Factory Fires

     Today in class we were given words to choose from and to search through a newspaper archive about the topic during the progressive period(1880-1925). I discovered that during this period in time factory fires were a ver common event, here were 3,985,255 matches. The first article that I clicked on was talking about the amount of fires and the damage done. There were 217 fires in Kansas during the month of July, that resulted in $224,272 worth of damage. It was concluded that factory fires were the "most disastrous" because they resulted in a loss of $76,812, which was the highest amount of any type of fire (Coffeyville Journal 10 Aug 1917).
       I began my research with looking up the factory fire in American history, and found information on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. History. com summarized it as, "On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned, killing 145 workers. It is remembered as one of the most infamous incidents in American industrial history, as the deaths were largely preventable–most of the victims died as a result of neglected safety features and locked doors within the factory building. The tragedy brought widespread attention to the dangerous sweatshop conditions of factories, and led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of workers." Then, it stated that in response to this disaster, the Sullivan-Hoey Fire Prevention Law was passed that October. So I went back into the archive and searched the law. 
     As it turns out, the people did not seem to approve. Although many people were dying and they could all agree that they were the most destructive, they saw it as unnecessary. People featured in the newspaper described the Sullivan-Hoey Fire Prevention Law as an "unnecessary expense" and that it would only "interfere with the rights of property owners with building operations"(Brooklyn Daily Eagle 29 Nov 1911). So although people recognized the problem of factory fires, they did not want to change their ways. Obviously although the law passed, factory fires were still very relevant to the time being. I found an article from a 1916 newspaper with the big heading, "Look out for Fires" which reviewed all of the multiple fires from just that week and the damage, and then warned people to be careful because of the dry weather. This all goes to show that fires remained a major issue for a long time because people continued not to do anything about safety regulations and seemed too lazy to change their ways. 


 

Main topics for the ballot initiatives in 2016:
- marijuana
- minimum wage
- gun control
- death penalty
- physician's assisted suicide

Eight out of nine states approved legalizing marijuana in 2016. Arizona rejected it while California, Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota. California, Nevada, and Massachusetts legalized it for recreation for those 21 and older while the other states only approved medical use of it.
Four out of five states approved increasing minimum wage in 2016. Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington all increased it. South Dakota tried to decrease the minimum wage for those under 18, but that was not passed.
Gun control expansion was approved in three out of four states. Maine rejected it while California, Nevada, and Washington approved.

What is Progressivism?

1. How would you define “progress”?
2. What period in time is referred to as the Progressive Era? Why?  What types of issues and actions, and achievements are associated with the Progressive Era? 
3. Progressives had lots of goals. What do progressive reforms have in common?
4. Evaluate the major goals of Progressives and sort them into these 4 categories: (Or make your own categories or ranking system), such as best to worst.
1. Essential goals worth striving for/ Necessary changes
2. Good Goals – not strictly necessary but could really improve life
3. Strange Goals
4. Not a good idea

I would define progress as making movement towards reaching a goal. The period in time that is referred to as the Progressive Era is the 1890s to the 1920s. It was called this because during this time people were coming up with multiple ideas that could lead to different types of progression within the country. These ideas pertained to economic, social, political and moral changes. "Progressive reformers sought to eliminate corruption in government, regulate business practices, address health hazards, and improve working conditions." Progressive reforms all have in common that their main purpose is to improve the life of the people. Honestly, I think that all of these many goals mentioned go with category one. All of them seem necessary in order for a better life for the people. 

http://www.american-historama.org/1881-1913-maturation-era/progressive-movement.htm 

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=11 

Predictions from the past

Predictions people were making about today 100 and 50 years ago:

1. there would be no more c x and q in the alphabet
2. Digital colour photography
3. The rising height of Americans
4. Mobile phones
5. Pre-prepared meals
6. Television
7. No more cars in large cities
8. No mosquitoes or flies
9. Firefighters will fly around with batwings on
10. We will domesticate whales and use them as transportation
11. We'll be able to control the weather
12. Flying cars will be a thing
13. one worldwide currency
14. Automated bathrooms
15. Our hardworking barbers and salon specialists will be replaced by robots
16. Our education system will become way more high tech
17. We'll communicate via video chatting / Communications will become sight-sound and you will see as well as hear the person you telephone. (FaceTime)
18. 3D television
19. Cancer, the common cold, and tooth decay will all be conquered; the revolutionary new problem in medical research will be to accomplish "regeneration," i.e., to enable a man to grow a new leg, rather than fit him with an artificial limb.
20. people will travel to the moon routinely

        These predictions all seem like a wish list, none of them seem to be  a warning of bad things to come. I guess people from 100 and 50 years ago only thought the world would get better. Some of these predictions have come true such as numbers 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 12(kinda), 14, 16, 17, and 18. Ones that are extremely bizarre and seem out of reach now and forever include numbers 9,10,11,and the regeneration part of number 19. All of the other ones have not come true and seem out of reach for the time being, but could MAYBE be possible in the future with a lot of hard work from the current generation. A trend within these predictions is positivity. Not one of these predictions would be a negative innovation to our world, and people back then seem mostly practical yet hopeful. In general these generations expected a better world to come. 
        Now, what do I think will happen in the future? I think that our generation will succeed a lot technologically. Robots will become way more popular as well as functional, and will replace a lot of jobs. Medicine will also have huge break throughs thanks to the new technology, maybe even cure cancer. I hope for a better world, but I do think things will become better in some places but worse in others. Sure, technology is great for many things but I think we are raising a lazy generation because of it. A lot more people will rely on technology to do our work, and books might even become extinct. I guess we'll see how it goes!




http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16444966 

https://www.wired.com/2014/05/victorian-postcards-predict-future/

http://www.upworthy.com/11-ridiculous-future-predictions-from-the-1900-worlds-fair-and-3-that-came-true 

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27069716

http://io9.gizmodo.com/5871053/robert-heinleins-predictions-for-the-year-2000-from-1952 

How Urbanization Affected Women's Lifestyle

  From 1870 to 1914 there were a lot of changes going on in America, but women were still facing many constraints. They were not allowed to vote, and they were still expected to live a simple home life taking care of the kids and cooking meals. A man named George Bernard Shaw spoke on American women in 1907 and said, "They are all exactly the same. The only thing to be said for them is they are usually very well dressed and extremely good looking"(Source 1). Even though women did not have a lot of rights at this time, they had the ability to express themselves through style and beauty. Thankfully, with urbanization came a lot more opportunities for women to do this and much more as well. I believe that the city life allowed women to be more independent, and we can see this through their choices in clothing as well as changing lifestyles.

          During this time, women were beginning to assert themselves within the society. Urbanization brought forth new jobs as well as more leisure time for women, which meant women needed new types of clothes. They needed practical work clothes as well as nice clothes to go out to the movies or the amusement parks. New jobs and wages for women, new merchandising techniques, and an increase of mass consumption caused a lot more women to become concerned with their own personal style. Fashion used to be a luxury to only the upper class, but now with all of this availability coming from department stores, catalogues, and other urban resources the middle class could take part in distinctive styles. Now almost every home was built with clothes closets, not just the rich ones. 

          How did they dress? In the 1870s they wore very high neck lines, with layered blouses, dresses that touched the floor, and their hair up. They dressed this way because it was though of "generally unhealthy and unvirtuous"(Source 7) for women to show their chests and bodies. This conservative style ties back to The Free Love Movement that was going on during the 1870s. This was a movement that women were trying to get rid of the discriminating sexual laws, marriage laws, and anti-birth control measures (Source 6). They dressed this way because in this society they did not own their bodies, their husbands did. It continued to be this way, but got a little better year by year. In the 1880s women began wearing corsets to emphasize an hour glass figure, but they still had high neck lines with puffy sleeves that "limited close contact"(Source 7). They began to break away from these norms in the 1890s, they no longer wore a bustle, and showed their toes. The progress is minor, but it represents that as time went on women became more and more independent. 

          Women followed many trends at this time, because magazines and catalogues were becoming available. Fashion was always changing, but they stayed on top of it and made frequent purchases. They knew what was popular because they could read about it, and they could go get it because department stores were everywhere. Shopping was becoming a lot easier, and so was following fashion. The Ladies' Home Journal was a very influential and popular journal during this time. It influenced them to do what they wanted and "promoted women's interest in beauty and fashion, home decoration, sewing and cooking"(Source 5). Another very influential part of women's lives during this time that they found in magazines was the "Gibson Girl". This woman was "an artist's idealized concept of American womanhood"(Source 1). She was drawn on many different advertisement and was a huge role model for fashion within women. She was always very well dressed, skinny, and beautiful, and every woman wanted to be like her. The exposure of urban life aspects such as magazines and catalogues allowed women to follow trends from around the world and inspired them to be fashionable. 

         Women played a major role in consumerism during urbanization because they were the main consumers of the family. Also, innovations such as apartment buildings, sewing machines, and department stores allowed them more time for themselves because it sped up the consumer process. Women who lived in apartment buildings had "easy access to urban transportation and proximity to such attractions as department stores and restaurants"(Source 3). Sometimes apartments even came with a maid service, so women could spend less time cleaning and more time making clothes and shopping. Women were the ones using  the new sewing machines, and they were the ones that went to the department stores that had anything and everything. I think that clothing was where women of this time felt a sense of power and department stores were a place where they could feel free. Their new found leisure time thanks to urbanization allowed them to become more and more involved in the clothing world.  New jobs such as mass producing clothes, being store clerks and running department stores(and how much women shopped) led to the creation of the National Consumers League. This league tried to "mobilize the power of women as consumers to force retailers and manufacturers to improve wages and working conditions for women"(Source 2). Women used urbanization to their advantage and worked hard to establish themselves in society through their importance in consumerism.
          All of the advancements during this time allowed women to have a lot more access to the outside world. They found jobs other than being a mother and a wife, found pride being a consumer, and were able to follow many fashion trends thanks to the introduction of the city life. They might not have had a lot of power, but choosing outfits was a step to gaining more rights.Women desired to dress nice and look pretty, it was their way of exercising their agencies within their constraints. Clothing was their way of expressing themselves, and they found many ways within the industry to make themselves important. Urbanization was a time for advancement in both women's rights and women's fashion. Without all of these innovations and movements from 1870-1814, there is no telling what I would be wearing or what rights I would have as a woman. 

Gibson Girl- Picture of Gibson Girl and a description of who she was.

January 1895 issue of Ladies' Home Journal - A popular and influential magazine during this time period for women.

A woman and her daughter board a streetcar on Manhattan's Broadway line in 1913 - Showed me how women were dressed, and implied the responsibilities of a woman to take care of their children.

Woman using a sewing machine in late 1800s 11

Woman wearing a corset

1873 Peterson’s Fashion Plate - Women wearing bustles and hats (1870s)

1880s Fashion Corsets and hats

Sources:
1. The Fabulous Century 1900-1910 A book about these years that I learned the expectations and styles of women.
2. History Textbook Chapter 18 Gave me a basic knowledge of the urbanization going on, and the impact on women’s lifestyle.  
3. Apartment Buildings An article about apartment buildings, said how they affected women’s lifetsyle.

4. A Timeline of 1850-1900 - Mentioned important events for women around the 1870s.  

5. Ladies' Home Journal - Informed me about an impacting journal on women during this time.
6.Free Love Movement Told me about the women’s rights movements going on during the time of urbanization.  
7.Everyday Life: Fashion An overview of the fashion of women from the 1870s to the 1900s.