1920s – Empowering women through fiction and history.

School of Hard Knocks: What School Was Like in the Early 20th Century

I’m a teacher as well as a writer. I got into teaching pretty much by surprise. I was always very shy and introverted, the kid who slouched down in her seat in the back so the teacher wouldn’t call on her. When my parents suggested I do a teaching certificate when I was in college, mostly because they couldn’t see any practical profession for me as an English major, I shuddered. I didn’t end up getting that teaching certificate, as I had no interest in teaching children. But when I got into a master’s program and was offered a part-time instructorship teaching freshmen English composition courses as a way to pay part of my tuition, I grabbed it. Shockingly, I found I loved teaching adults (if you can consider college-aged students adults). In 2004, I transitioned from teaching college English classes to teaching ESL to business professionals. I still do that today, and I still love it.

Maybe that’s why teachers figure prominently in several of my books. But my teachers are victims not only of murder but of the rather unpolished and sometimes brutal school system in America in the early 20th century.

A typical schoolhouse in a small town or rural area in the early 20th century. Note the one-room structure and the mix of students (younger and older) posing in front of it.

Photo Credit: A one-room schoolhouse with the teacher and students, north of Kearny, Nebraska, 1910, Solomon D. Butcher (photographer), Library of Congress: LOC’s Public Domain Archive/Public Domain

Compared to schools today, the American school system, especially in small towns and rural areas (where many of my books take place) was pretty harsh. Parents complain today of crowded classrooms, but in the early 20th century, school was a one-room affair that packed in kids from the first to the eighth grade. The younger kids learned the basics while the older ones did more self-study. Older children were expected to help younger ones with their lessons. As you might expect, the separate spheres dictated some differences in what boys and girls were taught. Although both were taught the basics (reading, writing, and math), girls were taught subjects considered more appropriate for their future station in life (like sewing and mending) while boys were allowed to tackle subjects like science and biology.

Perhaps one of the most surprising things about American schools at the turn of the 20th century is that corporal punishment was legal and widely used in many schools. It wasn’t unheard of for a child to get a sharp rap on the knuckles or on the palm of his or her hand with the teacher’s ruler if they misbehaved. For example, the murder of a schoolteacher in 1915 by one of her former students was partly provoked by her and the school principal’s liberal use of this kind of punishment (you can read more about that case here).

Teachers didn’t have it easy in the early 20th century. Surprisingly, most teachers were men up until that time. Things changed during the Progressive Era when more women went to work. Teaching was one of the few respectable professions for a young woman (some as young as seventeen), and school districts could get away with paying women much less than they paid the men.

But, as those who have read the first book of my Grave Sisters Mysteries know, the teaching profession bound these young ladies to rigid and restrictive rules. They had to dress a certain way and were forbidden to do certain things, like take in some of the outside leisure activities that were becoming popular at the time (think: vaudeville, moving pictures, and even drug store soda fountains). They were forbidden to go out with men and couldn’t even be seen with any man who wasn’t family. They were expected to save most of their paltry earnings for retirement so they wouldn’t be a burden on the community in their old age. That left them with barely enough to support themselves.

Another one of my books that features the death of a teacher is A Wordless Death. That book is on sale now for a great price, and you can find out more about it here.

If you love fun, engaging mysteries set in the past, you’ll enjoy The Missing Ruby Necklace! It’s available exclusively to newsletter subscribers here. By signing up, you’ll also get news about upcoming releases, fun facts about women’s history, classic true-crime tidbits, and more!

The (Not so) Roaring Presidents of the Roaring Twenties

President’s Day is on February 16 in America. In spite of how people feel about the current president, presidents have had a major influence on the nation throughout the years, and each president, in many ways, reflects the era in which he serves.

Some decades have had more presidents than others. The 1840s and the 1880s tie for the most presidents in America, as people saw five during each of those decades (that’s a lot of presidents!) But the 1920s, when my Grave Sisters Mysteries is set, saw its share of presidents too. The decade had no less than three presidents who occupied the Oval Office at one time or another.

In many ways, these three presidents (Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover) represented the ethos of the 1920s. Since the Republicans dominated politics at the time, the men favored business and incorporated things like low taxes for large corporations, high important tarrifs, and a hands-off approach to business regulations that sharply contrasted the pre-war anti-trust politics. Not surprisingly, they embraced a free market, which was partly responsible for the economic boom of the Roaring Twenties. They also shied away from the global market, focusing more on domestic issues (though not focusing on them enough, as we’ll see with the Hoover administration).

Photo Credit: Warren Harding and a group of men outside the White House, Washington D.C., 1923, Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress: Public Domain Media/Public Domain

However, each of the presidents faced very different challenges. Harding, who took office in the first third of the decade, was dealing with a nation devastated by the effects of World War I. His campaign promise was a “return to normalcy”. Consequently, his approach to politics was so laid back that many people thought him lazy and incompetent. It may be that this laid-back attitude was the reason why his administration was riddled with scandal. Of special note was the Teapot Dome Scandal, where the Secretary of the Interior accepted bribes from private oil companies to whom he had leased reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and in California. In addition, the head of the Veterans Bureau (established in 1921 and which is featured in Book 2 of the Grave Sisters Mysteries) ran off with nearly $250 million, though he did return and was tried and convicted after Harding’s death in 1923.

Photo Credit: Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover walking outside the White House, 1928, Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress: Picryl/No known restrictions

Succeeding Harding was Coolidge. If Harding was thought incompetent, Coolidge was thought ineffectual. In fact, he really didn’t do much for the country other than clean up the mess left behind by the Harding administration. He was known for his silence, and his involvement in politics was quite minimal by today’s (and even 1920s’) standards. Nevertheless, this uber laid-back attitude was popular with voters, and he lasted until 1929. In fact, one of the reasons why he wasn’t re-elected was because he chose not to run with no reason other than “I choose not to run.” How’s that for a man of few words?

You would think, with two Republican presidencies marred with scandal, incompetence, and inefficiency, the Democrats would win the election at the end of the 1920s, but such was not the case. This was mainly because the Democratic candidate, Alfred E. Smith, had several strikes against him that made him unpopular with many voters. He was Irish and Catholic, for one. It seems incredible now that Americans would be so prejudiced as to consider these aspects a drawback, but it would take another 30-odd years until they voted an Irish Catholic into the White House (that would be John F. Kennedy, of course). Smith was also anti-Prohibition and had big-city manners, which didn’t go over well with the small-town voters of the time. So Hoover got the presidency. However, the Republican laid-back politics and free market favor proved to be exactly what the country did not need at the time. Less than eight months after he was inaugurated, the stock market crashed, and the years Hoover served were the most difficult of the Great Depression. He was defeated when he ran again in 1933 for a president who could take the country by the hand and create interventions that would pull America out of the biggest economic disaster in history (that president, by the way, was Franklin D. Roosevelt

My Grave Sisters Mysteries begins at the start of Harding’s administration, and you can expect the series to run well into Hoover’s and beyond. You can get the first book of the Grave Sisters Mysteries, The Case of the Washed-Up Corpse, here.

Release Day for The Missing Witness!

Title: The Missing Witness

Series:Series: Grave Sisters Mysteries: Book 2

Author: Tam May

Genres: Historical Cozy Mystery

Release Date: November 22, 2025

“It is an entertaining read.” — early Goodreads reviewer

In small towns like Gyver, WWI veterans don’t have it easy. In a nation just emerging from an economic depression, jobs are few and far between. Disability and shell shock are real, and battle fatigue is taking its toll on their bodies and souls.

Three years after the end of the war, Violet Grave’s friend, Hank Convoy, is one of these vets struggling to survive. With a grandmother and a disabled sister to support, he takes whatever odd jobs he can get. But like Violet, he’s a product of Jazz Age youth culture, so most of what he earns goes toward cards and bootleg liquor.

To add to his troubles, he’s arrested on suspicion of murdering an army buddy found in the alleyway near his house.

Violet begs her older sisters, Eve and Helena, to help prove Hank killed out of self-defense and not cold-blooded murder.

Will the sisters solve this confusing case based on cigar ash, a missing revolver, and some missing jewelry? And what about the witness who left the marks of a strange pair of shoes in the dirt the night it happened?

You can get your copy of the book at a special promotional price at the following online retailers.

Excerpt

Oliver persuaded Sheriff Warner to go down to Browly’s Diner for some sandwiches and coffee. He then coaxed Hank into eating. The food and coffee revived the young man a little.

But in spite of the district attorney’s compassion for the distraught young man, he didn’t forget he had an obligation to the county to do his duty. He felt the search for Wild Bill’s killer was over. And he was right.

When he and Sheriff Warner had settled into the room the police used for questioning suspects, the first words out of Hank’s mouth were, “I killed Wild Bill.”

“God Almighty, we figured that out a long time ago,” scoffed the sheriff.

“I’ll take over the questioning, Sheriff,” Oliver said in a rough tone. “Get your notebook ready, as we want to take all of this down.”

“Yes, sir,” The sheriff pulled out his notepad and pencil and straddled a chair across from Hank. “I’ll take it down myself.”

“You can take this down, Sheriff,” Hank said in a firm tone. “I had to kill Wild Bill to defend myself.”

Oliver heard the lawman mumble, “They all say that.”

“So you weren’t in Litt last night,” Oliver said. “And you didn’t get that wound from a bar fight.”

“I shouldn’t have lied,” said Hank. “I panicked.”

Oliver patted the young man’s arm. “Listen, son, do you want someone here with you?”

“I can’t afford a lawyer.” Hank suddenly broke down, hiding his face with both hands.

“I didn’t mean a lawyer,” Oliver said gently. “I meant a family member.”

“No one was home when we knocked on the door earlier this morning,” Sheriff Warner reminded him.

Hank stared at him. “What do you mean, no one was home?”

“No one answered,” he said.

The young man blinked. “Ellie’s always home unless she’s with Sarah Anthony.”

“She wasn’t with the Anthonys,” the sheriff said.

“You don’t understand.” He turned to Oliver. “Ellie’s blind, and she can’t walk well. Even if Granny was out, she wouldn’t leave her alone.”

“If she was home, she wasn’t answering the door,” Sheriff Warner said.

“Maybe Granny came back from the Solarises’ and took Ellie somewhere when she saw I wasn’t there,” Hank lamented.

“We can send someone to the Solarises’ to get them,” Oliver offered.

“It’s just as well they aren’t here.” Hank shook his head. “It would only upset Ellie.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t need anyone here. I want to tell what happened. It’s eating me up inside.”

“Start from the beginning,” Oliver said.

About the Author

Writing has been Tam May’s voice since the age of fourteen. She writes stories set in the past featuring sassy but sensitive women characters. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries, which takes place in the early 20th century and features suffragist and epistolary expert Adele Gossling whose talent for solving crimes doesn’t sit well with her town’s conventional ideas about women. She also has a new series, the Grave Sisters Mysteries, about three sisters who own a funeral home and help the county D.A. solve crimes in a 1920s small California town, set to release in 2025. In addition, she has written historical fiction about women breaking loose from the social and psychological expectations of their era. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in the Midwest because it’s cheaper. When she’s not writing, she’s devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music), concocting yummy plant-based dishes, and exploring her riverside town.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammayauthor/

Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/tammayauthor/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tammayauthor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tam-May/e/B01N7BQZ9Y/

BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tam-may

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16111197.Tam_May

Release Day for The Case of the Washed-Up Corpse!

Title: The Case of the Washed-Up Corpse

Series: Grave Sisters Mysteries: Book 1

Author: Tam May

Genres: Historical Cozy Mystery

Release Date: April 26, 2025

New series!

Chosen for the Barnes & Noble Top Indie Favorite list!

It’s 1921, and Americans are still reeling from the effects of World War I. In Gyver, CA, on the California/Nevada border, three sisters own the only funeral home in town. The eldest, Eve, takes care of the administration and accounting. Middle sister Helena uses her scientific and medical knowledge for the more hands-on side of the business. Eighteen-year-old Violet, the youngest, skirts the edge of a flapper lifestyle, preferring parties and jazz to funeral services and burials.

Then, Gyver County’s newly appointed district attorney asks for their assistance in identifying the body of a young woman found along a remote part of the river. At first, the police think it’s suicide. Only it isn’t — it’s murder!

As far as the sisters are concerned, murder is police business. Their business is to see that the dead are laid to rest. But District Attorney Oliver Clarke needs their help, and they can’t say no.

What follows is a twisted tale with only a few clues to help untangle it: a missing engagement ring, a piece of rope, and a torn lapel.

Will Eve and her sisters succeed in bringing justice to a dead, innocent young woman?

You can get your copy of the book at a special promotional price of 99¢ at the following online retailers.

Excerpt

“Would you like some coffee, Oliver?” Helena rose. “I’m sure Agnes still has the pot going.”

“That’s mighty nice of you,” he said. “But this isn’t exactly a social call.”

She glanced at her sister. “Don’t tell me you need our services at this time of night.”

“Death, like birth, waits for no one.” Eve brushed the last cake crumbs from dessert off her lap. “A good thing we filled the hearse with gas this afternoon.”

“It’s not quite that kind of service.” Oliver’s dark eyes grew serious. “I need a different kind of help. A woman was found dead, and we don’t know who she is.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” Helena asked.

“Me and the sheriff, of course,” he said. “And the county coroner. We’ve sent for Dr. Myers, but he’s a little difficult to locate at the moment.”

“All county men,” Eve murmured. “That means —”

“The woman did not die of natural causes,” Helena finished.

“We don’t know that yet,” he said. “We just got down there.”

“Down where?” Eve asked.

“The river.” He paused a moment. “Her body was washed up in the grass.”

“How horrible!” She shuddered.

“No more horrible than what we see,” her sister argued.

“You both know everybody in town,” Oliver said.

“We ought to,” Eve said. “Graves have been here since the town was built.”

“I thought you might know who she is.”

“You want us to look at the dead body?” Eve pressed her hands together.

Helena glanced at her. “It’s our business, isn’t it?”

“I’d like you to do more than that,” said Oliver. “You’re a doctor, aren’t you, Helena?” He glanced at her.

“I studied medicine, but they wouldn’t let me get a license.” A note of bitterness lingered in her voice.

“You have the knowledge and the training,” he insisted. “It looks as if it’s going to take a while before Dr. Myers gets there for the official ruling.”

“It’s that serious?” Eve asked.

“It is for me,” he said softly.

“Your first murder case in Gyver,” Helena remarked.

“Murder, like birth and death, waits for no one,” he said with a little irony.

Eve rose. “We’d better get our coats, then.”

“It won’t be pleasant, I’m afraid.” He helped Eve with hers. “She’s been in the water for some time. That much we do know.”

“As Helena said, Oliver, death is our business,” Eve assured him.

“Agnes!” Helena called. “We’re going out with the district attorney.”

The housekeeper came out of the kitchen, a dish towel in one hand and the cake platter, washed and dripping, in the other. “What’re you wanting to do that for?”

“Because he asked us to,” Eve snapped.

“I think we ought to take the hearse,” Helena said. “We might need it.”

“You can follow me in my car.” Oliver put on his hat.

“What’re you bothering these girls for?” Agnes glared at the man. “Ain’t you got the whole police station and courthouse at your beck and call? Zak never bothered anybody in town at this time of night.”

“I won’t keep them out long, Mrs. Bishop,” he promised.

“Shouldn’t be keeping them out at all,” the woman grumbled. “They need their beauty sleep.”

“You must excuse Agnes,” Helena said. “She still thinks of us as her little goslings.”

“Ain’t these girls got enough on their minds without being bothered by district attorneys?”

“Don’t be inhospitable, Agnes,” Eve said.

“I swear to have them back before ten, ma’am.” Oliver bowed.

“If Vi comes home before we do, make sure she gets to bed,” Eve instructed.

“She won’t be back before midnight, that wild kitten,” the woman snorted.

“I’ll tell the sheriff to send a deputy after her if she’s not back by the time we are,” Oliver said.

“Thank you.” Eve’s breath eased.

About the Author

Writing has been Tam May’s voice since the age of fourteen. She writes stories set in the past featuring sassy, sensitive women characters. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries, which takes place in the early 20th century and features suffragist and epistolary expert Adele Gossling whose talent for solving crimes doesn’t sit well with her town’s conventional ideas about women. Tam also has a new series, the Grave Sisters Mysteries, about three sisters who own a funeral home and help the county D.A. solve crimes in a 1920s small California town, set to release in 2025. She has also written historical fiction about women breaking loose from the social and psychological expectations of their era. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in the Midwest because it’s cheaper. When she’s not writing, she’s devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music), concocting yummy plant-based dishes, and exploring her new riverside town.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammayauthor/

Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/tammayauthor/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tammayauthor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tam-May/e/B01N7BQZ9Y/

BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tam-may

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16111197.Tam_May

Introducing the Grave Sisters Mysteries Series!

If you’ve been subscribing to my newsletter (and if you haven’t, you might want to check out the link below because you’ll get a bunch of cool stuff, including a couple of freebies) you know I announced last year that I would be working on a new series in 2024 to launch in 2025. I’m now ready to talk a little bit about that new series.

The Grave Sisters Mysteries is going to be another historical cozy mystery series (like my Adele Gossling Mysteries). The two series have several elements in common. They both feature strong women sleuths who defy the conventions of their time. They are both set in small towns in California and they both include women who help men in law enforcement solve crimes.

But the Grave Sisters Mysteries has a few differences that set it apart from my current series. As the name suggests, there is more than one sleuth in this new series. The sleuths, in fact, are three sisters. Eve is the oldest and most involved in solving the crimes. The middle sister, Helena, is her aide and brings different skills to the table. Their younger sister, Violet, is less involved in crime solving (at least at the beginning) but she nevertheless puts her hand in.

Another thing that makes the Grave Sisters Mysteries different from the Adele Gossling Mysteries is the sleuths’ non-crime-solving occupation. Adele runs her own stationary store in town. The Grave Sisters own a family business and its nature might surprise you. They run the only mortuary in town! That’s right. They deal with dead bodies in their line of work, though most of them get that way from natural causes rather than murder. Eve handles the administrative and accounting side of things while Helena is the resident mortician who prepares the bodies for burial. Violet, who is only eighteen in the first book, doesn’t get as involved in the family business until much later.

The time frames for both series are also different. Those who know the Adele Gossling Mysteries know the first book is set only a few years after the turn of the 20th century and the series is currently up to the middle of its first decade (spoiler alert: Book 7 is going to take place during the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire). Adele’s values and ideas fit the Progressive Era and her New Woman status lends interest and background to the mysteries.

The Grave sisters live in a later era. The first book is set in 1921, a period in American history that was just as vibrant as the Progressive Era, though in a different way. World War I was behind us but the Roaring Twenties wasn’t exactly in full swing. In fact, the nation was experiencing a sort of dip in prospects with so many World War I veterans who returned home to find they couldn’t get jobs (this becomes one of the themes of Book 2 of this series). But the sisters are firmly planted in this era that was experiencing a transition from the old to the new. America was still trying to hold on desperately to its old values and yet, the younger generation was sick and tired of the old ways and bringing in the modern age against their parents’ and grandparents’ resistance. All of these things affect the sisters and their relationship to one another. Future blog posts will address some of these topics.

Even though Book 1 of the Grave Sisters Mysteries won’t be released until the spring of 2025, don’t despair! I have more information for you about the series here. Book 1 will be available for preorder sometime later this year. I’ll also be including more updates about this series as well as details and excerpts in my newsletter this year, so if you’re not signed up for my newsletter, now is a great time to do so!

If you’re new to my site and haven’t yet checked out the Adele Gossling Mysteries, I encourage you to do that too! Book 1 of that series, The Carnation Murder, is free on all bookseller sites so you lose nothing but picking up a copy. You can find all the links here.