"The American Dream"

     Urban/suburban development marked the start of many new beginnings which will never be forgotten in history. The suburbs aspired many builders to start many chains such as department stores and restaurants that are still very popular today. Without the development of suburbs, America would definitely be different today.

     Levitt town was the first step to the suburban development. The town was created by Abraham Levitt and his two sons William and Alfred. The three men later decided to name their business Levitt and Sons, Inc. Many Americans wanted to move to the suburbs because families started to realize how valuable family life is after the war. They figured since live can be taken from you at any moment, you might as well take advantage of what you can when you can. Most of the people who aspired to live in Levitt Town were new parents and war veterans because they were both looking for a new fresh start where they feel secured. Because so many people were living up to their dreams of a safe community, Levitt Town became huge. 

     By 1960, a third of the nation's population was living in suburbs because the Levitt men made the so called "cape cod style houses" more affordable for families. Most of the houses were sold for under $10,000. William Levitt used mass production techniques to build many houses in Long Island and this was just the beginning. Between 1947 and 1964 Levitt and Sons built around 50,000 homes across the north east and created 700 house development named Les Residences du Chatau in France. Most of the houses were identical on the inside and over the years the style of the houses and other additions became more advanced such as pools, playgrounds, garages etc. Although it was very different to live in a neighborhood community rather than a city, the roles of society did not really change.

     The suburbs were mainly whites because Levitt town did not rent or sell home's to negro or colored people. The Levitt's did not even sell houses to black veterans which made negro's very mad because they felt this was unfair because they served in the war just as much as the white people did. Bill Levitt said "originally we would not sell to a black person because it was an old story that if we sold to blacks, whites would not buy". But in 1954, racial segregation in the military ended, though blacks still lived in separate community's. The women in the suburbs were though to focus entirely on raising their children and home life.Women were not supposed to have jobs because they needed to "leave them for the men". Someone once said about Levitt Town, "Residents of Levittown achieved community by building it, both physically with brick and mortar, and socially with welcoming committees and neighborhood coffee, a place where a women taught each other to be great mothers while becoming even better friends". This quotation gives us an idea of how strong the community actually was in Levitt Town and how the suburbs actually brought people closer together.

     The Levitt's reserved several hundred acres that became used for shopping sites. Shopping areas were five miles apart from the town so it was very easy to get to. Large chains started to appear such as food, clothes, drugs, housing equipment etc. The ownership's of the businesses were under the Levitt's control. These stores made life much easier for all of the residents living in the suburbs along with the automobile.

     Transportation marked a huge event in suburban development. Cars made it that much easier to get around to where people needed to be. In 1958, the Interstate Highway Act connected all of the major cities in the Untied States with highways. The Interstate Highway Act made traveling from city to city possible and much faster. When the Interstate Highway was built, people started to realize that they needed places to go on the side of the rode that would give people a break from driving or maybe even a bite to eat. Malls, motels, fast food, and drive in theaters were immediately built and are still thankfully here today. The first shopping center was in Kansas city in 1920, and this only was the beginning of malls. By 1970, there were 4,000 malls just in the United States! Department stores also became huge such as Macy's and Gimbles in New York, Marshall field in Chicago, and Foely's in Houston. Grocery stores expanded and driveways and garages were being added on to houses because of the automobiles. The Interstate Highway Act was definitely the reason for all of this to be possible. Since the federal state and government payed for the roads and the automobile industry sold and made the cars, everything and everyone was starting to work together to make America the amazing country it is today. The central city population was 30% in 1986 and most were blacks and Hispanics.

     This project really has made me open my eyes to see how different our community would be today if we did not have suburban development. Without suburban development, I think the United States would not be near as connected and there would probably be more crimes without having the safe feeling of a actual neighborhood. I did not really have any trouble finding information because the the change from urban to suburban development was a huge mark in history so it was pretty easy to find. I really did enjoy this topic for my paper because it really does make you think twice about your country and where you live and how blessed you really are to live in such a great place.

Levitt Town

Levitt Town Family

"Cape Cod" Style House

Gimbels 

Automobile

Growing Pains of a New City- AVL- I used this link to show the ups and downs of Levitt Town

Levitt Town-AVL I used this source to learn about Levitt Town

A Brief History of the Growth of Suburbs- I used this source to learn about how suburbs started

History Book- I used this book to see how Levitt Town started suburbs

Suburbia- AVL- I used this source to see all the different percents of people in America living in city's and suburbs

The Automobile Shapes the City- I used this source to learn about how the automobile made a huge impact for suburban life

Levitt Town's racial conflict- I used this source to learn how Levitt Town made some unfair decisions 

  

Music's impact on WW1

      American music during the World War 1 era inspired many people. Music gave people hope and provided perseverance that maybe it would all be ending soon and loved ones fighting in the war would be safe. Without music, the war probably would have been more horrifying than it already was!

      During WW1, there were many different genres of music. Some main themes of music were: "Patriotic Americans Fighting Across the Foam"; "The Life of the soldier, on and off the Battlefield"; "Love During Wartime"; "The Fight Viewed from the Home Front"; "War Perpetuates the Status Quo"; and" Remembering the Troops". For example the very famous song "Over there" which was a hit tune in 1917, gave a good insight as to what the war was like. The lyrics say, "prepare, say a prayer, send the word, send the word to beware/we'll be over, we're coming over, and we won't be back til it's over there." It is clearly shown to me by the lyrics of this song that Americans used their music to intimidate enemies and let them know they were in no position of giving up.

      Not only did Americans try to use music as a way to show they were not inferior, they also used it as a way to show signs from all different ages and positions to the war. The song "Don't Take my Darling Boy Away" was used to show how mothers feel about their sons getting taken into the war and tried to use the song as a way to get people to sympathize and maybe understand. The lyrics of the song say, "Don't take my darling boy away from me, don't send him off to war. You took his father and brothers three, now you've come back for more." This song describes the mother's horror at having to face reality that she might lose her husband and all her sons to fight in a war. Many women, however, thought that taking their husbands and sons away was "wrong". I believe that the women do have a good point, but their husbands and sons are going for a good cause and to protect the country so it should be somewhat understandable  Other songs like "What Kind of American Are You?"- try to influence Americans to honor and be with their country, rather than sit aside and be afraid.

      Music around the WW1 era, was known as the "golden age". Many people said that music definitely did help with the war because song writers used their lyrics as a way to persuade Americans about their opinions of war using "patriotic isolationism". Though in 1914, very few American songs were related to the war... songs about the war became more popular as WW1 started to come to an end especially because of the invention of radios. Radios were made March 4th 1921. "Before radios, people used parlor pianos, sheet music, and a mechanical playback device to keep them in touch with music".  This was before the President Wilson was in charge and people were not as familiar with music. "During President Woodrow Wilson, citizens were making music on a larger scale to support dozens of piano manufactures, publishers of sheet music, producers of phonographs, and entrepreneurs of sound recordings". By the citizens doing all of this, it made music become even more popular through many different ways and styles.  It is said that by 1919 they marketed as many as 7,300 songs that were patriotic or had to do with the war. Without President Woodrow Wilson, music would have come about much different than it did.

      "Cylinder" recording format was very important to music during the war. It is said that one of the most popular genres of this era was the sentimental love song which were meant for soldiers to remember the happiness of their home life and why they are fighting the war. Each of the different kinds of way to play music all had a huge impact on the way music influenced the war because each little step meant something to the soldiers and the citizens.

      To say music greatly impacted World War 1 would be an understatement. Music was the absolute perfect way to advertise feelings or thoughts any one had about a specific topic of the war. Even today I think everyone can agree that music can be very influential and persuading whether it is true information or misleading. In the World War 1 era, music let people express themselves and open up to how they truly feel. I think peoples attitude would definitely of been different if music was not present during the war.

Music Inspires

Goodbye Little Girl

Music Will Help Win the War

Over There 

Cylinders Preservation and Digitization Project- I used this source to find out some popular songs of the WW1 era and how each kind affected the soldiers/the people

Cylinders Preservation and Digitization Project: popular songs of WW1-I used this source to find out popular song writers of the WW1 era 

World War One As Illustrated On Sheet Music- - I used this source to figure out what genre of music was generally liked the most and how they tried to use music to influence the war and make it as a necessity

Topical Rearch in popular song-I used this source to find some more songs and lyrics

American music goes to War-I used this source to find some issues that were involved with music and some famous songs that are still very popular today

Popular Songs of the Great War- I used this source to see how much money was spent on music and how much people listened to it. 

Over There song- - I used this source to listen to the song Over There and get a understanding of the lyrics and the kind of music they listened to
A Nation's Song- I used this source to show how some people thought that music would help win the war

Sources

This link helped me find information about the Great White Fleets journey to California.

This link helped me find information about the Great White Fleets journey to Hawaii.

This link helped me find information about the Great White Fleets journey to Australia.

This link helped me find information about the Great White Fleets journey to Athens, Greece.

This link helped me find information about the Great White Fleets journey to Marseilles, France

This link helped me find information about the Great White Fleets journey to Melbourne.

Voyage of the Great White Fleet

In class recently we have been learning about all of the adventures of the Great White Fleet. We are making postcards so we can describe the events in our own way and kind of add what we think we would feel like. The post cards make it easier and fun to learn about the Great White Fleet!

History of Coney Island

Always a huge crowd at Coney Island 

150 ft high Ferris Wheel

Luna Park

      Coney Island at one point was one of the biggest attractions in the US. Even though it is not near as popular today, it still has many visitors. Coney Island started as a "quiet seaside town" and went on to the "boom years" in the 1880s. The attractions at Coney Island reached their peak during the first half of the 20th century. Because there were so many tourists, immigrants, and just visitors in general at Coney Island many entrepreneurs used it as a way to make their fortunes.

     Many amazing attractions were first started or seen at Coney Island. For example, they had their first roller coaster in 1884 and also had the largest cyclone in 1927. Coney had the worlds biggest Ferris wheel at one point, the Wonder Wheel, which reached 150 feet into the sky. The largest pool was also another thing Coney had which at one point filled with 670,000 gallons of salt water. The hotel at Coney Island, made in 1882, was unlike any other. It was made of tin and in the shape of an elephant with a roller coaster that ran over the top of it. This was one of the first sights to see when people came to the amazing Coney Island. Another very important thing that got started at Coney was the good ole hot dog. In 1867, Charles Feltman sold his first "red hots". Rumors actually spread that it was "stuff with dog meat". When the ridiculous rumors were immediately reported false, he sold 5 million red hots during 1923 which gave Coney a tremendous amount of money. 

       When the three enchanting parks were built at Coney Island, that brought in even more people which made them reach their peak. Steeple Chase was one of the three parks that had many strange attractions. At steeple chase visitors could visit a human zoo or even watch a women's skirt fly up from being forced to stand above blowing air. Sadly in 1907, Steeple chase park burned to the ground, efforts were immediately made to rebuild it and it was up and going again a year later. In 1904, senator William Reyonald and a group of local speculators opened Dreamland. Dreamland was completely painted white and had crazy, exotic things such as the Lilliputian Village which had 300 "little people" living there. Dreamland also had an African Village with costumed somali warriors who also lived there. The many beautiful lights at Dreamland also attracted many people because electricity was not very common in their homes at that point. For people who did not have enough money to travel all over the world, Dreamland was the perfect preview of what it was like. This was all thanks to Samuel Gumpertz because he went all around the country and brought crazy, interesting stuff back to Coney. In 1911, another fire broke loose and Dreamland burned down which was not as lucky as Steeple chase to start back. 

      The last amazing attraction was Luna Park. Luna opened May 16th, 1903 and was built by Thompson and Dundy. Luna had many illusion rides such as "Trip to the Moon", "War of the Worlds", and the "Kansas Cyclone". These rides were designed to keep people on the move. Yet again, another fire burned down the park and Luna was not rebuilt. Steeple Chase was the only park that made it for a while and Coney started to lose many visitors. 

      Coney Island has a huge connection with urban life. When people wanted to get away from the stress of the city, they could go take a fun break at Coney. Back in the earlier days, only wealthy families could travel to Coney because it was very expensive to travel there. Eventually subways were built and they became known as the "Nickel Empire". Since the subways became cheaper, many more people could go to Coney Island. The middle class first viewed Coney as "a rough and unsavory place", but to the working class and middle class it was "a place of wonder, excitement, and escape." The huge ballrooms and restaraunts, 300 foot high iron tower, all attracted people. Coney was also a popular site for real horse racing, boxing, and other sports. This all brought on even more attractions such as gambling casinos and saloons. Many have said that Coney Island showed the American culture with all of the different people that went there. 

ebscohost

neonatology

ebscohost

Wikipedia

pbs

abebooks

Faces of America

    While watching Faces of America, I learned many eye-opening things. It truly is amazing to see how much history is in your families background and how only few people are aware of all of their families past. Watching this movie makes you realize that everyone has some sort of immigrant or ethnic surprise in their family. Figuring out all of the details of how your family came into the world can also be very sad because you learn that previous members of your family sometimes risked their lives in order for the next generation to have a better one. Pretty much every single character that was being interviewed in this show learned something important about where they came from and perhaps maybe would have never known if this show did not take place. Knowing about how you came into the world only makes you more thankful because it makes you understand all of the hardships it sometimes took. 

    Being a "nation of immigrants" means to me that everyone has different backgrounds and it shows that the world is pretty much a melting pot. Many people left their home towns just so they could make not only their own lives better, but the lives of the new members of their family to come better. Though many times the journeys many immigrants made were very dangerous and expensive, they knew in the long run that it would be better for the generations to come. If America did not have immigrants, then everything would be completely different. Because we have immigrants, it makes us able to see how people every where in the world are and how coming to America sometimes changes them. 

    Sadly I do not feel closely aware to the connection of my ancestors. Though after watching the Faces of America it has made me more interested to learn about my families past. I have heard a few things about my ancestors here and there from my family but not enough to fully understand how it all got started. It really is crazy to think about all of the different ethnicity that is in your family background. 

Immigrants 

Henry Ford

    Since day one, Henry Ford grew up having a very interesting life. Henry was born July 30th, 1863 in Greenfield Township, Michigan and had five other siblings. Henry and his father had a strong hate for Jews and Adolf Hitler thought Henry to be a great image of the "perfect German". He also published the book "The Internation Jew". Throughout his younger years of life, Henry looked up to his mother and loved her very much. When she died, Henry was devastated. During these hard times of accepting reality that he lost someone very close to him, Henry's father expected him to eventually take over the family farm. Henry, having no desire to do so, refused his fathers proposal and left home at age 16 to go work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit so he could have a life style more suitable for him.

    When Henry moved to Detroit, he met the love of his life Clara Bryant and married her in 1889. They had one child named Edsel Ford. One thing that Henry was always doing was working until he was completely satisfied. Henry invented the "Quadricycle" in 1890. Though this invention was successful, Henry wanted to invent affordable cars so everyone could buy them, not just the rich. The Assembly line made it possible for Henry to produce more cars faster which also made them cheaper. Since the Assembly line worked out very well, in 1903 he established the Ford Motor Company. After having his company, Henry began making models of cars named with letter of the alphabet. Model T was Henry's most famous creation. By the 1920's majority of American drivers learned how to drive and also owned a Model T.

One of Henry's Models 

Henry Ford

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford
http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/