LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

United States History

Goal 7: The Progressive Movement in the United States (1890-1914) -The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

Objective 7.04. Examine the impact of technological changes on economic, social, and cultural life in the United States.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

The woman at the wheel
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 1.10
Magazine article from 1915 predicting that technological improvements in automobiles would make them easier for women to drive and, therefore, more popular. The author praises the effect the car will have on dispersing population. Includes historical background and commentary.
Format: magazine/primary source
Commentary and sidebar notes by L. Maren Wood.
WBT Charlotte in the golden age of radio
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 1.12
Article about the history and development of North Carolina's first radio station, WBT Charlotte, which played an important role in the history of country music.
Format: article
By Emily Jack.
Southern women and the bicycle
In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.3
Editorial from the Charlotte Observer, 1895, on whether women in North Carolina were "ready" for bicycles. Includes historical commentary.
Format: newspaper/primary source
Commentary and sidebar notes by L. Maren Wood.
The roller skate craze
In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.5
Early motion picture of people roller skating. Includes historical commetnary.
Format: article
The road to the first flight
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 1.6
This article explains how the Wright brothers developed their pioneering airplane, from their first experiments as boys to the first successful flight in 1903.
Format: article
Newspaper coverage of the first flight
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 1.8
Newspaper article about the Wright brothers' first flight in December 1903, written from an intercepted telegram sent by the brothers to their father in Ohio. Historical commentary points out the differences between the version of events that reached the public and what actually happened.
Format: newspaper/primary source
Commentary and sidebar notes by L. Maren Wood.
Idol’s Dam and Power Plant
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 1.3
Though electricity first arrived in Winston and Salem in 1887, it was the development of Idol's Dam and Power Plant a decade later that truly moved the towns forward in terms of productivity and industrial development.
Format: article
Hillbillies and mountain folk: Early stringband recordings
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 6.9
This article from Carolina Music Ways explores the history of "hillbilly" records in the North Carolina Piedmont in the 1920s and 1930s.
Format: article
Henry Ford and the Model T
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 1.9
Short biography of Henry Ford explains how he revolutionized manufacturing by using a continuous moving assembly line. Includes a film from the Henry Ford Estate showing how the Model T worked.
Format: article
The Good Roads movement
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 1.11
The first document on this page is a letter written by the president of the North Carolina Good Roads Association, W. A. McGritt, to the state’s governor, Thomas Bickett. The second is from a pamphlet published by the association, encouraging citizens to support a tax for the construction of roads. Historical commentary provides a short history of the Good Roads movement.
Format: letter/primary source
Commentary and sidebar notes by L. Maren Wood.
Domestic work in the nineteenth century
In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.11
Videos of junior reenactors at Duke Homestead State Historic Site in Durham, North Carolina, show cooking indoors and outdoors and the work involved in doing laundry by hand.
Format: video
Bicycles: Scourge of the streets?
In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.4
Newspaper editorials about a collision between a bicylclist and a pedestrian in Wilmington, North Carolina, 1897. Includes historical commentary.
Format: newspaper/primary source
Advertising new products
In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.6
Advertisements from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries show new technologies, new tastes, and new ways of marketing goods to consumers.
Format: article
By David Walbert.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Industrialization and Progressive Reform in the Craft Revival
In this lesson plan, originally published on the Craft Revival website, students will analyze the process of making a hobby into a job. They will explore Craft Revival work environments, representations of industrial work environments, and data regarding Craft Revival work. To close the activity, students write a journal entry comparing Craft Revival and industrial work experiences.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 and 11–12 Social Studies)
By Patrick Velde.
The Craft Revival and economic change
In this lesson plan, originally published on the Craft Revival website, students will interpret photographs and artifacts as representations of western North Carolina’s economy at the turn of the century. They will also analyze historical census data and produce a visual web that will represent the changing nature of the economy of western North Carolina.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 and 11–12 Social Studies)
By Patrick Velde.