The Roaring Twenties, as the 1920s became known, was a period of economic growth after World War I that led to increased consumerism and the testing of numerous conventions and traditions. Explore these changes using the resources below.
Dave Raymond covers the Roaring Twenties in Lesson 18 of his Modernity World History curriculum. Please use these teaching resources to provide additional context for your homeschool students as they are studying this period of US history.
Free Roaring Twenties resources you will find below:
Primary Sources
18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution —Text of the 18th Amendment and later acts, accompanied by images related to Prohibition, from the Library of Congress. More Library of Congress Prohibition images are available here. (Thanks to a helpful student, you can find a clearly written explanation of the history of Prohibition here that includes several links of its own to follow!)
Flappers —The Library of Congress presents a series of articles chronicling the emergence of this new phenomenon.
Women’s Suffrage —News, maps, and images related to the movement. A student also recommended this page with a lot of Wyoming-specific history as well as useful facts for writing a research paper.
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution —Explore the debates around women’s suffrage in America. An interactive map from the National Constitution Center shows the momentum leading to the ratification of this amendment.
The Candy That Grew Up —The unlikely origin story of Oh Henry! candy bars told in a magazine of the era.
AdAccess —Take a trip down cultural memory lane in this retrospective of preserved advertisements.
Images
The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s —A massive collection of 400 items from the decade: art, furniture, and jewelry.
The Roaring 20s —PBS walks through 11 images that capture some of the many changes of the decade.
1920: A Year in the Collections —The Smithsonian highlights items from its vast collection in this survey of images and historical descriptions.
Baseball
This Great Game —A comprehensive history of baseball of a decade dominated by Babe Ruth, but full of the greats: Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, and Ty Cobb, to name a few.
The Negro National League Is Founded —1920 brought visibility to the talent and hard work of black baseball players.
Fashion
Flapper Fabulosity! Researching 1920s Fashion with Online Resources —A digital survey of women’s fashion from the decade led by one of the New York Public Library’s assistant chief librarians.
1920-1929 Fashion —An overview of the decade from the Fashion History Timeline project.
Music
The Great Gatsby’s Roaring Twenties from Smithsonian Folkways —A playlist based on the era of The Great Gatsby.
Groovin’ to Jazz —More than a dozen jazz standards described and played by the greats themselves, courtesy of The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Radio
Radio in the 1920s —The Geneva Historical Society reminds us that 1920 marked the emergence of commercial and old time radio.
1920s Radio Clips —Preserved by the Internet Archive
Movies
Great Films from the 1920s —See this post for a list of our favorite movies from the decade.
