This book provides a historical examination of everyday life to reveal how and why Americans during the Progressive Era structured their world and made their lives meaningful.

The Progressive Era represented a tumultuous time for Americans as they attempted to come to terms with a rapidly emerging modern, urban, and industrial society, and ultimately the dislocations caused by World War I. Steven L. Piott’s Daily Life in the Progressive Era tells the story of how all Americans-black and white, women and men, rural inhabitants and urban residents, workers and employers, consumers and producers-contended with new cultural attitudes, persistent racial and class tensions, and the power struggles of evolving classes.

This book provides a broad examination of American society between 1900 and 1920. Organized thematically, it covers rural and urban America, the changing nature of work, race relations, popular culture, citizen activism, and society during wartime. Appropriate for general readers as well as students of history, Daily Life in the Progressive Era provides an informed and compelling narrative history and analysis of daily life within the context of broad historical patterns.

Includes a chronology of major events between 1890 and 1920

Presents numerous photographs and images that illustrate important points throughout the narrative

Provides a detailed bibliography of sources

Includes both a detailed index and a brief glossary of key terms