The 20th Century: What's Worth Saving?

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Goddess Revival
UCLA archaeologist Marija Gimbu-tas turned historical scholarship on its head in the '70s and '80s with research that depicted peace-loving, cooperation-based, Goddess-worshipping societies in ancient Europe--which were overrun in the Neolithic era by Indo-Europeans who imposed patriarchal order. Gimbutas' vision of an earth-friendly, feminine-centered spirituality has sparked a religious awakening; an estimated 400,000 Americans now declare themselves neopagans, and many more with feminist or environmentalist leanings are helping revive Goddess worship.

Green Parties
Although there was little fanfare when Daniel BrÈlaz took his seat in the Swiss Parliament in 1979, the event marked the electoral emergence of a political philosophy that holds great promise for assuring that the mistakes of the 20th century are not repeated in the 21st. Now that green parties are partners in power in Germany, France, Italy, Finland, Slovakia, and Georgia, their message that everyday people's concerns and comfort should supersede demands for economic and industrial "progress" is gaining influence. Greens have pushed through pollution taxes in Germany; in the United States, 63 Greens hold elective office in 15 states and make up a majority on the Arcata, California, city council.

Harlem Renaissance
The burst of black, brown, and beige creativity in uptown Manhattan in the 1920s forever changed the image of the "negro." The work of writers like Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes (below), Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay--written to the beat of jazz--was stylistically sophisticated without losing the rhythms and soul of everyday life. Their triumph stands not only as a rebuttal to white supremacy claims, but also as a model of how the downtrodden can give rise to great art.

Historic Preservation Districts
Local citizens raised a stink during the 1920s when Standard Oil Company razed old homes to build gas stations in the 18th-century heart of Charleston, South Carolina, prompting the city council to designate the nation's first historic preservation district (above) in 1931. While preservation campaigns go back to 1816, when Philadelphia's Independence Hall was saved from demolition, this was the first law to protect an entire neighborhood. New Orleans rescued the French Quarter in 1937, but the movement didn't take off until 1963, when a wrecking ball claimed New York's beloved Penn Station. Public outrage fueled the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act, which created federal provisions for historic districts.

Hollywood Screwball Comedies
Soon after talkies debuted in 1927 with Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer, the uproarious repartee of screwball comedies elevated screen conversation to art. Beginning with Ernst Lubitsch's Design for Living (1933), Hollywood led us laughing through the Depression, with fast-paced farces like Bringing Up Baby (1938) and A Philadelphia Story (1940), both starring Cary Grant and Kath-arine Hepburn. What screwball comedies lack in social commentary, they make up for with witty dialogue, anarchic humor, and lessons in the art of just having fun.

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