Shaw’s World

When Candida premiered in 1898, the world was on the brink of a new era. The Spanish-American War was fought that spring and summer, and Andrew Carnegie and William Jennings Bryan would soon make headlines as vocal opponents of what they viewed as U.S. imperialism. Electric buses were about to begin making runs up and down New York City’s Fifth Avenue—for a 5-cent fare. Theodore Dreiser was writing Sister Carrie, a novel about a woman who uses her sexual prowess to climb the social ladder that would become an American classic. And the Wright Brothers were working away in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, preparing for an experiment in engineering that would dramatically and emphatically put Kitty Hawk on the map ... and change the world.

To learn more about America at the beginning of the 20th century, check out the PBS program and web site entitled America 1900, a presentation of the American Experience series. You’ll see a list of important people, a clickable map that combines geography and history, and a month-by-month timeline. Transcripts and a teacher’s guide are also available.