Deanna Wallis-Roaring 20's for HST 102

1. WELCOME TO THE
20’S
By Deanna Wallis

2. THESIS
After the first World War, the 1920’s were a
time for personal expression, change,
creativity, and rebellious innovations. Art,
music, literature, religion, and fashion were
many of the things that were revolutionized
during the time.
Some events like the passing of the 19th
amendment positively impacted the time
whereas events such as the Red Scare,
Prohibition Era, and the Great Migration

3. POLITICS OF THE TIME
Many important things
happened politically
between 1920 and
1930 like the passing
of the 18th and 19th
amendments, along
with the Red Scare and
the Great Migration.
Presidents of the 20’s:
Woodrow Wilson (1913-
1921)
Warren G. Harding (1921-
1923)
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

4. PROHIBITION
18th amendment was passed which
made it illegal to produce or sell
liquor in the United States.
The Volstead Act was also passed
to further reinforce prohibition laws
and on January 16th, 1920 all bars,
taverns, and saloons were forced to
close.

5. RED SCARE
Along with the prohibition era,
the Red Scare was another source
of social tension during the time.
Anti-immigrant hysteria
National Origins Act of 1924
was passed which restricted the
amount of immigrants that were
allowed into the country.
This act also favored entrance
into the country to Northern
Europeans over Eastern
Europeans and Asians.

6. THE GREAT MIGRATION
Immigrants weren’t the only targets of
the 1920’s social tensions.. African-
Americans were pushed to move to
Northern cities in hopes to fill labor
jobs since there was now a lack of
European immigrants filling jobs.
At the beginning of 1920 it was
estimated about a million African-
Americans had migrated to Northern
states.
“In the decade between 1910 and
1920, the Black population of major
Northern cities grew by large
percentages, including New
York(66%), Chicago(148%), Philadelphia(
500%) and Detroit(611%),” (“The Great
Migration,” par. 9).

7. 19TH AMENDMENT
The 19th amendment
was ratified on August
18, 1920.
Granted women the
right to vote.

8. MANY THINGS WERE
REVOLUTIONIZED DURING THE
1920’S, SUCH AS ART, MUSIC,
LITERATURE, AND FASHION…

9. ONE OF THE MANY THINGS THAT
INFLUENCED THE 1920’S WAS THE
ART OF THE TIME…
Revolutionary art movements
of the 20’s:
Surrealism
Expressionism
Dada
Art Deco

10. INFLUENTIAL ARTIST OF
THE 20’S:
Georgia O’Keeffe
Salvador Dali
Marcel Duchamp
Tamara De Lempicka
Edvard Munch
Wassily Kandinsky
Erich Heckel

11. SURREALISM
Salvador Dali
Key
Characteristics:
Distorted figures
Symbolism
Dream-like
scenes

12. EXPRESSIONISM Notable Artist: Edvard
Munch
Edvard Munch inspired
the expressionism
movement of the
1920’s.
Chaim Soutine
created this
painting in the
20’s in
expressionism
style.
Key Characteristics:
Distorted
Exaggerated
Contrast
Dissonance

13. DADA
Key Characteristics:
Non-traditional
Whimsical
Humor
Irrationalism
Spontaneity
Notable Artist:
Marcel Duchamp

14. ART DECO
Key Characteristics:
Rich colors
Geometric shapes
Poster Art
Notable Artist:
Tamara de Lempicka

15. ALONG WITH ART, MUSIC WAS
ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING TO
INFLUENCE THE 1920’S…

16. JAZZ AGE
 The 1920’s was a lively time and
Jazz was a major contribution to the
music industry.
Many contributors to the Jazz Age
were:
 Louis Armstrong
 Sidney Bechet
 King Oliver
 Bessie Smith
 Fletcher Henderson
 Duke Ellington
 Eddie Lang

17. LOUIS “SATCHMO” ARMSTRONG
 Louis Armstrong was a major
contributor to the jazz music
industry, often referred to as a
founding father of Jazz.
 He originally played in King
Oliver’s band but later branched
out to his solo career. After
exploring solo work, he formed
his own band known as Louis
Armstrong and his Hot Five. They
recorded more than 60 records
between 1925 and 1928. “Louis Armstrong is jazz. He represents
what the music is all about.” — Wynton
Marsalis

18. BESSIE SMITH
Bessie Smith was another
influential artist of the time,
making a big impact in the Blues
music scene.
Smith covered a popular song of
the time, ‘Downhearted Blues’
and it sold a reported 780,000
copies in 1923.
She also went on to record a
song with Louis Armstrong in
1925. Both artists greatly
influenced the Blues and Jazz
music of the time.

19. ANOTHER THING THAT IMPACTED
THE 1920’S WAS LITERATURE…

20. IMPORTANT LITERARY NOVELS OF
THE 1920’S
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
(1925)
The Sound and the Fury by William
Faulkner (1929)
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
(1920)
Ulysses by James Joyce (1922)
Cheri by Colette (1920)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by
Agatha Christie (1920)
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery
Williams (1922)
Cane by Jean Toomer (1923)
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest
Hemingway (1926)

21. F SCOTT FITZGERALD & THE GREAT
GATSBY
One of the most notable works
of the 1920’s was F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
This novel revolved around what
life was like during the 20’s.
Themes of love and marriage,
class systems, the decline of the
American dream, greed, etc.
made up the novel.
This book is still read in most
classrooms in America.

22. ERNEST HEMINGWAY
Notable works released
in the 1920’s:
In Our Time (1924)
The Sun Also Rises (1926)
The Torrents of
Spring (1926)
A Farewell to Arms (1929)

23. ONE OTHER THING THAT WAS
EVOLVING DURING THE 20’S WAS
THE FASHION SCENE…
Up-and-coming fashion
trends of the time
included:
Beaded dresses inspired by
“flappers”
T-strap heels
Argyle socks
Cocoon fur coats
Fringe shawls
Cloche hats
Feather or bead headbands
Long pearl necklaces and drop
earrings
Bobbed hairstyles

24. WOMEN’S FASHION OF THE 20’S

25. MEN'S FASHION OF THE 20’S

26. CHANGES OVER THE YEARS
Over the years things like music, art, literature,
fashion, etc. have changed in many ways.
Musicians like Louis Armstrong, artists like Salvador
Dali, and writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald still manage to
influence today’s works.

27. HOW WOULD YOU HAVE FELT ABOUT YOUR TOPIC IF
YOU HAD BEEN LIVING DURING THE ERA YOU ARE
COVERING?
I think in many ways it would have been liberating to
be a woman during the 1920’s when they were
granted voting rights and other opportunities in
regards to employment and education. I’m sure it still
would have been very hard as a woman back then
since the ideas were still very new, but it would have
been exciting being apart of such an important
movement as Women’s Suffrage.
I would have loved the fashion, music, and art of the
time. Jazz is such a beautiful style of music. I would
have loved to live in a time when it was truly thriving.

28. WHAT NEW INFORMATION DID YOU LEARN
ABOUT YOUR TOPIC THAT YOU DIDN’T ALREADY
KNOW?
I learned a lot of things about the Great
Migration and other political things of the time
that I hadn’t heard before.
I also learned many interesting facts about the
Jazz Era and different musicians of the time. I
had heard of many of these musicians but got
to learn much more about them.

29. CONCLUSION
Following World War I, the United States entered the
1920’s and made it a time for personal expression,
change, creativity, and rebellious innovations.
Different things such as art, music, literature, and
fashion were revolutionized during this era.
The art, music, literature works and techniques of the
20’s have all impacted the way we see those things
today. Many modern forms of those four things have
been inspired by things of that time.

30. WORKS CITED
“Biography.” Louis Armstrong Home Museum, 5 May 2017,
www.louisarmstronghouse.org/biography/.
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. W.W. Norton & Company,
2020.
“The Great Migration.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Mar. 2010,
www.history.com/topics/black-history/great-migration.
P., Silka. “Take a Ride Back in Time to the 1920s Art.” Widewalls, 24 Oct.
2016, www.widewalls.ch/magazine/1920s-art.
“The Roaring Twenties.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 Apr. 2010,
www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/roaring-twenties-history.
Thompkins, Gwen. c NPR, NPR, 5 Jan. 2018,
www.npr.org/2018/01/05/575422226/forebears-bessie-smith-the-
empress-of-the- blues.