-- Labor Movement History--20th Century (under construction)
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Great Depression The October 1929 stock market crash signaled the beginning of the Great Depression which would continue until World War II. At its depth, the jobless in New Jersey ranged between a quarter to a third of its workforce, with African American unemployed estimated at over half of workers. New Jersey per capita income fell from $839 in 1929 to $433 in 1933 and some 140 banks closed between 1928 and 1933. New Jersey's state government issued begging licenses to the poor because the New Jersey government funds 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. The primary New Jersey contact for dispensing New Deal projects and funds was Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague. Although he had supported New York City Mayor Al Smith against Roosevelt for the presidential nomination at the 1932 Democratic National Convention, Hague had quckly repaired his relationship with FDR, hosting him in New Jersey at a swing through the state which was capped by a rally in Spring Lake 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.
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