New Jersey in The 20th Century - Great Depression

Great Depression

Like all the rest of the United States, New Jersey was hit hard by the Great Depression. By 1933, one-tenth of the population were dependent upon the Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. In fact, New Jersey issued begging licenses to the poor and unemployed people because the New Jersey government funds were growing low and were being exhausted. Under the Works Progress Administration, part of the Second New Deal by FDR, many new jobs were provided in order to support the poor and unemployed. These projects included the expansion of Fort Dix, Roosevelt Park in Edison, and Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway. In Jersey City political boss Frank Hague secured the construction the Medical Center, the Armory, and Roosevelt Stadium. Strikes also grew common during the Great Depression; in 1937 a group of gravediggers from New Jersey went on strike.

In 1938 Orson Welles' produced his infamous The War of the Worlds radio broadcast from New Jersey. Listeners were told that a "huge, flaming object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm in the neighborhood of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, twenty-two miles from Trenton." It went on to describe extraterrestrial monsters that destroyed massive stretches of lands in New Jersey as well as massacring many people. Although it was announced in advance and at conclusion as a radio play, the broadcast resulted in widespread panic into New Jersey and the surrounding areas. Many people had believed the bulletin to be real, and that New Jersey truthfully was being torn up by giant and immensely powerful Martians. People fled the New Jersey area, while others worked hard to blockade their homes and ensure safety from the reported monsters. Listeners were relieved to discover at the end of the broadcast that it had been a fictional account. CBS was criticized for allowing fictitious bulletins to gain attention of listeners. Welles and the other broadcasters were not punished by law, but were held under a brief informal "house arrest" for a short period of time while being bombarded by questions by news reporters.

During the Great Depression, 20-month old Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh, was abducted from his home near Hopewell, New Jersey. A long investigation ensued as detectives attempted to round up the kidnapper of the baby. The police proceeded to seal off many roads in order to prevent the kidnapper's escape, and interrogated the members of the Lindbergh household. The stress of being under police questioning led to the suicide of Violet Sharpe. Dr. John F. Condon became a negotiator between the kidnapper "John" and the Lindbergh family. The kidnapper demanded a ransom of $50,000, which was paid but turned out to be a hoax. Two other hoaxes were perpetrated by two other people who were not involved in the kidnapping, desperate to get their hands on ransom money. Both were charged after their declarations proved false. The baby was later found dead.

However, federal experts and detectives slowly managed to locate and capture the kidnapper. James J. Finn was a lieutenant who tracked the ransom money. He had agents travel to banks to capture the kidnapper while passing the ransom bills. Meanwhile, Arthur Koehler, a federal expert, carefully examined the ladder used by the kidnapper. He traced the ladder to a company in McCormick, South Carolina. Finally, a ransom note was located and traced to Bruno Hauptmann; the bill had the license plate number of Hauptmann's blue Dodge Saloon that was written down by a gas attendant. He was tried in Flemington, New Jersey in what was known as the "Trial of the Century", and was convicted.

Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, New Jersey. As a result of the Lindbergh kidnapping the Federal Kidnapping Act, also known as the Lindbergh Law, was passed making kidnapping a federal law. The Agatha Christie mystery novel Murder on the Orient Express may have been based upon this kidnapping, with events paralleling many of the Lindbergh kidnapping.

In 1937 the German zeppelin Hindenburg exploded over Lakehurst, New Jersey. While approaching a mooring mast in Lakehurst, the zeppelin suddenly caught fire, and within 34 seconds the entire hydrogen-filled zeppelin was engulfed in flames; 36 people died in the disaster, most of them leaping from the burning ship. Contrary to popular belief, the Hindenburg had flown an entire year of successful voyages before it caught on fire. Questions and controversy surround the accident to this day: theories for the sudden burst of flames include sabotage against the German Nazis, static buildup, and flammable fabric.

The Hindenburg was not the first flaming shipwreck to encounter New Jersey during the 1930s, though. The SS Morro Castle caught fire during a nor'easter and beached herself near Asbury Park in 1934.