Internet Activity: Ch. 16 Progressive Education and Popular Entertainment

Internet Activity: Ch. 16 Progressive Education and Popular Entertainment

From 1894 to 1915, the goals of Progressive reformers influenced education in the United States, since education was seen as a way to teach children the proper values needed to be a productive American citizen. It was thought that society's ills could in part be alleviated by education for all classes that would fit children for their proper role in society. Public education was also seen as a way to "Americanize" the vast number of immigrant children flooding into cities. Compulsory attendance laws were enacted to ensure that children from all classes received a basic, "common," education in elementary grades.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awlhtml/awlscho.html
There is an example of a high school to provide a film sample of this era.
[Lancaster, Pa., high school] CREATED/PUBLISHED [United States: Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 190-?]. And, one more film can be viewed.
[End of school day at coeducational school] CREATED/PUBLISHED [United States? : Thomas A. Edison, Inc.?, 1914?].
What do you notice about how the students look?
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What does the fashion of the time suggest? What ethnic group/s do they belong to? Do they look rich or poor? Middle Class?
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Let’s switch from education to popular entertainment of the era.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA96/forrest/WW/home.html

What form is the mass entertainment of the day? __________________________

Step right up and be amazed!
See an exotic & titillating Turkish Dance!

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/easton/vaudeville/movies.html
How risqué is this entertainment?
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Turkish Dance, Ella LolaThomas A. Edison, Inc., 1898Duration: 0:29 at 26 fps.The film features Ella Lola, a popular performer on the vaudeville stage, performing her rendition of a "belly dance." This type of performance was not uncommon and points to vaudeville's roots in earlier forms of burlesque. Ms. Lola's routine, although bordering on risqué, far from violates any accepted standards of decency. Presentations of dance, or other 'dumb' acts, generally opened or closed performances to give audiences time to filter in and out of the theatre.