About the History

The period when Past/Present takes place was an exciting time in American history. Huge changes were underway: immigration was remaking the face of America, new technologies were changing the way people worked and played, and all these things caused great social upheavals.

If you'd like to know more about the world of the early 20th Century, you've come to the right place!

Original Essays

• Historian Alan M. Kraut writes about the world of 1906.
• Historian Warren Goldstein places Past/Present in the context of U.S. history.

Industrialization

Learn more about the industrialization of America following the Civil War.

The Rise of the Labor Movement

Learn more about the rise of the labor movement over the course of the 19th Century.

Immigration

Learn more about how immigration to the US brought about huge demographic changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Rise of Consumer Culture

Learn more about how new technologies and changing lifestyles led to the rise of a new consumer culture in America at the turn of the 20th century.

Historical Photo Gallery

Browse our gallery of historical photos from the early 1900s.