THE STORY'S CONTEXT
Opening   Why Asaph   Technological Change   The 20th Century

Asaph's story is important as a vehicle for an exploration of the late 19th and early 20th century. This was a time of tremendous change in the United States. Asaph was born just months after the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. In 1890, when Asaph was a 20 year old young man, Alexander Graham Bell's telephone was just 14 years old. Thomas Edison had just recently developed the filament light bulb. Before Asaph turned 40, Orville and Wilbur Wright would make the first powered flight and the first Model T would roll off Henry Ford's assembly line.

NEXT: The 20th century

Extending the Story: Technology and Everyday Life in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries