The decades between the First and Second World Wars gave rise to Art Deco architecture and design. They also gave rise to Babe Ruth’s home runs, Henry Ford automobiles, Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside chats. Few periods in American history can claim so many earthshakers, trendsetters, and noisemakers.

In the talk American Cacophony, University of Kansas history professor Dr. Jonathan C. Hagel will survey the American cultural scene of those decades, providing context for the midwestern Art Deco movement and making sense of the harmonies and disharmonies that marked American life in that remarkable period.

The lecture is presented in conjunction with the exhibition American Art Deco: Designing for the People, 1918–1939.

Galleries open before the lecture with paid admission (free to WAM members).