the 1920's

Zora neale hurtson

A African American writer who didn't let her color hold her back. She went to Howard University, and climbed to the top of African-American literary community.She was quoted "I do not weep at [her heritage] I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife." -The Americans

Women on airplanes

In 1927, the first commercial transatlantic flights were taking place, this meant there needed to be people attending to the passengers.Due to the fact that most men most likely want to see a manly, man take care of them; United airlines hired only women. It was still an improvement over staying at home, but they only offered the jobs to white females.
- The Americans

Mexican americans

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Bryanna Chrisp-
With the masses moving to cities, and Mexican immigration on the rise in the early 1920's, a time of eminent drug related crime across the nation, many began to associate the change in population with the change in public safety. Labor Unions feared that inexpensive labor provided by the migrated people would defeat the purpose and potential of strikes. Welfare groups feared they would have to financially support more unfortunate cases. Congressmen attempted to pass a bill limiting immigration from Mexico. Famous Mexican-American actress Delores del Rio is pictured left.
http://www.imdb.com/list/nSQHB2kA590/
http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Le-Pa/Mexican-Americans.html

Robert k. Vann

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Nicolette Tosunian-
Publisher of one of the nation's largest black newspapers, the Pittsburgh Courier, wanted a national platform for his views.  Vann launched the Competitor in 1920 and sold the magazine for 20 cents a copy, that was a substantial price at the time.  But the Competitor did not have the financial support that some other black publication did, such as the Crisis, the house magazine of the NAACP, and Vann was unable to continue publishing.
(http://mije.org/files/timeline/01.html)

Jack L. Cooper

Picture
Nicolette Tosunian- 
Cooper's radio show, "The All Negro", debuted November 3, 1929 on WSBC, Chicago. It was a weekly show at first but eventually was expanded to 10 hours-a-week. The program aired until 1935. Cooper also broadcasted over WHFC, Chicago. Cooper stayed on the air in one form or another until 1961.  His claim to fame was that he was the first African-American disc-jockey and radio announcer.
(http://mije.org/files/timeline/01.html)


Gertrude Simmons Bonnin

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Nicolette Tosunian-
Native American activist and writer of the Sioux tribe Gertrude Simmons Bonnin was prominent in the Pan-Indian movement of the 1920s and 1930s. She devoted her life to lobbying for the rights of Native Americans. One of the most outspoken voices raised on behalf of Native Americans during the early twentieth century was that of Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, a granddaughter of the famous Sioux chief Sitting Bull. As a writer, she produced a number of essays and short stories that established her as a significant figure in Native American literature.
(http://mije.org/files/timeline/01.html)

Marvel cooke

Picture
Nicolette Tosunian-
During the Harlem Renaissance, Marvel Cooke began her work at the Crisis, NAACP's monthly magazine, as editorial assistant to the editor, W.E.B. DuBois.  Cooke fought for labor reform and formed writers' groups for black authors.  Her work including investigative pieces such as going undercover in the infamous Bronx Slave Market, a stretch of 167th Street where black women waited for someone to hire them to clean or do laundry.
(http://mije.org/files/timeline/01.html)

Bill bojangles Robinson

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Bryanna Chrisp-
Bill Robinson was born in Richmond Virginia. He was originally nameed Luther Robinson and born in 1885. He was an orphan and was raised by his parent's father. He became a dancer and at a young age he quickly became the star of local dance shows. After he dutifully served in an African-American regiment during WWI, he returned home and persued a career in acting. He played key comic roles and eventually starred in Blackbirds in 1928. His career continued to blossom until his death in 1948.

(http://black-face.com/Bill-Bojangles-Robinson.htm)

Maimee Smith

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Maimee Smith was born in the early 1880's. She began dancing at age ten years old. She danced in broadway plays even as a youth. Eventually she quit dancing and became a singer in clubs across Harlem. She was the first woman in the 1920's to record a blues music. She influenced blues artists to come. Producers realized that white population was excited about the new style of music, they began to search for more African American women to sing blues music. Although Maimee Smith's music was considered "race music" because it was unusual to previous styles in America, Maimee Smith did not allow racial catagorization to prevent her from becoming musically and financially successful.






(http://www.redhotjazz.com/mamie.html)

Stepin fetchit

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Bryanna Chrisp-
Stepit Fetchit's first appearance in a movie was A Mysterious Stranger in 1927. He continued to act in various movies throughout the thirtees and forties. He was considered the most successful black actor of the era. He eventually became the initial African American actor to obtain one million dollars. He was often discriminated against frequently by film making organizations, and yet he maintained a successful career. (http://black-face.com/Stepin-Fetchit.htm)





Alice PAUL

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Caitlin Stryker
Alice Paul , being born in 1885 to Quaker parents, was taught from birth that men and women are equal. This firm belief fulled her to later work alongside Susan B. Anthony and others in the Women's Suffrage Movement in the late 1910's. She and others were beat, attacked by angry mobs, fined, thrown in jail and starved for their beliefs, however on August 26th, American women gained the right to vote after a seventy-two year battle.Three years later, she spearheaded The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which was introduced in every session of Congress from 1923 until it passed in 1972.
(http://www.alicepaul.org/alicepaul.htm)

BEssie Smith

Picture
Caitlin Stryker
Bessis Smith was known as the "Empress of the Blues" in the 1920's. One of her most famous numbers was her rendition of "St. Louis Blues" with Louis Armstrong and is still considered to be one of the best recordings of the 1920's and although she was the highest paid African-American of her day, she still experienced racist sentiments and racism was a possible contributor to her death. While driving home from Mississippi with her lover Richard Morgan, they had a terrible accident in which their car rolled after hitting a slow moving truck. Although Richard sustasined only minor injuries, Bessie's ribs were crushed and her left arm was mostly severed. Some think that her life may have been saved if she had first been admitted to the much closer "white only" hospital. She had bled to death by the time she reached the right hospital.
(http://redhotjazz.com/bessie.html)

Amiee Semple McPherson

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Caitlin Stryker
She was one of the first female evangelists, the first divorced evangelist, and the founder of the Foursquare Gospel church.Soon after Aimee's birth, her mother took her to the Salvation Army and dedicated her to God's service.  Physically attractive and possessing a dynamic personality and the instinctive ability to charm crowds, Aimee Semple McPherson gradually perfected her skills. In the cities, her audiences were often immense, with ten thousand to fifteen thousand people deliriously applauding her. "Speaking in tongues" and successful efforts at faith healing—both practiced by Pentecostal churches—were a part of her ministry. The most astounding incident occurred in 1926, when McPherson, believed to have drowned in the Pacific Ocean, "miraculously" reappeared in the Mexican desert. Some challenged her tale of kidnapping and mistreatment, claiming she had been in hiding with one of her male followers.
(http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ma-Mo/McPherson-Aimee-Semple.html)

Edna St. Vincent Millay

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Caitlin Stryker
Edna Millay’s poetry collection The Harp Weaver and Other Poems , published in 1923, earned her the Pulitzer Prize. She was the first woman to win the award for poetry. She also wrote over two hundred sonnets and lyric poems and is renowned for her mastery of rhyming meter and style. She was given many awards during her lifetime including honorary Litt. D. degrees from Tufts (1925) and she was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1929.
(http://www.online-literature.com/millay)

Edith Wilson

Picture
Kelsey Chittum
Edith Wilson was the wife of Woodrow Wilson and First Lady of the United States. When a stroke left her husband paralyzed in 1919, she took over many duties of his presidency.  She took a “stewardship” of the presidency throughout the early twenties.  Though she did not take over the executive branch, she just took over the routine duties of the president. She allowed all major issues go to the heads of various depatments. She was highly critizised for trying to take over her husbands presidency, when all shee was trying to to was help him out until he was well enough to once again run the country. If it were not for Edith Wilson, President Wilson would have been forced to step down. By the time of her husbands death in 1924, she was a respected figure in society.
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wilson/portrait/wp_edith.html)

Alice paul

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Kelsey Chittum
Alice Paul was a prominent woman in the women’s suffrage movement. She was a leader in both the National American Woman Suffrage Association, NAWSA, and the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. Both organizations sought for the equal treatment of women, especiall on the political level. After women were given the right to vote on 1920, Paul immediately went on to her next goal, the Equal Rights Amendment, EPA, though it was not ratified for nearly fifty years. Through her life she was inprisoned three times and participated in many hunger strikes an rallies for women’s rights. She was a brave leader of her time and beacasue of that she was able to acomplish great things.

(http://www.alicepaul.org/alicepaul.htm)


Lupe Velez

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Kelsey Chittum
Lupe Velez was a Mexican actress during the twenties. She bagan her career as a dancer in Mexico, but in 1924 she was seen by producer Hal Roach. She stared in her first feautre length film, "The Gaucho," in 1927 along with Douglas Fairbanks. She was one of the only Mexican Americans to find success in Hollywood during the twenties. She could do it all, she stared in comedies, dramas, talkies and she even sang on Broadway. Unfortunately she got into drugs and alcohol at a young age and she committed suicide when she was only thirty four. She was a prominent actress of the twenties and early thirties and she set presidents for other Mexican Americans who wished to peruse a career in Hollywood. 
(http://emol.org/film/archives/velez/)

James Weldon Johnson

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Kelsey Chittum
James Weldon Johnson was an African American poet who during the Harlem Renaissance. Before he started writing, he got his bachelors degree form Atlanta University and starting teaching a public school for African American children.  After that he studied law in Florida and established the first African American newspaper in Jacksonville. In 1920, Johnson became secretary of the NAACP,  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He worked harder than most in order to attain political and cultural equality for African American.  He tried for years to pass the Dyer Antilynching Bill, but he was unsuccessful. He was an important figure in the African American community and he brought hope to all those who were struggling. (Gale Online Database: Title James Weldon Johnson)

Bessie Coleman

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  -Zachary Brown-
As both a women and an african american, Bessie Colman, or "Queen Bess", as some came to call her was famous in the 1920's as a barnstormer, performing stunts in front of large crowds. Injured in 1923, she returned to performing in 1925, but died in an accident in 1926.





(http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Explorers_Record_Setters_and_Daredevils/Coleman/EX11.htm)


Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

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 -Zachary Brown-
A famous Air Force General, who was known for being the commander of the Tuskegee airmen. As a African American he faced prejudice, but in spite of that went on to leed the 332nd Fighter Group, an later the 477th Composite Group, as well as the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing during the Korean War.




(http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5173)

NAACP

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 -Zachary Brown-
Founded in 1909 to guarentee rights to African Americans, the NAACP, continued it's growth through the 1910's and 1920's. In 1920, Writer and diplomat James Weldon Johnson became the Association's first black secretary.

(http://www.naacp.org/content/main/)





(http://cdn1.newsone.com/files/2009/12/naacp-2.jpg)

Greta Garbo

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 -Zachary Brown-
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, she moved to California in 1925, to continue an acting career she had begun in Europe. While under contract with MGM, the movies she stared in acounted for 13% of MGM's revenue for the 1925/26  production year, and 14% of MGM's revenue for 1927-1929. From 1922-1941 she stared in 28 films. Garbo recieved four Oscar Nominations for best actress, and in 1954 she received an Academy Award Oscar for her “Unforgettable Performances."




(http://www.gretagarbo.com/Offical_Website_of_Greta_Garbo/Home.html)

Lionel barrymore 

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Paul Hwang

Lionel Barrymore is a man with many talents, but what makes him a true star isn't the fame in Hollywood. What makes him a true star is that he over came being a minority in America in the 1920's. As a Irish-American immigrant he stars in the silent films The Copperhead, and Sadie Thompson. The two silent films were a hit in the 1920's. He paved the ways for many minorities in the 1920's. 
(http://www.twoop.com/people/lionel_barrymore.html)

John Barrymore 

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Paul Hwang 
No actor in the 1920's reached the success of John Barrymore. His award winning films hit the nationwide. He was known as the greatest Shakespearian actor of his generation. John Barrymore brother to Lionel Barrymore surpassed his own brother in the film industry. Jokes spread throughout America saying that when Shakespeare wrote, "Hamlet" it was directed for John Barrymore to act out.  What made John such a man of great talent is the fact that he was not stopped by his minority issues. He was an Irish-American man, which made it much harder for him to reach where he got during the roaring 20's. 
(http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/184983%7C0/John-Barrymore-Profile.html;jsessionid=B4387395E68A74702094B1DFAEA9F183)

Jean harlow 

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Paul Hwang

Jean Harlow is the, "Original Blonde Bombshell", making her the first Madonna and Marylin Monroe in the 1920's. She became known as the Hollywood's sex goddess. Jean Harlow is her screen name, her original name was Harlean Carpenter. Sadly Jean only lived to the age of 26, but during her half life she created 36 hit movies as a woman categorized as a  minority. As a woman she was ranked No. 22 in the American Film Institutes's list of the, "Greatest  American Screen Legends". She also became the first woman on the cover of life magazine in the 1920's. 

(http://www.jeanharlow.com/about/biography.html)

David Dubinsky 

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Paul Hwang
David Dubinsky was  born in Brest-Litovsk in Russian Poland on Feb. 22, 1892, the youngest of six children in a poor Jewish family. His father moved the family to Lodz, where he operated a bakery. At the age of 11, David went to work for his father. By 14 he was a master baker and a member of the Bakers' Union, an affiliate of the Polish Bund, a revolutionary organization of Jewish workers. He came over from Russia to Ellis Island as an immigrant in 1911. As minority he worked hard as a garment cutter. Then he was elected president in 1920, the following year Dubinsky also became general manager, a full-time, well-paid position that allowed him to leave the cutter's bench. By 1924 he added to his offices the secretary-treasurership of the local, thus becoming the most powerful figure within the New York locals that dominated the ILGWU.
(http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/ewb_05/ewb_05_01867.html)

George Washington Carver

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Andrew Ramirez
Carver is one of the best known agricultural scientists of his generation, Carver was born into slavery near Diamond Grove, Missouri. In 1923, Carver won the Spingarn award, the highest annual prize given by the National Association for Colored People.



(http://www.victoriaspast.com/Famous_Black_Americans/FamousBlackAmericans.htm)

Duke Elington

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Andrew Ramirez
Musician and band leader at "The Cotton Club".  Duke Elington was one of the top Jazz musicians in the 1920s. Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, and Willie "The Lion" Smith were the "gladiators" of jazz in these early years.







(http://www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com/famous-people-in-the-1920s.html)