Museum to Host National Exhibit on the Progressive Era
The Age of Progressive Reform: Creating Modern America, 1900 – 1917
Opens at the Augusta Museum of History Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Augusta Museum of History, in partnership with the Richmond County Board of Education’s Teaching American History Grant, will host a traveling panel exhibition created by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History called “The Age of Progressive Reform: Creating Modern America, 1900 – 1917”. The exhibit will run from January 13 – February 1, 2009 and explores the Progressive Era (1900 – 1917), utilizing primary source materials like letters, cartoons pictures, and broadsides that detail America’s transformation into a modern, industrial society.
“The exhibition provides thought-provoking educational programming that stimulates and enriches people’s understanding of this critical era in American history,” said Lesley Herrmann, Executive Director of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. “Because it is so visually enticing, it draws the viewer into the story.”
The first decades of the 1900s were a pivotal point in United States History. For many, the new industrial order ruptured past ways of life. During the Progressive Era a broad-ranging reform movement worked to make government more democratic, encourage the passing of government legislation to improve labor conditions and regulate business, establish voting rights for women, as well as work to lessen the effects of industrialization.
The exhibition examines the period leading up to World War I when America was transformed into a modern industrialized society. Highlights of the exhibition include reproductions of primary source documents and images including “The Octopus.” The exhibition illustrates government legislation to improve labor conditions and reign in big business, the establishment of voting rights for women, as well as the efforts of reform groups to improve urban conditions and address the impact of immigration.
The reform movement translated to life during early Southern Industry in the Central Savannah River Area. The panel display offers a wonderful opportunity to bridge the nationwide condition with life in Augusta and the beginning of the “New South”. In a town populated with mills, discover what efforts were made to protect working children, what attempts were made at unionization, and what life was like in a mill town.
The exhibit will be open to the public and to groups by appointment. Local educators are encouraged to schedule class visits. After viewing the five panel display, students will learn more about the Progressive Era in Augusta, specifically the local mill industry, by viewing the film American History Through Southern Eyes: Making a Modern South, and by going through the Museum’s award-winning exhibit Augusta’s Story. Designed specifically with high school classes in mind, teachers will be able to bridge the gap between their visit to the Museum and classroom instruction with the help of an Educator’s Guide designed specifically to compliment the panel exhibit, found online at www.augustamuseum.org.
Related Programming:
Teacher Open House. All area Educators are invited to explore the Museum’s galleries, preview the panel display, The Age of Progressive Reform: Creating Modern America, 1900 – 1917, and visit with representatives from area Museums, Science Centers, and Arts and Cultural Organizations, who will be on hand to share information on local field trips and classroom resources available for Georgia and South Carolina teachers. Free for Educators. Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 4:30 – 6:30 pm.
History Theater Film Series. History Through Southern Eyes: Making a Modern South. Learn about life during early Southern industry in Augusta, including the need for a "New South", living conditions in mill villages, as well as the attempts at unionization and what problems arose from the urbanization and industrialization of the South. Free with Museum admission. January 1 – 31, 2009.
Augusta Museum of History, the only Museum in the CSRA accredited by the American Association of Museums, was established in 1937 for the purpose of preserving and sharing the material history of Augusta and the region. From a 10,000 year-old projectile point to a 1914 locomotive, the collections chronicle a rich and fascinating past. The museum is located at 560 Reynolds Street in downtown Augusta. Please call (706) 722-8454 for more information or visit our website www.augustamuseum.org.
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm; Sunday 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm; Closed Monday
Admission: Adult: $4 • Senior: $3 • Child (6-18): $2 • Child (5 & under): Free • Special Rates for School Groups
Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and the general public. It helps create history-centered schools, organizes seminars and programs for educators, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, sponsors lectures by eminent historians, and administers a History Teacher of the Year Award in every state through its partnership with Preserve America. The Institute also conducts awards including the Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and George Washington Book Prizes, and offers fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. The Institute maintains two websites, www.gilderlehrman.org and the quarterly online journal www.historynow.org.
