Giving the password provided entry into a 1920s Speakeasy created by AP U.S. History students at Hamburg High School on March 15.
Characters from the 1920s stepped off the history book pages to mingle with Hamburg High School students and staff while sipping Shirley Temples.
Dressed as historical figures from the 1920s, the AP U.S. History students role-played their characters during the party that included live jazz music performed by the High School Jazz Band to help create the mood of a speakeasy.
“It’s a great example of authentic learning,” said Hamburg Superintendent Richard Mextorf. “Each student assumes a character from the Roaring 20s, an actual person. When we’re interacting with them, they don’t break character.
When I spoke with F. Scott Fitzgerald, I asked him, have you written any good books lately, and, of course, he talked about ‘The Great Gatsby.’ I also talked with Charles Lindbergh (an American aviator and explorer also known as Lucky Lindy) and he was telling me about his exploits.”
Junior Kaitlyn Carl portrayed F. Scott Fitzgerald.
“It’s actually a lot of fun. Getting to know somebody else is cool,” said Carl. “He wasn’t particularly popular until after the 1920s. During this time, he’d written one book and it made him famous.”
Carl also found walking around talking to the other characters to be fun and enjoyed learning about the other historical figures.
Mextorf also spoke with baseball player Babe Ruth and American film and TV actress Joan Crawford, as well as several other historical figures from that time period.
“They really had to understand the character and the time period and then that gives them a much more authentic experience,” he said.
Mextorf said the Speakeasy is part of the 1920s, it’s where people gathered during Prohibition to defy the government and socialize.
“They’re trying to give kids a real flavor of what it was like in the 1920s,” he said. “I think it gives kids a window into the lens of time, it allows them to view it through history. The cool part is they get to dress up in character.”
Hamburg High School Principal Christopher Spohn said the Speakeasy is great.
“Dave Kline does an outstanding job with this. It’s our Advanced Placement U.S. History,” said Spohn. “There’s a hidden area. You have to have a special (password). It doesn’t hurt that Mrs. Kline is the band director so she makes sure there’s a jazz fest thing going on here, too. This is great. This is experiencing history a little bit and it’s a lot of fun.”
Those who were interested in attending were given the password to enter. The speakeasy environment correlates with several of the novels students read in English class, according to history teacher David Kline.
Kline said his students move quickly through the AP U.S. History curriculum because they have to cover so much material, with the 1920s divided into two chapters, the politics and the social aspects of the era.
“Obviously, Prohibition, Speakeasies, organized crime and gangsters are a big part of that era, along with jazz music,” said Kline, noting that he got the idea for a Speakeasy from a past Hamburg advanced placement teacher. “We tried it last year and the kids absolutely loved it.”
Kline said the AP course is a lot of reading, writing and meticulous college-level research and primary source documents.
“This is sort of a way for us to break away from that for a little bit and allow history to come alive,” said Kline. “They can pick a character, get into it and have fun with the history and let it come alive for them a little bit.”
Kline said this activity gives students the opportunity to individually explore a particular character from the 1920s.
“That era is interesting and I think that whole concept of the Speakeasy translates well, and luckily we have a wonderful music department that has a great jazz band and is willing to work with us.”
Hamburg band director Megan Kline said the Jazz Band chose to play jazz songs by some of the big artists from the 1920s. Their favorite was “Honeysuckle Rose,” a 1929 song composed by Fats Waller.
“They’re excited to play and I think it provides a nice atmosphere,” she said. “I really hope they get a good idea of what it would be like to be in the 20s.”
