The Impact of the Automobile on American Life
Before the Stock Market Crash of 1929

Strategy #1: Develop some background knowledge

• Technology in Action; Science Applied to Everyday Life. 3 vols. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1998.
  Comprehensive overview of technologies and their societal impact.
  
  
• Hakim, Joy.  War, Peace and All That Jazz. 2nd edn.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
  
  
• American History 102.  University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  Student Web Notes - Scroll down to Lectures 14 - 17
  Lecture 14 "Women, Feminism and Sex in Progressive America"
  Lecture 15 "The Politics of Prosperity: The 1920s"
  Lecture 16 "The Politics of Frustration: The 1920s"
  Lecture 17 "The Politics of Prohibition: The 1920s"
  
  
• Slouching Towards Utopia?: The Economic History of the Twentieth Century.  University of California, Berkeley.
  Chapter XIII The Roaring Twenties
  
  
• The Roaring Twenties. Texas Christian University.
  
  
• Gallery Three: The Roaring Twenties. National Archives and Records Administration.
  
  
• The Roaring Twenties. Stephen F. Austin State University.
  
  
• The 1920s. University of Louisville.
  
  

Strategy #2 Develop a Search Strategy

Why use HotBot?

• It is one of the "freshest" engines (which means that it's database is large and is updated often)
  
• The HotBot SuperSearch has pull-down menus to help you refine your Boolean search

Hints for Hotbot

• Remember that HotBot searches are case-sensitive if any letter in the search string (that is, one or more) is capitalized.
  
  
• Use "exact phrase" from the pull-down menu to prevent Boolean searching (e.g. "women's suffrage" as a phrase, instead of women's AND suffrage) and to prevent wildcard variants (e.g. when you want "flappers," you don't want "flapping").
  
  
• Use "automobile" but remember to also try "car" if you aren't satisfied with your results.
  
  

  Two Examples

  To find information on one aspect of the impact of the automobile on women Select "exact phrase" from the pull-down menu Type women's suffrage Set Word Filter to "must contain" and "the words" Type automobile

  To find information on another aspect of the impact of the automobile on women Select "exact phrase" from the pull-down menu Type flappers Set Word Filter to "must contain" and "the words" Type automobile

  Notice that flappers and women's suffrage are terms likely to be associated with this period.

Can You Brainstorm Other Aspects of the impact of the automobile on women?

For example, how did certain trends, movements and ideas impact women?

How can statistics help you understand the impact of the automobile?

• Analyze Data Urban and Rural Population: 1900 to 1990 also County Population Data. US Census Bureau.
  
• Select and Analyze Data from Historical US Census Data.   University of Virginia.
  
• Compare Data using an inflation calculator

How can primary sources help you reflect on the experience, attitudes, perspectives and beliefs of past generations?

• Search by Keyword automobile in the American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project
  
• Listen to Uncle Josh buys an automobile
  
• View Corona Speedway auto race
  
• Analyze automobile advertisements and artifacts documenting the automobile's impact on leisure
  
• Compare books and magazines published at the time 
  • Facts and Figures of the Automobile Industry (1927)
  • The Popular Mechanics Automobile Tourist's Handbook (1923)
  • Automobile Trade Journal (January 1, 1926)
  • Your Car: A Magazine of Romance, Fact and Fiction.(1925)

Now, can you think of specific words or terms associated with this period for your search?