period 2
1898 - 1930
From imperialism to a world war, America has gone through a lot during this period, emerging them as a world power. We start out with the Spanish American war, fought during the months of April through August in the year of 1898 right when this period begins. Then a little over a decade later on July 28th, 1914, the first world war started. While this war was occurring, women all over the country played an essential role. All the men were gone to go fight, so the women took over the work force and resumed the jobs of their husbands, along with creating many new jobs for the war effort. After world war I ends in 1918 and the twenties begin the country faced an economic growth, more people were living in cities than on farm lands for the first time and a new kind of life style was adopted. This is what many call, "The Roaring Twenties", people lived their lives freely and luxuriously. Trends had started to form among women, many became flappers which erupted a new modern style in clothes, makeup, and lifestyle. However on October 29th, 1929 the stock market crashed, thus ending this luxurious carefree lifestyle and entering America into the Great Depression.
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This photo was taken in 1917 and it's very significant because while America was fighting in world war one, all the men were gone to take part in it. This was such an amazing and huge opportunity for women, they were able to take over the men's jobs, and many new jobs were even created for the war efforts. It's important to not brush over this part of our history, the women played an essential role in this war even though they were only contributing on the home front. This was also an amazing opportunity for women to prove that they can do all the jobs a man could.
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This picture taken in 1920 features three women wearing stylish and luxurious clothing, rather than the plain long dresses we've always seen them wear before in our history. This is significant because as women started gaining more rights and freedom, they started gaining more confidence and expression. Ever since the 20's, women have developed their own unique fashion styles with clothes and makeup and other accessories, it's so important that these women fought so hard for their rights and respect so they could move onto the next step which was living a comfortable life and expressing themselves.
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This photo, taken in 1908 is significant because it features the first twenty women who were appointed into the Navy as nurses. This is a time period where women are fighting harder than ever for their rights and their equality, and while they may not be able to fight in the war alongside men they do get to contribute greatly as nurses, they are the people that take care of the soldiers, if we didn't have these nurses to help so much and give their all we may not have been so successful in the wars our country has fought in.
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Text: AMERICA'S woman power is thirty five million strong. Do you know that when the nation's call to our women came fifteen days war was declared it found them on their feet ? Throughout the length and breadth of the country the answer came "America, we are here." Not a village but had its women's organization ready to be turned over to whatever war work there was for it to do. The women were there! Do you -know that this enormous power, this vital, vigorous force, this woman power of our nation has been recruited ? Is organized and working? It did not happen overnight Fifteen days after war was declared, the Council of National Defense appointed nine women national leaders to marshal and direct this enormous woman power of the nation. In less than two weeks, these women, summoned to Washington from states as far apart as California and Rhode Island, had got together and formulated a tentative plan for organization. Immediately this plan was sent out to leading women in each of the forty-eight states. The organizations were there. Five thousand of them, with two million women enlisted as members. The women of our country were awake active women, working women, thinking women women accustomed to take a share in civic work, social work; women in industry, in commerce, in the professions, home women ready for national work.tfow could they be so ready, so fit, so able to do this work, if they had not been thinking women, with real interests, women's-size duties and obligations? Your wife your daughter. Man alive! Don't think for a moment that this huge movement, this tremendous awakening of the woman power of the nation has been going on without touching your wife, your daughter. This very night when you go home, sec your wife with new eyes. Speak to her with a new interest. Know what it is that she really does, what it is that she think about and works about The women of this country grew up long ago American women grew up long ago. There is nb better reflection of this growing up, this broadening out of women's interests, than women's own attitude toward the one magazine that cut loose from all the old fashioned ideas of what a "woman's magazine" should contain. "Women's magazines", as edited for years by men who were blind to the awakening of women, simply did not reach the progressive women. Inside and outside the home, this large and
ever-growing class of women could find nothing for them in the narrow round of household topics, the simple school -girl fiction which other women's magazines provided. How large this class of women is, how vital a part it plays in the nation's life, is attested by the volume of the contribution these women have made, in dollars and cents alone, to the effective carrying on of the war. One magazine has grown with them One magazine had the vision years ago to drop all "talking down" to women to step out from the ranks and to begin publishing articles on the vital problems of the modern woman's life to lead the way to the interests towards which women were them selves turning.From the moment of its adoption of this policy Pictorial Review began to grow. So stable, so sound has been this policy, that year by year the number of its readers has increased. Today Pictorial Review has the largest 20c circulation in the world. Steadily it has been leading the women of America in this broadening of their interests. It was the first women's magazine to send a woman abroad to get first-hand the story of the tremendous changes this war is making in women's status. You have not read the story, but your wife has thrilled to it your daughter has. It is the ringing call to every intelligent woman! Pictorial Review is recognized as the Magazine that is reaching progressive women today Since the war, 100,000 more families read Pictorial Review every month, while other women's magazines have been virtually standing still. In ten years Pictorial Review's circulation has grown from 200,000 to 1,500,000. Today, Pictorial is read by one family in every six having an income of $1000 and more per year. Business men spend $2,500,000 yearly to advertise their products to J'ictorial Review readers. |
This article was written on July 16th, 1918 for a newspaper called The Evening World. This article is important because it's such a strong record of how much women were needed during world war 1, people recognized that they have so much potential. Women were able to prove themselves during this time by taking on all the responsibilities a man would have at the home front and not at war. This article is significant to our history because it recognizes that women are strong and capable of the same responsibilities men have. Women helped so much during this war, and we can't forget them while we reflect on the success we had.
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