Throughout the 1920s, America experienced a surge of religiosity.
Who were some of the key figures in this movement?
What resulted from it?
There were many groups in the 1920s that began practicing a brand of Christianity that likened
back to the founding days of the Plymouth colony.
The movement became known as fundamentalism and was a largely Protestant crusade built
around a literal interpretation of Biblical events.
Many preachers traveled around the country, leading revival meetings in large tents or
other gathering places.
Some of these traveling ministers became nationally-known celebrities.
The two most prominent were Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson.
Billy Sunday was a former professional baseball player who began preaching in the early 1900s.
Throughout the 1910s and early 1920s, Sunday preached in small cities across the nation.
If a Billy Sunday revival meeting came to town, it was front page news.
Everyone in town would flock to attend—regardless of denomination.
Oftentimes, he would stay in one city for more than a month at a time, preaching as
many as twenty sermons a week.
The crowds were often enormous too.
For example, during a visit to Columbia, South Carolina, he spoke to more than 479,000 people
in six weeks.
It is estimated that Sunday spoke to more than 100 million people over the course of
his career.
He preached more than 20,000 sermons (an average of about 42 a month) — often without the
use of a microphone.
Aimee Semple McPherson began her preaching career in 1913.
In 1917, she started a speaking tour across the country, preaching from a chair which
she kept in the backseat of her car.
As she traveled to the next city, she would type out her next sermon.
Frequently, when she visited a town, she would start out in a small venue, and by the second
or third night, would have to move to a larger place because the crowds were overflowing.
In many cases she was outselling PT Barnum’s circus, Harry Houdini, and other notable acts
of the day.
McPherson eventually settled just outside of Los Angeles.
She raised $250,000 and built her own church, the Angelus Temple.
The church had a seating capacity of 5,300 and a church membership of over 10,000.
At the time, it was one of the largest churches in the country.
McPherson’s sermons were anything but boring.
Animals were frequently incorporated into the program, and her Sunday services resembled
Broadway shows more than they did church services.
She employed an army of set builders, prop designers, and costumed actors who would put
on elaborate performances.
Each service also included radio broadcasts which reached millions of listeners across
the nation.
As fundamentalism spread throughout the nation, it did have an impact.
Many people became skeptical of scientific discoveries and technological advancements,
believing that they clashed with Biblical teachings.
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was hotly contested in many regions of the country.
Some states even began passing laws that forbade the teaching of evolution in science classrooms.