Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
The First Gilded Age?
Speaker
Professor John Putman
Coordinator
Steve Clarey
With the ascendancy of Donald Trump to the
Presidency in 2025 and the growing economic and
cultural power of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg,
some pundits believe that we may be entering a new
Gilded Age. In the decades following the American
Civil War, the United States entered what scholars
call the Gilded Age, marked not only by rapid
industrialization that produced new industries and
products, but also by new captains of industry with
vast sums of wealth and power. This lecture series
will explore the causes, development and impact of
the first Gilded Age and how Americans struggled to
rebalance society by the turn of the 20th century.
July 10: Industrialization and the Rise of the Robber
Barons
In the wake of the destructive Civil War, the
U.S. experienced rapid economic growth and
industrialization. We will examine the rise of
powerful industrial leaders, or Robber Barons, and
how they justified their newfound power.
July 17: Confronting a New America: Workers and
Farmers
Both industrial workers and rural farmers confronted
what they saw as the danger to themselves and
the nation of this new order. While workers looked
to unions and strikes to protect themselves from
their powerful employers, farmers latched onto new
national policies and political reforms to right the
American ship.
July 24: Politics and Dreams of Reform
Growing political and economic conflicts came
to a head in what scholars call the Critical 1890s.
Growing class conflict and frustration with a weak
federal government and outdated political ideals
sparked both radical reform ideas and a watershed
election in 1896.
July 31: Progressivism and the Age of Reform
At the dawn of the 20th century, frightened by the
crises of the 1890s, a bottom-up political movement
finally challenged the power and control of American
economic interests. New progressive ideas and
values compelled Americans to demand state and
federal intervention to address the ills produced by
industrialization and the Gilded Age and strike a new
balance in American society.
Presidency in 2025 and the growing economic and
cultural power of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg,
some pundits believe that we may be entering a new
Gilded Age. In the decades following the American
Civil War, the United States entered what scholars
call the Gilded Age, marked not only by rapid
industrialization that produced new industries and
products, but also by new captains of industry with
vast sums of wealth and power. This lecture series
will explore the causes, development and impact of
the first Gilded Age and how Americans struggled to
rebalance society by the turn of the 20th century.
July 10: Industrialization and the Rise of the Robber
Barons
In the wake of the destructive Civil War, the
U.S. experienced rapid economic growth and
industrialization. We will examine the rise of
powerful industrial leaders, or Robber Barons, and
how they justified their newfound power.
July 17: Confronting a New America: Workers and
Farmers
Both industrial workers and rural farmers confronted
what they saw as the danger to themselves and
the nation of this new order. While workers looked
to unions and strikes to protect themselves from
their powerful employers, farmers latched onto new
national policies and political reforms to right the
American ship.
July 24: Politics and Dreams of Reform
Growing political and economic conflicts came
to a head in what scholars call the Critical 1890s.
Growing class conflict and frustration with a weak
federal government and outdated political ideals
sparked both radical reform ideas and a watershed
election in 1896.
July 31: Progressivism and the Age of Reform
At the dawn of the 20th century, frightened by the
crises of the 1890s, a bottom-up political movement
finally challenged the power and control of American
economic interests. New progressive ideas and
values compelled Americans to demand state and
federal intervention to address the ills produced by
industrialization and the Gilded Age and strike a new
balance in American society.
Speaker Bio
Presenter: John Putman is associate dean for
the College of Arts and Letters and a professor of
American history at San Diego State University.
He is a historian of the modern American West,
particularly California and the Pacific coast states.
A popular lecturer at Osher, he has taught a
number of courses, including early and modern
U.S. history, U.S. constitutional history, California
history and history of the American west. He
received his Ph.D. from UC San Diego in 2000.
the College of Arts and Letters and a professor of
American history at San Diego State University.
He is a historian of the modern American West,
particularly California and the Pacific coast states.
A popular lecturer at Osher, he has taught a
number of courses, including early and modern
U.S. history, U.S. constitutional history, California
history and history of the American west. He
received his Ph.D. from UC San Diego in 2000.
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