1920's - Post-War Boom & Bust

Post-war legislation favored businesses in order to boost the economy, and for the next few years, employment and stock prices skyrocketed. Progressive education continued in schools and universities and more Americans received secondary education.

1920’s Milestones:

  • 1920 – The term “internship” emerges.1
  • 1920 – Women’s Bureau established.2
  • 1921 – The Emergency Quota Act passed.3
  • 1924 – The GE Hawthorne Studies on Motivation (conducted from 1924-1927).4
  • 1924 – Indian Citizenship Act.5
  • 1924 – The National Association of Appointments Secretaries (NAAS) founded.6
  • 1926 – The Eastern College Personnel Officers (ECPO) founded.7

References

  1. Interns post WWI were confined to medical graduates when it was determined that the medical school did not have enough training to allow the graduates to begin their practice of medicine. Internships are today used for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies. They are typically undertaken by students and graduates looking to gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field. Employers benefit from these placements because they often recruit employees from their best interns, who have known capabilities, thus saving time and money in the long run.
    A Brief History of Interns – TIME
    Internship
  2. The Women’s Bureau was established in the U.S. Department of Labor on June 5, 1920 to promote the welfare of and improve conditions for working women.
    About Us
  3. The Emergency Quota Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States – particularly those from Southern Europe, through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. Driving this act were concerns that the flood of immigrants in the first decade of the 20th century included people too ‘dark’ racially to be acceptable.
    Major laws passed the year you were born
    1921 Emergency Quota Act
  4. Elton Mayo’s  Hawthorne Studies at the GE facility known as the Hawthorne Works attempted to uncover factors to improve productivity. Efforts to investigate the impact of lighting on productivity uncovered instead that motivation is linked to ‘attention’, and thus began the “human relations” approach to management when the needs and motivation of employees became the primary focus of managers.
    Management and Motivation | Boundless Business
  5. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, also known as the Snyder Act granted citizenship to Native Americans. While the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution defines as citizens any persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, the amendment had been interpreted by the courts to not apply to Native peoples (who were born on reservations and therefore not part of the United States). Indian Citizenship Act – Wikipedia
  6. The National Association of Appointments Secretaries was arguably also the first professional organization of Placement Directors in the US. “Of the twelve representatives who founded this pioneer organization, eleven were women. Their primary concern was teacher placement. In 1928 their name was changed to the National Association of Placement and Personnel Officers, and during the 1930’s it was changed again to the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). It eventually merged with other regional associations as CPC and, in 1995, became NACE.
    NACE Organization History
  7. “Five educators met in October 1926 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to organize the Eastern College Personnel Officers (ECPO).” The objective was to promote professional improvement for its members on common placement problems through conventions, general meetings, and presentations by speakers who had undertaken specific studies in the field. This became the foundation for the current Regional Associations and the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
    NACE Organization History