Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: Jazz in Pennsylvania
Explore the history and influences of jazz in the state of Pennsylvania. Resource includes links to audio clips and video from artists, and stories of jazz from around the state.
PBS
Pbs: Cole Porter: You're the Top
A high school lesson plan designed to delve deeper into the life of Cole Porter and the meaning in his music.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Department of Archives & History
Separate Halls of Fame as established by the Alabama Legislature. Includes: business; international motorsports, military, press association, Alabama sports, women, teachers, music and much more.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Duke Ellington
Biography of Duke Ellington, one of the originators of big band jazz, and a noted composer.
Tennessee History For Kids
Tennessee History for Kids: Bessie Smith
Often known as the "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith influenced entire generations of blues, jazz, and rock musicians and was the highest-paid black entertainer of her time. This website will provide more information about Smith's...
Other
Voice of America: American History: 1920s Were a Big Time for the Arts
Voice of America offers an article about the arts in the Jazz Age including information about authors who wrote to protest what they saw happening in society. Read this article or listen to the narration of it.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Outlines: Clash of Cultures
Although brief, this discussion of the clash of cultures in the 1920s covers all the reasons for cultural discordance.
Other
David Holt: The Roots of Mountain Music
This is a short history of the major influences that have combined to create mountain music, one of which is minstrel music. Provides a good decription of minstrel music in general. Includes names and descriptions of specific songs,...
Other
Down Beat: John Coltrane
Biographical information, photos, and a discography of jazz great John Coltrane, whose work in the 1960s included excursions into free jazz.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: The Jazz Age
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.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: American Sports in the 1920s
A comprehensive overview with detailed facts about the history of sports in the 1920s, a time when sporting events were broadcast live across the nation and sports stars were idolized. Provides a list of famous athletes.
Digital History
Digital History: The Roaring Twenties [Pdf]
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...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Books and Movies
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...
Digital History
Digital History: Formation of Modern American Mass Culture
A mass culture developed in America in the 1920s due to several factors. Read about the influence of radio, movies, and spectator sports in the adoption of common speech. Find out about the creativity of the time in literature and music.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Only Yesterday Year by Year
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Etta James
Etta James has been called "the greatest of all modern blues singers". Here you can read an account of her life story. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Other
Pro Football Hall of Fame: Harold (Red) Grange
A recap of the Hall of Fame football career of Harold "Red" Grange.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Red Scare
A dark side to the Jazz Age was the increase in the fear of Communism. Read about the federal government's actions to stem anything that was thought to threaten American security.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Flappers
The liberation of women as expressed by the flappers of the 1920s was in stark contrast to the actions of women in the Victorian Age. Read about how flappers expressed their freedom in fashion, employment, and leisure activities.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Fads and Heroes
A time of fads and hero worship, the 1920s' entertainment didn't always make sense, but it was interesting. Find out about some of the fads of the time, and who became the heroes of popular culture. Take a brief quiz about the 1920s.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: Billie Holiday
Examine the life and historical contributions of renown jazz vocalist and Pennsylvania native, Billie Holiday in this concise biography.
Black Past
Black Past: Ellington, Edward "Duke"
Duke Ellington's prominence as one of the greatest American composers and key figure in the development of the genre of jazz is highlighted in this encyclopedia entry.
Black Past
Black Past: Joplin, Scott
This is a brief encyclopedia biography of the ragtime composer, Scott Joplin, whose music was influential in the growth of jazz.
Other
Is Acid Jazz a Continuation of the Jazz Phenomenon?
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.