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Early 20th Century - Society and Culture

Pre-Statehood Era: 1700-1818

Early Statehood: 1818-1861

Civil War Era: 1861-1865

Late 19th Century: 1866-1900

Early 20th Century: 1900-1914

World War I: 1914-1918

Roaring Twenties: 1918-1929

Great Depression: 1930-1941

World War II: 1941-1945

Cold War Era: 1946-1991

Millennium: 1991-Present

Lesson Plans

Resources

Children and Family

An Act to amend sections four and nine of the 1897 child labor law, 1901

  • Approved May 10th, 1901, this amendment requires suitable seating for girls and women, as well as adding the punishment of imprisonment for violations.

  • Citation: Laws of the State of Illinois Enacted by the Forty-Second General Assembly. Springfield, IL: Phillips Bros., State Printer, 1901. 231.

Excerpt, The Challenge of the City by Josiah Strong, 1907

  • Josiah Strong (1847-1916) was one of America's leading religious and social voices during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Strong was a clergyman who proposed revolutionary religion-oriented solutions to perceived inequities in America's social and economic network, and adhered to a brand of Christianity that came to be known as Christian Socialism. In this excerpt, Strong condemns the practice of child labor, and notes the pernicious influence of city life on children. He also stresses the importance of play to childhood development.

  • Citation: Strong, Josiah. The Challenge of the City. New York: Eaton & Mains, 1907. 135-139.

Religion and Morality

Excerpt, The Challenge of the City by Josiah Strong, 1907

  • See Children and Family section

Women and Gender

Women Granted Right to Vote for Certain Officers, Etc., 1913

  • Illinois was the first state east of the Mississippi to give women the right to vote in presidential elections. In addition to voting for presidential electors, this act gave women the right to vote on local ballot issues, and for some state and local elected positions. They did not have the right to vote for state or national legislators.

  • Citation: Laws of the State of Illinois enacted by the Forty-Eighth General Assembly at the Regular Biennial Session. Springfield, IL:Illinois State Journal Co., 1913. 333.