Level: 3B. Content
Content living inside a Group.
The Neighborhood
The Wormsers’ move to the Drake Tower brought them to the “Gold Coast” of Chicago’s north shore, one of the city’s wealthiest areas. The tower’s tenants were within walking distance of the city’s business center and the best clubs, schools, and amusements. It would have been a marvelous locale for a young woman coming of […]
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City Life
By 1920, more Americans lived in cities than rural areas for the first time in history. With soaring buildings, bustling factories, electric lighting, and crowds of people, the modern city epitomized significant changes in American life. As centers of commerce and cultural vibrancy, cities like Chicago offered recreation to all social classes. Electrified streetcars, elevated […]
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The Jazz Age
After World War I, a new musical form developed by Black musicians in New Orleans erupted in popularity across the country.
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The Machine Age
Much as people today are aware of the internet shaping their daily lives, Americans in the 1920s and ‘30s noted the strong influence of machines on society.
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The Great Depression
The American stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, plunging the U.S. and most of the Western world into a deep economic depression.
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The Wormser Household
Get to know the Wormser Family and their household workers. Hear their stories of living and working in the Drake Tower penthouse.
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Joseph Urban
Urban introduced European modernism to America through his designs for opera, theater and film sets, buildings, and products ranging from furniture to cars.
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Craftspeople and Collaborators
Many talented people worked with Joseph Urban to bring his modernist designs for the Wormser Bedroom to life.
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Changing Roles for Women
From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, women’s opportunities for education and employment expanded steadily though unequally. By the 1920s, the increased availability of consumer goods and the rise of film and radio produced a popular culture that celebrated and, at the same time, undermined the independent, educated, and sexually expressive young woman. She was encouraged to […]
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