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Period: to
Early !900s
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"History of the Standard Oil Comapny"
McClure's ran the first installment of "History of the Standard Oil Company" by Ida Tarbell. Ida was born in Western Pennsylvania. She went to Allegheny College where she began her career as a writer. In 1900 McClure's assigned her to investigate Standard Oil. -
Miners
Many mothers expalined that that they put their children to work in the mills because it was either that or their entire family would starve. During an investigation of a miner's strike in 1903, a nine-year-old reported that he was being forced to pay money that his father, who had died in the mine, owed the company for rent. -
Florence Kelley
People campaigned for laws forcing factories to limit the hours employers demanded. Kelley helped lobby the Oregon legisalture to pass a law limiting female laundry wokers to 10 hour days. Utah had enacted a law limiting work days to eight hours in certain occupations. -
"The Shame of the Cities"
In 1904 Lincoln Steffens documented urban politcal corruption in "The Shame of the Cities". That same year, writer Ray Stannard Baker toured the nation examining the problem of African Americans. Published in 1908, his book described a hanging in Spirngfield, Ohio. -
Ella Flagg Young
Ella was the first woman to keep a job in a major city. She became the superintendent of Chicago's schools in 1909. Ella promoted public education by raising teachers' salaries. -
Redesigning Chicago
Daniel Burnham, a city planner and architect, thought up of a magnificent plan for redesigning Chicago. The main idea was a soaring city hall that would inspire all residents to be good citizens. Not all of his plans were built, but his efforts helped people realize that city planning was a necessary function of municipal government. -
NAACP
A group of African American and white progressives met in New York CIty. They dicussed to hanging of two African American men in Springfield, Illinois from the previous year. Out of the Meeting they came up with th National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This organization was dedicated to ending the racial discrimination. -
"What Eight Million Women Want"
Journalist Rheta Childe Dorr wrote the book "What Eight Million Want". This book noted the special role of women in the reform movement. In the early 1900s, women made careers of reform work. -
Society of American Indians
The Society of American Indians was a group of 50 middle-class professional American Indians. Members dicussed ways to improve civil rights, health, local governament, and education. One American Indian, Jim Thorpe, was an Olympic gold medalist. The society publicized Thorpe. -
"The Passing of the Great Race"
An important New Yorker named Madison Grant published the book, "The Passing of the Great Race". This book expressed racist opinions about Jews, African Americans, and immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Grant was actually a progressive who supported environmental protection, urban planning, and other reforms.