Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 1877 to 1920

FAIN: ES-50485-12

Chicago Metro History Education Center (Chicago, IL 60610-3305)
Robert Douglas Johnston (Project Director: March 2012 to December 2014)

A four-week institute for thirty school teachers to study new perspectives on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

The times were marked by economic disparities, unprecedented immigration, rapid technological advances, the consolidation and corruption of power, new art forms, and a broad array of political reform movements. This four-week seminar engages teachers in an investigation of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Through primary sources and recent scholarship, teachers will consider how individuals and groups defined, reformed, and contributed to a vision for American democracy, opportunity, and culture during a period when radically different perspectives often dominated the political and cultural discourse. By considering multiple progressivisms, teachers will explore the diverse views that shaped the time. Located in Chicago, participants will be immersed in a city central to the dramatic changes of the era; they will study with leading scholars, investigate archives, museums, and neighborhoods, and work with skilled educators to obtain a sophisticated understanding of the time.