1952, John C. Bell, of Claxton, Georgia, was stationed in Japan as part of the U. S. defense of South Korea. On August 22, 1952, he wrote to his grandfather, Elder John B. Glisson, discussing how the lessons his grandfather taught him and his spirituality were helping him cope with his new situation. He asked his grandfather to comfort his mother in the event that something should happen to him.

 

 

Teaching Tips:

1. Discuss the current relationship between the United States and North and South Korea.
2. Look at maps of the Korean peninsula before and after World War II, and before and after the Korean War.
3. Have students interview a Korean War veteran.

 

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Civil Rights Movement

 

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent
struggle to bring full civil rights and equality to all Americans. It has been made up of
many movements, for instance the Women's Suffrage Movement, however the term is often used specifically to refer to the struggles between 1945 and 1970 to end discrimination against African-Americans and to put an end to racial segregation. With the end of Reconstruction, many states began to institute discriminatory practices and laws aimed at African-Americans. The 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case upheld the "separate but equal" system that soon spread to schools, movie theaters, bus stations, etc. States enforced the segregation of the races and the second-class status of African-Americans through what is known as Jim Crow laws. In many cities and towns, African-Americans were not allowed to use the same entrances, water fountains, restrooms, schools, restaurants, or even playgrounds as whites. Voting rights discrimination was widespread and prevented the greater portion of African-Americans from exercising their constitutional rights and supporting government and laws that could change the status quo.

 

"A Grim Reminder...The Fight for Freedom is Far from Won..." (flyer), n.d.

MS 2117 Hyer Family Collection, Folder 5

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The Civil Rights Movement to bring about equality for African-Americans was led by
church leaders and students: the Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded in 1957 organized protests; the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founded in 1957 organized sit-ins, freedom rides, voter registration drives, and protests; and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1909, provided legal counsel for jailed demonstrators, and tested segregation and discrimination through the courts. Leaders at the forefront of the movement included Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and Hosea Williams. The majority of participants in the movement adhered to the principles of nonviolence. In 1964, the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act requiring equal access to public places and outlawing employment discrimination. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped protect the right to vote for all citizens regardless of race.

 

Minutes of the Bi-racial Committee, Savannah, Georgia, August 1, 1963

MS 2165 A. Pratt Adams, Jr. Collection, Folder 5, "Bi-racial Committee" Documents

 

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In Savannah, Georgia, the civil rights movement was relatively peaceful compared to that of other southern cities, greatly due to the cooperation of local businessmen and politicians with African-American leadership. In 1963, the Bi-racial Committee, composed of members of the Civic Progress group and several prominent Civil Rights leaders, met several times to discuss how to bring about an end of segregation in local hotels, theaters, and restaurants. Minutes from the August 1, 1963, meeting outline terms for the beginning of the desegregation of certain types of local businesses. The following day, Reverend William Franklin Stokes, of the First African Baptist Church, wrote attorney A. Pratt Adams, Jr. that he would continue to work towards a successful desegregation and "a continued pleasant relationship."

 

Dr. William Franklin Stokes, II, First African Baptist Church, to A. Pratt Adams, Jr., Savannah, Georgia, August 2, 1963

MS 2165 A. Pratt Adams, Jr. Collection, Folder 5, "Bi-racial Committee" Documents

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Ethel Thurman Hyer was the first woman to serve as president of the Rome, Georgia Chapter of the NAACP, a position she held for fifteen years. Hyer was very active in the Civil Rights Movement during the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1973, she was honored by the city of Rome for her community work and given a key to the city. Hyer's papers include many flyers, brochures, and manuals produced by the NAACP in an effort to educate and encourage the African-American community regarding their rights during the 1960s.

 

NAACP Labor Manual, 1968

MS 2117 Hyer Family Collection, Folder 7

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1. Visit the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum at 460 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Savannah.
2. Discuss the events of the Civil Rights Movement in Savannah as compared to other Southern cities.

 

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Click here for a quiz about 20th century Georgia and other teacher resources.