Decades in 20th Century America

Doing the Decades Report

1900s  1910s  1920s  1930s  1940s  1950s  1960s  1970s  1980s  1990s

Alameda County Library hopes you find this a useful resource and would appreciate any feedback you may have. Remember your local library whenever a research project comes up!

For citing Internet sources for your bibliography, most teachers accept the Modern Language Association (MLA) guide.

In addition to the web sites, we have many books that will help with this assignment. At the Fremont Main Library there is a printed Decade List that gives titles of books decade by decade, and by subject within each decade. Ask for this list at the Reference Desk, and for any other help you need.

Reference Books

American Century by Harold Evans 973.9
Short articles, photos and sidebars give perspective on the most significant personalities and political episodes of the century.

American Chronicle seven decades in American life, 1920-1989 973.902
Especially good for year-by-year listings of key books, songs, movies, radio shows, advertising slogans, sports events, fashion trends and fads.

American Decades 973.91
One book for each decade from the 1900s - 1980s. Chapters cover world events, arts, business, education, fashion, politics, law, life s, media, medicine, religion, technology and sports.

Chronicle of America 973 or 973.02
4 pages for each year using a newspaper format with headlines, photos and brief articles covering key events in America from prehistory through 1997.

Chronicle of the Twentieth Century 909.82
Similar to Chronicle of America, but covering international and U.S. events month by month from 1900 through 1986.

Day by Day 909.8202 and 909.824 - 909.826 (depends on decade)
Volumes cover the 1940s – 1980s. Day-by-day timeline of economic, social, and political events of each decade, in the U.S. and the world. No photos.

DK Visual Timeline of the Twentieth Century 909.82
Especially good for photos of key innovations, fashion trends, and items of popular culture.

People's Chronology a year-by-year record of human events 902.02
Major events year-by-year in 30 categories including human rights, science, religion, literature, art, music, environment and crime. Icons for each category make it easy to spot events by topic.

20th Century America a primary source collection from the Associated Press 973.921
The key news events of the century in the original photos and stories from AP.

Feedback

If you have a site to recommend, contact Gary Morrison. Feel free to include a brief description of the site, and what you like about it.