Timeline: 1920s

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1920s graphic

Thumbs Down Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, is signed into law.

Thumbs Down Covenant of the League of Nations requires members to “endeavor to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women and children” and “secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control.”

Thumbs UpQuota Act of 1921 sets annual ceiling at 350,000. The law especially restricts flow of immigrants coming from eastern and southern Europe.

Thumbs Down In 1921, Margaret Sanger founds the American Birth Control League, which evolves into Planned Parenthood.

Thumbs Up A bill making lynching a federal offense passes in the House of Representatives in 1922 but fails in the Senate.

Thumbs Down In 1923, Supreme Court strikes down a minimum-wage law for District of Columbia women because, with the vote, women are considered equal to men. This ruling cancels all state minimum wage laws.

U.S. Border Patrol is created, 1924.

Border Patrol

In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover takes over BOI, precursor to the FBI, and will direct it for 48 years.

J. Edgar Hoover

Thumbs Down In 1924, the Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country's earliest known gay rights organization.


Thumbs Up Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 grants all Native Americans the rights of citizenship, including the right to vote in federal elections.


Thumbs Up National Origins Act of 1924. Annual ceiling of 150,000 made permanent. This basic law remains in effect through 1965.


Thumbs UpIn 1926, a group of black women is beaten by election officials while attempting to register to vote in Birmingham.

Stock Market Crash Oct. 29, 1929

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