The 1920s: cars, radio, the Harlem Renaissance and Prohibition

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to G. Card A, a summary in our words from the National Archives: about six million Black Americans moved from the South to Northern, Midwestern and Western states from the 1910s to the 1970s, to escape racial violence and Jim Crow and to seek economic and educational opportunity. The First Great Migration ran from 1910 to 1940. In 1917, as the war effort grew, factory jobs in the North and Midwest opened up. Card B, a summary in our words from the National Museum of African American History and Culture: Jim Crow laws and Klan terror pushed Black Southerners out of the South. Harlem, a neighborhood of three square miles in New York City, drew nearly 175,000 African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance ran from the end of World War I to the mid-1930s, with poetry, novels, painting, jazz and swing. Alain Locke, called the dean of the movement, said it turned "social disillusionment to race pride". Card C, a summary in our words: in 1921 Greenwood, a thriving Black district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was home to most of the city's 10,000 Black residents, with two newspapers, several churches, a library branch and many Black-owned businesses. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, a white mob attacked Greenwood. More than 1,000 homes and businesses were destroyed, and credible estimates of deaths run from about 30 to 300 (sources differ). In 1921, 26 death certificates were issued for Black victims, and 21 were reportedly buried in Oaklawn Cemetery. No scenes are described on this sheet. Card D, a summary in our words: within days Black Tulsans began rebuilding Greenwood, though thousands spent the winter of 1921 to 1922 in tents. A state commission studied the massacre from 1997 to 2001, and its report of February 28, 2001 recommended reparations. From 2018 the City of Tulsa reexamined possible graves, and in 2024 one victim, a World War I veteran, was identified. Card E, a count in our words from the NAACP: from 1882 to 1968, 4,743 people were lynched, and 3,446 of them were Black. Card F, a summary in our words: the Dyer anti-lynching bill, first introduced in 1918, was defeated by a Senate filibuster, and there was no federal law against lynching. Card G, a note in our words: historians call the events of May 31 and June 1, 1921 the Tulsa Race Massacre.

2. 1.

   Bo divides six million by sixty years and says 100,000 people moved each year. What does that miss?

   • It counts movers twice, since some who left later returned to the South
   • It treats the move as even, though card A says a first wave ran from 1910 to 1940
   • It is a fair summary, since an average across decades shows the usual yearly pace
   • It uses too long a period, since the move ended in 1940
3. 2.

   Card B links the Harlem Renaissance to the migration. Which claim do cards A and B support, Esme asks?

   • The Renaissance spread across the South, since many Southerners made the move
   • Migration brought people to Harlem, where the movement grew, with other causes too
   • Migration alone caused the Harlem Renaissance, with no other reason needed
   • The Renaissance came before the migration, so it drew people to Harlem
4. 3.

   Alain Locke said the movement turned "social disillusionment to race pride." How should Jun treat that line?

   • As a count of how each Harlem resident felt in those years
   • As a primary source for the migration's size, since Locke lived in Harlem
   • As worthless, since a person inside a movement cannot describe it
   • As a leader's reading of the movement, useful for how it saw itself
5. 4.

   Card C gives 26 death certificates beside estimates of about 30 to 300. Kira asks how to treat the 26.

   • As proof that the highest estimate of 300 is correct, since records are always incomplete
   • As a mistake, since it is lower than the lowest estimate of 30
   • As the lowest reliable count, since a certificate is an official record and the estimates are guesses
   • As a count of records only; the estimates are higher, so the total is not settled
6. 5.

   Which sentence about the deaths in Tulsa is most accurate on card C, Luz asks?

   • About 300 people lost their lives, since the highest estimate covers the missing records
   • Twenty-six people lost their lives, as the death certificates show
   • The number is unknown, so a historian should leave it out of an account
   • Credible estimates run from about 30 to 300, and sources differ
7. 6.

   Card E counts 4,743 people lynched from 1882 to 1968, 3,446 of them Black, about 73 percent. What does that count support, Milo asks?

   • A large majority of those counted were Black, but a count shows who, not why
   • About a quarter were Black, since 4,743 minus 3,446 gives that share
   • A large majority were Black, so the count shows racial motive in each case
   • A large majority were Black, but the NAACP's count cannot be used as evidence
8. 7.

   Card F says the Dyer bill was "defeated by a Senate filibuster." What does Noah take that to mean?

   • It was blocked by delay in Senate debate rather than by a vote on its merits
   • It was set aside by the President, who refused to sign the bill
   • It was voted down after a full count showing most senators were against it
   • It was withdrawn in 1918 by its sponsors after they lost support
9. 8.

   Card C describes Greenwood's newspapers, churches, library branch and businesses. How does Pia use that in an account of 1921?

   • It shows Greenwood was small, so the loss in 1921 mattered less to the city
   • It shows a community with institutions, so the story includes rebuilding too
   • It shows the mob came from the same district, as one community
   • It shows the community was wiped out, with nothing to rebuild
10. 9.

    Card D lists a commission (1997 to 2001) and a search for graves (from 2018). What does that show Ren about the evidence?

    • Later work added evidence that earlier accounts lacked
    • The commission's report of 2001 settled the number of deaths for later accounts
    • Nothing new was learned after 1921, since the first accounts were complete
    • The 2001 report and the 2018 search show that earlier accounts were false
11. 10.

    Tala reads cards A and E. Which statement links the two without claiming too much?

    • Racial violence was the one cause of the Great Migration, as card E shows
    • Card E shows the Great Migration ended lynching in the North and Midwest
    • Card A's six million are the same people that card E counts
    • Both mention racial violence, but neither shows it was the only force