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Ida Tarbell
Wrote "History of the Standard Oil Company". Angered when John D. Rockefeller' Standard Oil Company took over many indpendent companies, including her fathers. -
"Progress and Poverty"-Henry George
Henry George addressed problems facing the United States as both the number of people and the nation's wealth increased. He hoped for a time whe the country's progress might be measured by its movement toward equality. It was almost instantly a best-seller. -
McClure's Magazine
National magazine by the Scots-Irish immigrant S. S. McClure. Published stories showing Americas' flaws. Some of these being Corruption in politics in business as well as social problems, being slums and child labor. -
Labor Unions
Labor unions were starting to form in the 1900s. The labor unions tried to get pay raises and get child labor laws into effect. Some early labor unions were the AFL (American Federation of Labor), the ILGWU (International Ladies' Garment Workers Union) and the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). -
Racial Discrimination
Racial discrimination was always a problem but was first addressed in the early 1900s. The NAACP (National Assocation for the Advancement of Colored People) was formed to try to end racial discrimination. Led by W. E. B. DuBois it ran a national magazine and used the court sustem to fight civil rights restrictions. -
Muckrakers
The term was first brought up by Theodore Roosevelt in a speech. Described as a man who "fixes his eyes... only on that which is vile and debasing". Famous because of their knack of being able to "rake up" the "muck" of society. Comparable to todays tabloids. -
Planning Cities
Prior to the 1900s cities just grew as the land allowed and had no pattern. In 1909 Daniel Burnham produced a magnificent plan for redesigning Chicago. He was the first one to bring rhyme or reason to redesign a city. He brought the idea of municipal government to the U.S. -
"What Eight Million Women Want"-Rheta Childe Dorr
This widely read book noted the special role of women in the reform movement. She said that "women have ceased to exist as a subsidary class in the communtiy". She also said "The modern educated woman came into a world which is losing faith in the commercial ideal and is endeaboring to substitute in its plae a social ideal". -
The Triangle Shirtwaste Fire
500 employees in New York City's Triangle Shirtwaste Factory were working when a fire erupted in a rag bin. The fire started on the eigth floor. Exiting was impossible because of the door fixtures and mangers kept the fire doors were kept closed. -
Prohibition
The Eighteenth Amendment brought the ban on the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alchoholic beverages. It wasn't ratified by the states until 1919. It was soon repealed in 1933 due to it being hard to enforce and it was very unpopular.
