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Website
Other

Nlbpa: Negro Leagues Baseball History

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out about the history of early Negro baseball beginnings in the late 19th century before reading about the advent of the Negro National League in the 1920s. Baseball was the American pastime for everyone in the 1920s and 1930s.
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Modern Jazz Quartet (Mjq)

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ), an American musical ensemble noted for delicate percussion sonorities, innovations in jazz forms, and consistently high-performance standards sustained over a...
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Article
Other

Is Acid Jazz a Continuation of the Jazz Phenomenon?

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a research paper debating whether or not acid jazz is a continuation of traditional jazz music. It provides a history of how acid jazz started and includes many references for more research.
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Handout
Other

Jazz Dance History: Jack Cole

For Students 9th - 10th
The influence and importance of Jack Cole in the development of jazz dance in the theater, includes shows he choreographed.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Roaring Twenties [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Read this comprehensive look at the Roaring Twenties, or Jazz Age. Read about Prohibition and its ramifications, women's gains, entertainment, and literature. Also find out about the resurgence of racial unrest and violence. A very good...
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Website
Other

Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about the Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Company, includes company history.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Books and Movies

For Students 5th - 8th
A look at the literature and movies written and produced in the Jazz Age. See how the writers of the age reflected the consumer society and the emptiness of middle class. Movies appealed to mass culture and millions went to the movies...
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Handout
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission

Explore Pa History: Billie Holiday

For Students 9th - 10th
Examine the life and historical contributions of renown jazz vocalist and Pennsylvania native, Billie Holiday in this concise biography.
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Article
Scott Alexander

The Red Hot Jazz Archive: Origins of Big Band Jazz

For Students 9th - 10th
Examines the progression from Ragtime and New Orleans jazz to Big Band.
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Handout
Other

Unstrung History of American Guitar: The Guitar and the Birth of American Music

For Students 9th - 10th
The guitar in America began as an instrument used in popular music in the city and then branched out to minstrel shows, ragtime, and even jazz. Read about the history of this ubiquitous instrument and how it took on its American character.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Old Values vs. New Values

For Students 9th - 10th
An overview of the clash between the old way of life of the Victorian Age and the new, the Jazz Age.
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Lesson Plan
Yale University

Living Pictures Representing the History of Black Dance

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief history of black dance in America, includes dance pioneers in jazz dance, ballet, and modern dance.
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Handout
Other

Down Beat: John Coltrane

For Students 9th - 10th
Biographical information, photos, and a discography of jazz great John Coltrane, whose work in the 1960s included excursions into free jazz.
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eBook
The Washington Post

The Washington Post: "The History of Jazz," Chapter 1

For Students 9th - 10th
This site offers the first chapter of Ted Gioia's book, "The History of Jazz." This chapter focuses on the prehistory of jazz, including the Africanization of American music, country blues and classic blues, and Scott Joplin and Ragtime.
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Handout
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission

Explore Pa History: William Strayhorn

For Students 9th - 10th
Examine the historical contributions made to the jazz world by this noted composer and arranger from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Mary Lou Williams

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Mary Lou Williams, a jazz pianist who performed with and composed for many of the great jazz artists of the 1940s and '50s. This site, rich in detail and breadth...
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Jazz Age 1919 1929: Prosperity and Popular Entertainment

For Students 11th - 12th
Examines the transformation of American culture and lifestyle through movies, sports and the automobile, particularly the Model T Ford.
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Jazz Age: Redefining the Nation 1919 1929: Transformation and Backlash

For Students 11th - 12th
Examines the role nativism played in 1920s America, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, the disconnect between urban and rural lifestyles and values, and the fractious debate over evolution that was highlighted in the Scopes trial.
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: The Jazz Age 1919 1929: Republican Ascendancy: Politics in the 1920s

For Students 11th - 12th
Examines the positive and negative aspects of Warren G. Harding's presidency, how Calvin Coolidge won the election of 1920, and his pro-business agenda.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Learning the Blues

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson plan introduces young scholars to the blues. The origin and development of the blues is explored as well as its distinctive structure.
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Handout
Other

Down Beat: Cecil Taylor

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed site containing information in the following sections: photos, biography, and archived news articles about avant-garde pianist/composer Cecil Taylor.
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Handout
Other

Down Beat: Albert Ayler

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed article containing the following sections: biography, discography, photos, and news articles about Albert Ayler.
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Website
Central Home

Central Home: History of Jazz Dance

For Students 9th - 10th
Ths site describes the growth and basic elements of jazz music and dance.
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: The Jazz Age

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive overview with many interesting facts and information on the Jazz Age, a period in U.S. history associated with exuberance and the introduction of jazz music.

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