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Allen, Fredrick Lewis. The Big Change: America Transforms Itself: 1900-1950. New York: Transaction Publishers, 1993.

Discussion of changes in the character and quality of life in the United States that occurred at the turn of the century. The expansion of industrial and business activity and a varied series of political, social, and economic forces altered the standard of living and presented opportunities to citizens.

------------. Only Yesterday : An Informal History of the Nineteen-Twenties.. John Wiley & Sons, 1997.

Published in 1931, close in time to the events described in the focus on the 11 years between the end of the war with Germany (11/11/1918) and the stock-market panic (11/13/1929). What was life like during this era of American history and what happened that transformed its culture? Refer particularly to chapters 1,3,4,7,8,14.

-----------. Since Yesterday: The 1930s in America. New York: HarperCollins, 1986.

Provides a vivid glimpse of life in the 1930s from everyday fads to dramatic world events. To learn about leisure time pursuits, daily habits, trends, fads, music, movies, and literature, read chapters II, VI, X.

Andrist, Ralph K. American Century: One Hundred Years of Changing Life Styles in America. New York: American Heritage Press, 1972.

An outstanding overview of U.S. social life, decade by decade from 1872-1972. It lacks an index, requiring the reader to process some knowledge of the periods to make the most of the information. Includes materials from the Library of Congress.

Bailey, Thomas A. & Kennedy, David M. The American Spirit: United States History as Seen by Contemporaries, Vol. II. , 7^th ed. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath & Co., 1998.

First hand accounts about concerns and issues facing the country at the turn of the century. Readings 27, 28, 33, 36, 37 are useful for this project.

Bettmann, Otto L. The Good Old Days - They Were Terrible! New York: Random House, 1974.

Covers the time period 1859-1918 and challenges readers to face realities of the period. The book is arranged by topics such as "Traffic," " Work," " Leisure," " Food and Drink" and uses resources from the Bettmann Archive in New York, one of the world's great picture libraries.

Blatt, Martin Henry and Norkunas, Martha K. Work, Recreation, and Culture: Essays in American Labor History. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996.

Describe what happened in U.S. labor history that affects the way we work and play in this Labor in America series. Essays of particular interest are under the headings of "Women's Work," about the role of women in the work force, and "Workers' Culture," which explores sports and social associations.

Boardman, Barrington. Flappers, Bootleggers, "Typhoid Mary" & the Bomb: An Anecdotal History of the United States From 1923-1945. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.

A year by year summary of highlights presented in categories that include national, foreign and regional news, folkways and mores, prohibition, medicine, religion, people, products, entertainment, trends, business, and topics relevant to particular years. Good as an overview.

Brockett, Oscar G. History of the Theatre, 6th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1991.

Covers characteristics of theatre in the United States, trends, financiers, drama productions, popular period actors and influences. Chapters 13-17 contains material on leisure time activities at the turn of the century to 1950.

Butler, George J. Simpler Times: Stories of Early Twentieth Century City Live. Arlington,VA: Vandamere Press, 1997.

A personal view of growing up in Washington, D.C. at the turn of the century from a witness to the transition from horses to "Tin Lizzies."

Cable, Mary. American Manners & Morals: A Picture History of How We Behaved and Misbehaved. New York: American Heritage Publishing, Inc., 1969.

Two sections, "Daring Decades" and "Toward a New Morality," cover the time period for this project. Students will find it interesting to read about the outmoded rituals or customs of their ancestors and will be able to see manners, morals, and a system of values that shaped this period.

Colbert, David. Eyewitness to America: 500 Years of America in the Words of Those Who Saw Happen. New York: Pantheon Books, 1997.

Eyewitness accounts from the discovery of America to the Internet have been taken from diaries, private letters, memoirs, and news stories of people key to the events they describe to reveal patterns in American life. These resources have a sense of urgency and energy about them that is not found in history textbooks. The wealth of events covered here is impressive and the accounts should offer many opportunities for discussing primary sources in general. What is the difference between materials that were described as they happened or as they were recollected at a later date?

Cray, Ed, Kotler, Jonathan, & Beller, Miles. American Datelines: One Hundred and Forty Major News Stories from Colonial Times to the Present. New York: Facts on File, 1990.

The authors have collected the first news reports that describe "pivotal events" in U.S. history, some of which are written by famous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway. Human interest stories are included such as Cy Young's perfect game, Peary's claim of the North Pole, and Benny Goodman's first Carnegie Hall Concert.

Daniel, Clifton, ed. Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1995.

A day by day, decade by decade, record of events of the 20th Century. Primary sources are combined with the hindsight of scholars to present a copious collection of materials for study. The introduction by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. could serve as an introductory essay for turn of the century projects and the 62-page detailed "General Index" is incredible.

Davidson, Marshall. Life in America, Vols. I & II. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.

Provides a basic account of American experiences from days of exploration to the middle of the 20th Century. Chapter V, "Industrial America," in Vol. I and Chapters VI and VII in Vol. II contain information useful to leisure time at the turn of the century.

Dickson, Paul. Timelines: Day by Day and Trend by Trend from the Dawn of the Atomic Age to the Gulf War, pp. 1-76. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1991.

Fads, phrases, events, and people that made and defined the news from 1945 to March, 1991. Entries are very brief, but the thorough index will help in finding the correct time period for research topics.

Dulles, Foster Rhea. America Learns to Play: A History of Popular Recreation, 1607-1940. Glouchester, MA: D. Appleton-Century Crofts, Inc., 1959.

Chronicles changes in society and recreation brought about by shorter work days, improvements in technology, and the economic status of men and women. It covers the rise of sports, movies, influence of the automobile and more, using records contained in diaries, autobiographies, travel accounts, magazines, newspapers, playbills, posters, sports manuals, and advertisements. A real treasure for leisure time topics.

Ewen, David. Panorama of American Popular Music. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,1957.

Stories about our national ballads, folk songs, the songs of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, Hollywood, New Orleans Jazz, Swing, and Symphonic Jazz in this study of musical contributions to world culture. The extensive index is very useful for quick reference to a topic being explored.

Garner, Joe. We Interrupt This Broadcast: Relive the Events That Stopped Our Lives...From the Hindenburg to the Death of Princess Diana. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Thirty-eight events that captured the world's attention are represented here in words, images, and sound. Examples are the Hindenburg Explosion, D-Day: the Normandy Invasion, the assassination of Martin Luther King, and Apollo 11: Man Walks on Moon. Two accompanying CDs contain over two hours of archival audio.

Glennon, Lorraine, ed.-in-chief. Our Times: The Illustrated History of the 20th Century. Atlanta: Turner Publishing, Inc., 1995.

The combination of materials and how they are juxtaposed is a strength of this book which is arranged by decade. Each decade begins with a two-page visual overview which includes graphs, charts, photographs, "a kind of visual census," a summary of "What We Knew" at that moment in time, and includes an essay of each decade written by a distinguished writer.

Goodale, Thomas & Godbey, Geoffrey. The Evolution of Leisure. State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc., 1995.

Traces the evolution of leisure from ancient to modern times and examines how concepts of leisure have evolved in the context of cultural and philosophical change. The information is in chronological order and covers a wide range of topics, such as Chapter VI, "Industrialism, Recreation and Leisure: the Industrial Revolution," Chapter X, "Being At Play: An Evolutionary View," and Chapter XIV, "Can the World Be Trusted With Leisure? The Continuing Drive for Material Growth." Includes a bibliography of "Selected and Annotated" materials and two indexes: a "Name, Author, and Title Index" and a "Subject Index."

Goodwin, Doris Kearns.  Wait Till Next Year. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

Captures the essence of what it was like growing up in the U.S. in the 1950s. Chapter four focuses on the change television made on how Americans spend their leisure time.

Gordon, Alan & Gordon, Lois. American Chronicle: Six Decades in American Life, 1920-1980. New York: Atheneum, 1990, 2-297.

Covers six decades, year by year, with an overview of each decade, which includes vital, economic, social, and consumer statistics. Topics covered for each year include quotations from outstanding people of the year, text of advertisements, classical music, art, dance, books, science and technology, sports, fashion, and a list of noteworthy events, including new words/usages and a "First Appearances" section listing new products.

Gregory, Ross. Modern America: 1914-1945. New York: Facts on File, 1995.

Contains facts and data students need to support their ideas. It is arranged in categories such as the "American Economy," "Agents of Life Style," "Entertainment and Sports," "Science, Invention and Technology," and "Profiles of Prominent Individuals." The Appendix is a "List of Tables", useful for quick reference.

Grosvenor, Gilbert M., ed. Those Inventive Americans. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1971.

Students can look at this collection of inventions and inventors and discover how they influenced change in life at the turn of the century. The stories of the inventors, their genius, ambition, and insight, are accompanied with photographs and sketches. Additional references to other National Geographic Society articles follow the index.

Heide, Robert and Gilman, John. Home Front America: Popular Culture of the World War II Era. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1995.

Using text, photos, war posters, household product ads, and more, the authors capture the spirit of the period in a survey of U.S. culture during World War II. The sections relevant to the study of leisure time are "Victory Glamour," "Hollywood Home Front," "Live Wartime Entertainment," and "The Music of World War II." The "Selected Bibliography" and "Index" are useful guides to more information.

Karney, Robin, ed. Chronicle of the Cinema. New York: Dorling Kindersley, Ltd., 1997.

Presents the first century of entertainment on film in a chronological history of the cinema from 1894 to the present. The pages are filled with photos, film stills, movie posters, studio portraits, and facts and figures that will intrigue the reader.

Levine, Lawrence W. Highbrow Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1997.

Discusses culture in America, its historical contexts, ideologies, influences, and hierarchies. This book is thought provoking as the author describes the nation's evolving artistic tastes. It will be a "stretch" for most high school students, but poses interesting notions for students and teachers alike. The author includes extensive notes and a good index.

Levinson, Nancy Smiler. Turn of the Century: Our Nation One Hundred Years Ago. New York: Lodestar Books, 1994.

Although written for middle school students, this book is a useful tool for ESL students who need to try to grasp not only the English language, but U.S. history. Chapter 9, "The Family - At Home, at School, at Play" will give these students a good introduction and model for their projects.

Noble, David F. America By Design: Science, Technology, and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977.

What did technology, invention, or American science have to do with leisure time? Who were the movers and shakers in industry, business leaders who promoted distributions of technology, and how did they help to transform society at the turn of the century? The analysis of the interaction between technology and society is clearly explained in this book, especially in Part Two.

Ogden, Tom. Two Hundred Years of the American Circus: From ABA-DABA to the Zoppe-Zavatta Troupe. New York: Facts on File, 1993.

Learn all about the "Big Top", its traditions and lore, from comedian and magician, Tom Ogden, who has toured with the circus.

Panati, Charles. Panati's Parade of Fads, Follies, and Manias: The Origins of Our Most Cherished Obsessions. New York: HarperPerennial, 1991. (Out of print)

Pick a decade from 1880 to 1980 and discover its fads, follies, trends, dance crazes, popular songs, best-selling books, and television hits. Chapters 2-7 cover the time periods for this project. Items in Panati's "Selected Reading List" at the end of the book lead to more interesting reading on life and times in the U.S.

Robinson, John P. & Godbey, Geoffrey. Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 1997.

Brings the leisure time topic to the present day for students and gives them a model in the form of a "Basic Time Diary Format" in which to place information they find in their research of former time periods. Includes extensive research of the way Americans spend their time, making many comparisons to former eras in U.S. history. The source of their information is the Americans' Use of Time Project, a detailed historical data archive in the U.S.

Shivers, Jay S. & deLisle, Lee J. The Story of Leisure: Content, Concepts, and Current Controversy. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1997.

Part I examines the history of leisure time and can serve as a model to students doing research on this topic. Part II discusses leisure in the culture, recreation and social programs, focusing on the business of leisure time activities, especially pertaining to sports. The bibliographic reference material with each chapter is outstanding and will lead students to other useful resources.

Susman, Warren. I. Culture As History: the Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century. New York: Pantheon Books, 1985.

Essays on cultural history that provide facts, but also make the reader think and wonder. Susman discusses the intellectual and political issues of the times by looking at basic cultural conflicts in American history between classes, regions, genders, races, ethnic groups, native and immigrant populations, and urban and rural localities. He includes what he labels "American hieroglyphics," prints and photos that were among the first "mass-produced" objects of the emerging consumer society of the 1850s. Chapters III and IV are especially useful.

This Fabulous Century: 1870-1900. New York: Time-Life Books, 1969.

Organized by decade and each volume is divided into topics that fit the issues of each decade. The turn-of-the-century volume covers "Law and Order," "Holidays," "The Frontier," "Cycling," "Occupations," "Education," "The Press," "The Victorians," "Nostrums," "The City," "Entertainment," and "Family Portrait." This series is very popular with students and just right for this project. More pictorial than others on this list.

Thompkins, Vincent, ed. American Decades: 1900-1909. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1996.

One in a series about the decades of 20^th-Century America. Each volume begins with a chronology of world events and is divided into categories of "The Arts," "Business and the Economy," "Education," "Fashion," "Government and Politics," "Law," "Lifestyles and Social Trends," "Media," "Medicine and Health," "Religion," "Science and Technology," and "Sports." Students can read headline news, see lists of awards and achievements, short biographies of leaders of the decade, "People in the News," "Deaths," and a list of publications different from the extensive "General References" list at the end of the book. Many of the publications referred to are unavailable in school libraries, but can be found in college and university libraries. The index is outstanding and useful.

Traxel, David. 1898: The Birth of the American Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.

Describes the metamorphosis of America from a rural society to its powerful player status on the world stage. Includes the role of political, military, and business leaders and their influences on the remarkable changes in society and culture that occurred in the watershed year of 1898. Chapter 13, "The New American Way," captures the year and what was ahead for the U.S.

Twentieth Century America: A Primary Source Collection From the Associated Press, Vols. 1-10. Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational Corporation; 1995.

Contain original source material from Associated Press writers and photographers. The material is a mixture of news stories as originally transmitted by AP to its member newspapers. "Editor's Notes" are inserted to put events in context and "Bulletin" or "flash" messages are reprinted as transmitted over the wire by the AP. Students will find this a fascinating collection of primary source information.

Veblen, Thorstein. The Theory of The Leisure Class. New York: Prometheus Books, 1998.

A classic in the study of U.S. economics at the turn of the century from which we learned the meaning of "conspicuous consumption" and other concepts. Veblen's purpose in writing this book was "to discuss the place and value of the leisure class as an economic factor in modern life." Chapter III, "Conspicuous Leisure," Chapter IV, "Conspicuous Consumption," Chapter V, "The Pecuniary Standard of Living," Chapter VI, "Pecuniary Canons of Taste," and Chapter VII, "Dress As An Expression of the Pecuniary Culture," contain information relevant to this project. The topics in the index are helpful also, such as "Leisure class, adaptability" with several subheadings, as well as "Holidays," and "Sports" as entries.