1

The Progressive Era: 1889-1919

“When America moved into the 20th century with new business,

technology, and interest in world events.”

2

Stats From the Past In 1910 census, the U.S. had 92.5 million people. The life

expectancy had gone from 46.3 years in 1900 to 48.4 years in 1919.

The average salary was $750 a year. A Model T automobile cost $450. The Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk. The radio was invented.

Basketball, Baseball, Football, and the Kentucky Derby were all introduced in U.S.

Toys: Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, & Teddy Bears are all invented in this era. Blue Laws were written to keep businesses closed and no sports to be played on Sundays.

3

The Progressive Movement The Progressive Movement believed that

the government was the best way to gain improvements for society. They believed that mankind could make progress in living.

Progressives wanted three things: fight poverty, break up monopolies, and increase voters’ influence in government.

4

The Progressive Movement One example of

Progressives in action was Upton Sinclair’s book: The Jungle. In this book, Sinclair described the horrific conditions of the meat-packing plants in Chicago. This led to Congress pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1907. Writers like Sinclair were called “Muckrakers”.

5

Changes in the Prison System

People like Rebecca Felton wrote in the AJC about the abuses of the convict lease program. Chain gangs replaced them (prisoners still h worked but now for the state).

In 1910, a federal penitentiary was built in Atlanta.

In 1915, Georgia created a juvenile court system where young offenders were tried and sentenced differently than adults.

6

Labor Unions As big businesses grew, workers

organized into unions to get better wages. If they were not paid more, then all the workers would go on strike.

Georgia and other southern states did not generally support unions.

Many children would quit school to work in factories. EX: Mary Phagan earned 12 cents an hour and worked 66 hours a week in the National Pencil Factory in Atlanta (her boss was Leo Frank).

7

The Temperance Movement:(the prohibiting of making & selling of alcohol)

Women formed groups called the Women’s Christian Temperance Union & The Anti-Saloon League .

Carrie Nation (6’ tall , carried a hatchet into saloon sand destroyed all the alcohol she saw. Arrested 30+ times , she sold souvenir toy hatchets to help her pay her fines for the destroyed alcohol.

By 1881, 48 counties in Georgia had banned alcohol. They were considered “dry” counties.

By 1919, the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed, banning alcohol in the entire United States.

8

Woman’s Suffrage Movement:“Fighting for the right to Vote”

Suffragettes like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rebecca Felton, Lucretia Mott, & Susan B. Anthony led protests to get women the right to vote. They led a march in Atlanta in 1915. Ironically, Georgia was one of 5 states that did not vote for the amendment. 36 states did vote it into power. (19th Amendment, 1920)

Rebecca Felton said, “It is embarrassing to apologize for the ignorance and stupidity of (Georgia’s) state legislature!” (OUCH!!!)

Did you know Georgia’s 1st woman mayor was Alice Strickland of Duluth in 1922?

9

Juliette Gordon Low Juliette Low visited England in

1911 and saw the British Boy Scouts and their activities. Back in Georgia she called a friend and said, “Come right over. I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah and all America and all the world and we’re going to start it tonight!”

So, on March 12, 1912, the 1st Girl Scout troop was started in Savannah!

10

Martha Berry Martha Berry started a

women’s school on 28,000 acres in Rome, GA. It was first opened in 1901. It later became a full 4 year college in 1932!

She was “a woman of courageous spirit and bold dreams.”

–Joyce Blackburn

11

Tom Watson: A Populist A populist is “someone

who leads the common people in their struggle against the elite”–

Tom Watson was a leader of that cause in Georgia.

12

Tom Watson: A Populist His “down-to-earth” style

help him get elected to the GA General Assembly in 1882, and to the U.S. Congress in 1890 as a Democrat.

In 1891, Watson joins the new Populist Party to fight for Georgia farmers: “Before I give up this fight, I will stay here ‘til the ants tote me out of the keyhole”

13

Tom Watson: A Populist Watson only served one

term, but he got the Rural Free Delivery (RFD) Bill passed. The U.S. Postmaster now had to deliver the mail free to rural area farms. It led to the building of roads, bridges, and other items to get the mail delivered to those farms.

14

Tom Watson: A Populist The Democratic party worked

hard to defeat their former member. Watson lost his re-election bid, even though he worked to get the African-American vote. He then turned to the newspaper business and started The Weekly Jeffersonian and Watson’s Jeffersonian.

In 1896, he was the Populist Party choice for Vice-President; in 1904, he was their choice for President. He lost both elections, and then returned to the Democratic Party.

15

Tom Watson: A Populist When he re-joined the

Democratic Party, he changed his views on civil rights. He now opposed more rights for African-Americans or Jewish citizens. Why??

His newspapers carried harsh articles about Leo Frank during his murder trial (over Mary Phagan).

He used this new publicity to get elected to the U.S. Senate in 1920, but dies 2 years later.

16

Leo Frank & the Murder of Mary Phagan

On April 26, 1913, Mary Phagan, a 13 year old, was going to attend the Confederate Memorial Day Parade. On the way, she stopped by the National Pencil Factory (where she typically worked 66 hours a week for 12 cents a day) to get her paycheck. She went in the building, but never walked back out alive.

17

Leo Frank & the Murder of Mary Phagan

On the way inside, she passed the custodian, Jim Conley, who appeared to be drinking from a bottle. She then went upstairs to the office of 29 year old- Leo Frank, her Jewish employer who had emigrated from the North to run the National Pencil Factory for his father-in-law. The time was 11:45 a.m. It was right before the parade at noon.

18

Leo Frank & the Murder of Mary Phagan

At 3:30 a.m. (Sunday morning), the night watchman (Newt Lee) found her body in the basement of the National Pencil Factory. He called the police and they quickly narrowed down the suspects: Leo Frank, Jim Conley, Newt Lee.

19

Leo Frank & the Murder of Mary Phagan

As detectives investigated, it became obvious that either Leo Frank or James Conley were lying. Conley claimed he heard noises from Frank’s office, and that Mr. Frank told him to hide the body. Mr. Frank said he gave her the check, and she left for the parade. The district attorney, Hugh Dorsey, wanted a conviction to help his political career. He used any evidence pointing to Leo Frank, but ignored evidence that pointed to Jim Conley.

20

An Atlanta political cartoon that attacked the slow investigation into Mary Phagan’s Murder by Atlanta detectives (4/11/13):

Lady Justice: “I wonder if they’re all asleep in there?”

21

Leo Frank & the Murder of Mary Phagan

Tom Watson’s paper called for Frank’s conviction, as did the other Atlanta papers. Finally, the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Governor James Slaton, the popular governor of GA, thought the evidence was incomplete and changed the sentence to life in prison. This would give Leo Frank a chance to appeal to another court.

22

Leo Frank & the Murder of Mary Phagan

Some citizens in Mary Phagan’s hometown of Marietta were incensed when Frank’s sentence was changed. About 30 cars of people drove to Athens, broke Frank out of jail, brought him back to Marietta, and killed him. And sadly, Governor Slaton never was elected by Georgians again. This was called the “Trial of the Century”; later in 1982, Governor Joe Frank Harris pardoned Leo Frank 67 years after his death; it appears Jim Conley killed her after she saw him drinking on the job. In his drunken stupor, he was afraid she’d tell Mr. Frank, who had threatened to fire him if he drank again. As he struggled to stop her, she was choked and hit her head. Then, he hid the body in the basement. Later, Conley is sentenced on a charge of robbery and works on a chain gang for many years. It was a sad chapter in Georgia’s history.

23

Parade: The Musical After Leo Frank was

pardoned, a musical called, “Parade” was written that told the story of Mary Phagan’s murder and Leo Frank’s trial. It was performed in Atlanta and on Broadway in NY.

What are TWO reasons that “Parade” is a good name for this sad story?

24

The Knights of Mary Phagan Another sad moment in Georgia’s history was in

July (1915), a group met at Stone Mountain to form this group of hate and discrimination. Later, it used a name from the past, the Ku Klux Klan.

25

Newspaper Men Run for Governor In 1906, two newspaper men ran

for governor in GA. Clarke Howell ran as a Democrat; Hoke Smith ran as a reform candidate. Tom Watson supported Smith if he would vote to disenfranchise (take away the vote of) African-American citizens. Smith also promised to take power away from the urban areas and give it to the rural areas.

Also, in 1906, a horrible race riot broke out in downtown Atl.

26

The County Unit System (1917)

One way that Governor Smith got power for the rural counties was the county unit system. It was based on population, and it allowed smaller counties in the farming areas to outvote the larger counties in the cities.

This system gave the 8 largest counties 6 votes each (8 X 6 = 48 county votes if they all vote together). These counties were mainly urban ones.

The next 30 counties got 4 county unit votes (120) The remaining 121 counties got 2 county unit votes (242). Most of

these counties were rural ones, and so they could overwhelm the urban vote.

This was declared an unconstitutional system in 1962 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

27

Businesses in Georgia In 1895, Atlanta was host

800,000 visitors to a 3 month long “Cotton States & International Exposition”. With 8,000 exhibits and a speech by Booker T. Washington, it was considered a huge success for Atlanta and its growing prosperity.

28

Morris Rich: Department Store In 1867, Morris Rich opened

up a small store; it was the first store to have glass store windows. Eventually, it became THE place to shop in Atlanta. Later, it was known for the “Pink Pig” and the Christmas Tree Lighting in downtown Atlanta. (Today, it has merged with “Macy’s”).

Rich’s would accept scrip (or IOU’s) from teachers during the Great Depression!

29

Dr. John S. Pemberton: Coca-Cola In 1885, “Doc” Pemberton was looking to

make a “nerve tonic” that tasted good. In his backyard lab, he created the formula for “Coca-Cola”. (It’s named for its two main ingredients: coca plant and the kola nut). It sold for 25 cents in drugstores. Later, a druggist named Willis Venable added soda water to the syrup (rather than tap water); Coca-Cola was born!

In 1888, as his health was declining, Pemberton sold Coca-Cola rights to Asa Candler. Candler became a millionaire and gave much money to Emory University. He later sold it to Robert Woodruff, who turned it into an international product. It is now used by 470 million people a day!

30

Alonzo Herndon: 1st AA Millionaire Alonzo Herndon was 7

years old when the Civil War ended. His first year of freedom, he earned $25 for his former master.

Later, Herndon learned to be a barber and he moved to Atlanta. He created the fanciest barbershop in Atlanta!

31

Alonzo Herndon: 1st AA Millionaire In 1905, Herndon paid $140

for the Atlanta Mutual Insurance Company; he found that many African- Americans were not able to get insurance, so he hired young businessmen to expand his company for African- American workers. When Herndon died in 1927, he had become the first African- American millionaire. (It’s now known as the Atlanta Life Insurance Company).

32

The Jekyll Island Club

During the Progressive Era, many men became millionaires by building monopolies in many businesses. Andrew Carnegie (steel), John D. Rockefeller (oil), Cornelius Vanderbilt (RR), and J. P. Morgan (banks) would come spend their winters on Jekyll Islands. With big mansions, animals brought to hunt, and golf, it was a very exclusive place to have a vacation. (In 1978, the Jekyll Island Clubhouse was declared a National Historic landmark).

33

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt

later took on the monopolies, and gained the title of “Trust Buster”. He felt that too much power & money was ending up in the hands of a few millionaires.

34

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt rose to

prominence during the Spanish-American War. He had built up the navy, then joined the army to lead the Rough Riders (Cavalry) in Cuba (against the Spanish).

This “splendid little war” led to the U.S. to consider issues, events, and countries outside of its borders for the 1st time.

How could a war be a “splendid little war”?

35

Georgia During Wars in Progressive Era

Georgia’s Fort Pulaski was used to train soldiers during the Spanish-American War and Fort McPherson was used to house prisoners in World War I. Also, Presidents Grover Cleveland, Teddy Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson visited Georgia.

36

The Great Atlanta Fire of 1917

On May 21, 1917, a fire broke out in western Atlanta and in 12 hours- 1900 houses and 1553 other buildings were destroyed. Amazingly, nobody died in the fire, though 10,000 people were homeless.

37

Atlanta: The New Phoenix Has Arisen