Gilded Age and Progressive Era

 The 55 year period between 1865 and 1920 is known to American historians as the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.  Traditional courses in this subject have concentrated on the political and military history of the period, and on broad social movements.  This course will expand the range of historical topics under discussion to include issues as diverse as architecture and urban growth, immigration and labor unions, Jim Crow laws and American Indian policy, women's reforms, world fairs, and utopian experiments, as well as the more standard Gilded Age and Progressive Era subjects: populism, progressivism, big business, socialism, and imperialism.  Students will explore many aspects of this rich and complex period in American history; they will become familiar with the five-decade chronological narrative and obtain an in-depth knowledge of a number of specific problems or issues associated with the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
    Attendance at all classes.  More than 6 absences will affect the final grade.  Students should complete all reading assignments before the class in which they will be discussed.
    There are mid-term and final examinations in this course, and each student is responsible for a researched term paper and class report developed from the term paper.
    There are 8 books required in this course, and there will be additional readings handed out in class.  Among the books are novels, autobiographies, and biographies, as well as historical texts.  Discussion of these books and the textbooks is the core of the course; your preparation and participation will determine its success.

REQUIRED READINGS (Available at the campus bookstore or Textbook Corner)
Fink, Leon: Major Problems in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
Addams: Twenty Years at Hull House
Alger: Ragged Dick
Chessman: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Power
Gilbert: Perfect Cities: Chicago's Utopias of the 1890s
Sinclair:  The Jungle
Washington: Up from Slavery
Kasson, John, Amusing the Million
Additional required readings (handouts) will be distributed the week before they are to be discussed.
 

For more information, contact:
Professor Karen Manners Smith
phone: (316) 341-5570