A Crossroads Resource

Unit IX: Boom and Bust: 1921-1933

Question/Problem 2: How did the lives of famous people reflect life in the 1920s?


1920s Famous People Mini-Project

Many people became famous in the 1920s for a variety of reasons. Some of these people are still well known today, while others have been forgotten over the years.

This mini-project is a quick way to become familiar with one important personality of the Twenties. Follow the instructions below:

1. Your teacher will assign one person to each student. Both that person and something he or she is associated with will be all you will be given to start.

2. A librarian will explain how to use the special research books that contain information on these people. Time will be given in class to begin your research, but you may need to use the media center at other times.

3. You will gather your information for your oral report on the organized form provided. This is to be handed in with your visual aid.

4. On an 8 1/2" X 11" piece of oaktag, you will prepare a visual aid about the person you are researching. On the oaktag you will give the name you have been assigned, add some kind of artwork that explains what that person is famous for, and print three or four sentences to briefly explain why this person was important in the Twenties.

5. You will be expected to give a one to two minute oral report on the person you have researched. You must give all vital information, including an explanation of your visual aid, biographical information, his/her activities during the 1920s, the impact of these activities and other points of interest.

6. Your grade will be based on: (1) neatness, accuracy, and imaginativeness of the poster; (2) accuracy and completeness of the information in the oral report; and (3) delivery of the oral report including speaking voice and length of time.

Use the following to help you organize for this mini-project:

Person you are researching. 

______________________________________________

Why is the person famous?  

_______________________________________________

Date oral report is due.  

______________________________________________





PERSON				EVENT OR ACTIVITY

Louis Armstrong			Jazz
Clarence Birdseye		Quick Freezing
Al Capone			Prohibition
Carrie Chapman Catt		League of Women Voters
Charlie Chaplin			Films
Jack Dempsey			Professional Boxing
Amelia Earhart			Flight
Gertrude Ederle			English Channel
Albert Fall			Teapot Dome Scandel
F. Scott Fitzgerald		The Great Gatsby
Henry Ford			Model T
Marcus Garvey			UNIA
George Gershwin			Concert Music
Texas Guinan			Prohibition
Warren G. Harding		"Return to Normalcy"
Ernest Hemingway		Literature
Langston Hughes			Harlem Renaissance
Al Jolson			Talkies
Bobby Jones			Golf
Frank B. Kellogg		Kellogg-Briand Pact
Charles Lindbergh		Spirit of St. Louis
Edna St. Vincent Millay		Poetry
A. Mitchell Palmer		The Red Scare
Mary Pickford			Films
Knute Rockne			Football
Babe Ruth			Yankees
Sacco and Vanzetti		Electric Chair
John T. Scopes			"Monkey Trial"
William Joseph Simmons		Ku Klux Klan
Bessie Smith			The Blues


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