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Ida Tarbell
Ida Tarbell was born in western Pennsylvania in 1857. She was the daughter of an idependent oil company owner and she became angry when John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company started to take control of these independent oil companies. Her fathers business still went bankrupt. After Graduating from Allegheny College she started writing books for McClure's. -
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois was born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachsetts. As a kid Du Bois went to Sunday school with both Whites and other African Americans. His highschool principal encouraged him to get ready for college. Du Bois became the first African American to get a doctorate from Hardvard in 1895. Two years after this he became a professor of history and economics at Atlanta University where he taught until 1910. During the 1900s Du Bois a supporter of civil rights until he died in 1963. -
Political Issues
Populists wanted to give the people more control ofthe government. New election reforms were made and political measures measures were taken to make the government able to work with the voters. Benjamin Park De Witt wanted to give "the people direct and continuous control over all branches of government". -
The American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor began in 1900 and went on until 1914. During this time the AFL was ran by Samuel Gompers. The same structure trusts used was used for the AFL. All unskilled workers were excluded, which were mostly eastern Europeans and African Americans. The AFL believed that they could make a change with these skilled workers. -
Prohibition
The prohibiton started in the 1900s because progressives wanted to "clean up" what they called immortal behavior. Prohibition is a ban on the manufacture, sale, transport of alcoholic drinks, and the closing of saloons. There were many attempts to enforce prohibitons but in 1933, it was repealed, -
Labor Unions
In the 1900s many labor unions, as well as Progressive reformers, fought for workers rights. They also fought for better work conditions and the closed shop. The closed shop is a workplace where every employee must belong to a union. Some people wanted workers to get treated better without hurting capitalism. While others wanted to get rid of capitalism and introduce socialism. Socialism is the system under which the government or worker cooperatives own most factories, utilities, etc. -
Ella Flagg Young
During the 1900s women started enrolling in colleges more and more. In 1909 Ella Flagg Young became the superintendent of schools in Chicago. She was the first women to hold a job like this in a major city. -
Women
Journalist Rheta Childe Dorr worte the book "What Eight Million Women Want". This book talked about the importance of women in the reform movement. Some women volunteered to groups such as the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Some women also made a living off of reform work. -
Society of American Indians
The Society of American Indians was formed in 1911 by a group of 50 American Indians. The members of this thought of ways to improve civil rights, education, health, and local government. To accomplish this they publicized all of the accomplishments made by American Indians such Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe. While not all of the issues were solved, the Society of American Indians made a great impact on the lives of American Indians. -
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
In the Triangle Shirtwaist Company building workers were starting to leave after a days work when the fire began. The fire started from in a rag bin and within minutes the entire eigth floor of the ten story building was on fire. There was no chance for escape because the blaze had blocked the two stareways so around sixty workers jumped to their deaths. In all more than 140 workers perished.