Vintage Esso billboard advertisements. July 1940

Creators: MaryAnn Kopp, Orange Prep Academy, Orange, NJ and Richard Kopp, Golden Door Charter School, Jersey City, NJ

Grade level: Secondary

Objectives: Students will be able to:

• explain the concept of monopolies
• explain how Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Trust
• explain the purpose and language of the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)
• analyze and evaluate newspaper and magazine articles about Standard Oil
• analyze political cartoons and political advertisements
• analyze the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Standard Oil Co. of NJ v. The United States (1911)
• determine the impact of predatory monopolistic behavior on consumers
• take and defend a position of whether the government should regulate private business in order to protect consumers from predatory monopolistic practices

New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Social Studies

6.1.12.EconEM.5.a: Assess the impact of governmental efforts to regulate industrial and financial systems in order to provide economic stability.

6.1.12.EconEM.5.b: Analyze the economic practices of corporations and monopolies regarding the production and marketing of goods and determine the positive or negative    impact of these practices on individuals and the nation and the need for government regulations.

6.1.12.CivicsPR.6.a: Use a variety of sources from multiple perspectives to evaluate the effectiveness of Progressive reforms in preventing unfair business practices and political corruption and in promoting social justice.

6.1.12.GeoHE.6.a:   Compare and contrast issues involved in the struggle between the unregulated development of natural resources and efforts to conserve and protect natural resources during the period of industrial expansion.

Compelling Questions:

• What is the impact of a monopoly on consumers?
• Should the United States government be involved in regulating privately owned businesses?
• What is more important to New Jerseyans: a successful Standard Oil, or federal laws being followed?

Supporting Questions:

• What is a monopoly?
• How does a monopoly hurt consumers?
• Who was John D. Rockefeller?
• How did he create Standard Oil?
• Why was Standard Oil a New Jersey company?
• What is the Sherman Antitrust Act?
• Who is Ida Tarbell?
• What did she do to try to bring an end to monopolies in the U.S.?
• How did Standard Oil continue to operate after it was ordered by the government to dissolve the trust in 1892?
• How did Standard Oil of NJ v United States help end the monopolies on oil that we still use today?
• Are potential monopolies still a problem today? Why?

Key Terms/People:

• John D. Rockefeller
• Monopoly
• Trusts
• Horizontal integration
• Vertical Integration
• Undercutting
• Price fixing
• Holding company
• Sherman Antitrust Act
• Ida Tarbell
• Muckrakers

1. What is a Monopoly?

Anticipatory activity:  To begin this lesson, tell students that you want to purchase a pen from somebody. Ask whether any of them have a pen that they would be willing to sell. Tell them to write down on a piece of paper the price that they would charge for a pen, using the pen they wish to sell. Also ask them to help you decide which pen you should purchase by identifying  what information you should think about in making your decision? (The students may suggest that you should think about which pen you want, and that you should try to purchase it for the lowest possible price. If the students do not suggest these ideas on their own, raise them for the students. Ask them to explain why these ideas make sense.)

Now tell the students to imagine that one student in the class owned all of the pens in the classroom.  Also tell the students that you are able to buy a pen only from somebody in the class. Ask students to explain how this scenario might influence the price of the pen and the quality of the pen being sold. (Here you would like to hear the students state that if one person owned all of the pens, that person could charge more money for them and sell lower-quality pens. Ask the students to explain why this is true. They should recognize that since only one person was selling pens, this individual would not have to worry about either the price set by other people or the quality of the pens that other people were selling.)

When the activity is complete, explain to students that this scenario is an example of a monopoly. (From http://www.econedlink.org/teacher-lesson/686)

Definition: A monopoly is a market structure characterized by a single seller of a unique product with no close substitutes. Consequently, there is essentially no competition in the market. This is one of four basic market structures. The other three are perfect competition, oligopoly, and monopolistic competition.  The demand for a monopolistic firm's output is the market demand. This gives the firm extensive market control--the ability to control the price and/or quantity of the goods sold--making a monopoly firm a price maker. However, while a monopoly can control the market price, it cannot charge more than the maximum demand price that buyers are willing to pay.

Ask the students to explain this definition in their own words. Then shift the discussion: ask the students if they think it is fair for monopolies to exist. Urge them to support their opinions. As the students share their opinions, take notes on the board. Encourage ideas that both support and oppose monopolies.

How does a monopoly hurt consumers?  In the absence of government intervention, a monopoly is free to set any price it chooses, and this price is generally the one that leads to the largest possible profit. Characteristically, monopolies charge higher prices than if there was competition. They also limit the options available and limit innovation. Adam Smith, who is hailed as the father of free markets, condemned business monopolies. In this epic work, The Wealth of Nations (1776), Smith argued that monopolies hurt the public by reducing choice, efficiency, and progress while raising prices to whatever levels the monopolists deems necessary to their desired profit.

2. Who was John D. Rockefeller?  How and why did he create Standard Oil of New Jersey?

John D. Rockefeller c. 1872, shortly after founding Standard Oil, Source: The History of Standard Oil Company. November 1904.

Background: (Teachers may share this background as a reading assignment)

Born into a modest working-class family in upstate New York, John D. Rockefeller entered the then-fledgling oil business in 1863 by investing in a Cleveland, Ohio refinery.  Discovery of oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania just before the Civil War led to the rapid growth of a new industry based largely on the use of kerosene for lighting.  Oil refining became largely concentrated in Cleveland because of its proximity to the oil fields of Western Pennsylvania, its excellent (and competitive) railroad service, its availability of cheap water transportation (on adjacent Lake Erie) and its abundant supplies of low-cost immigrant labor. In 1870, he joined three others to establish Standard Oil.  At that time, the refining industry was highly decentralized, with more than 250 competitors in the U.S.  By the early 1880s, Standard Oil controlled some 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines.

The company was an innovator in the development of the business “trust.”  In 1882, all of its properties and those of its affiliates were merged into the Standard Oil Trust,. A trust was an arrangement whereby the stockholders in a group of companies transferred their shares to a single set of trustees who controlled all of the companies. In exchange, the stockholders received certificates entitling them to a specified share of the consolidated earnings of the jointly managed companies.

In 1885, Standard Oil of Ohio moved its headquarters from Cleveland to its permanent headquarters in New York City.  Concurrently, the trustees of Standard Oil of Ohio chartered the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey (SOCNJ) to take advantage of New Jersey's more lenient corporate stock ownership laws.  After enacting laws in 1888-89 that permitted one company to own another, New Jersey became the preferred state for trust incorporations.

Standard Oil had previously purchased 176 acres of land on Constable Hook in Bayonne, the site of marine transfer operations for the Port of New York and New Jersey, in 1872, and by 1885 there was a pipeline connecting it to the field of Texas. On July 4, 1900, a fire broke out in the Constable Hook Standard Oil refinery in Bayonne. It started when lightning caused a number of the large oil tanks to explode. Flaming oil spread out into New York Bay. It took three days to extinguish the fire that in the end caused nine injuries and $2.5 million in damages. In 1906, Standard Oil expanded its operations to over 300 acres at Constable Hook in Bayonne.  The following year it purchased several hundred acres in Linden and Elizabeth, New Jersey, as well as on the New York harbor.  Standard Oil built a large facility for processing crude oil that became Bayway, a leading research facility as well as the most northern oil refinery on the east coast of the United States.

Standard Oil dominated the oil products market initially through horizontal integration in the refining sector.  Horizontal integration can be defined as the process of creating or acquiring production units that are complementary or competitive ( e.g., buying  competitors in the same industry doing the same stage of development to reduce competition). Horizontal integration - Wikipedia  In later years, Standard Oil engaged in vertical integration defined as the process of integrating multiple stages of production along its production path or supply chain to promote financial growth and efficiency ( e.g.  growing raw materials, manufacturing, transporting, marketing, and/or retailing). Vertical integration - Wikipedia

Using these and other practices, Standard Oil trust streamlined production and logistics, lowered costs, and undercut competitors. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors, in order to gain a monopoly in the industry.

In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court found Standard Oil in violation of anti-trust laws and ordered it to dissolve. With the dissolution of the Standard Oil trust into 33 smaller companies, Rockefeller became the richest man in the world. During his life Rockefeller donated more than $500 million to various philanthropic causes.

Activity 2:  Standard Oil business practices and the Sherman Antitrust Act

In the United States, we value competition in our market system. Competition and the self-interest of consumers are regulating forces  in the US economy.  They work together to keep prices low, bring new products to the marketplace, and foster innovations that can bring down the cost of doing business.

But are there times when one supplier in a market is better than a competitive market? Should the government work to protect that one supplier in a market? This lesson will explore the idea of monopolies and the actions the government uses when faced with monopolies.

Have students review Handout 1- Rockefeller's Practices, which details examples of ways that Rockefeller used the size and clout of Standard Oil to undercut competitors:

1. Temporarily undercutting the prices of competitors until they either went out of business or sold out to Standard Oil.
2. Buying up the components needed to make oil barrels in order to prevent competitors from getting their oil to customers.
3. Using its large and growing volume of oil shipments to negotiate an alliance with the railroads that gave it secret rebates and thereby reduced its effective shipping costs to a level far below the rates charged to their competitors.
4. Secretly buying up competitors and then having officials from those companies spy on and give advance warning of deals being planned by other competitors.
5. Secretly buying up or creating new oil-related companies, such as pipeline and engineering firms, that appeared to be independent operators but which gave Standard Oil hidden rebates.
6. Dispatching thugs who used threats and physical violence to break up the operations of competitors who could not otherwise be persuaded.

Adapted from: The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust

Background: What is the Sherman Antitrust Act?

Share Handout 2  - The Sherman Antitrust Act with students. Contrary to popular belief, monopolies are not illegal in the United States. What is illegal is actions taken by monopolies to limit competition. The Sherman Antitrust Act (Sherman Act, July 2, 1890, ch. 647, 26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. 1–7) was the first United States Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies.

The Act provides: "Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal".

The Act also provides: "Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony. 

The Act put responsibility upon government attorneys and district courts to pursue and investigate trusts, companies and organizations suspected of violating the Act.

Later, in 1914, the Clayton Act extended the right to sue under the antitrust laws to "any person who shall be injured in his business or property by reason of anything forbidden in the antitrust laws.". Under the Clayton Act, private parties may sue in U.S. district court and should they prevail, they may be awarded treble damages and the cost of suit, including reasonable attorney's fees.

See  Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) | National Archives

Activity 3: Analyzing a political cartoon

Teachers share Handout 3 - King of the World with the students.  Have students answer the following:

1. What do you see? (Make a list)
2. Who is depicted in this political cartoon?

Is the artist in support of monopolies and against monopolies? Explain.

John D. Rockefeller, "King of the World", Source: Puck Magazine. 1901

Some of what your students should identify are:

• Rockefeller is sitting on top of a platform labeled Standard Oil (Company name)
• Rockefeller is dressed in king’s attire with money signs all in his robe.
• Serious look on his face
• The huge crown atop his head.
• Four railroad companies that Rockefeller owned and used to transport his oil.
• Reading R.R (Monopoly board game)
• Jersey Central R.R
• Paul R.R
• Lehigh Valley R.R
• Dollar sign on top of his crown
• The Background is a ruined/destroyed United States.
• Dark grey skies, industry across the land.
• No trees.

Activity 4: Close Reading

Background:  Who is Ida Tarbell?

Ida Minerva Tarbell was born in 1857 in northwestern Pennsylvania. She grew up amid the derricks of the oil region. Her father became an oil producer and refiner until a hidden agreement between the railroads and refiners led by John D. Rockefeller in 1872 hit the Pennsylvania oil region like a tidal wave. After graduating from Allegheny College, the sole woman in the class of 1880, Tarbell moved to Ohio to teach science, but resigned after two years and turned to writing.

The rapidly changing economic landscape and the rise of monopolistic trusts was "disturbing and confusing people," wrote Tarbell. A new generation of investigative journalists, later dubbed "muckrakers" by President Theodore Roosevelt, had set out to wage a campaign to expose corruption in business and political lawlessness. Tarbell latched onto the idea of using the story of Standard Oil to illustrate these troubling issues, persuading McClure Magazine to publish a three-part series on the oil trust. Instantly popular with readers, "The History of the Standard Oil Company" grew to be a 19-part series, published between November 1902 and October 1904.

Tarbell wrote a detailed exposé of Rockefeller's unethical tactics, sympathetically portraying the plight of Pennsylvania's independent oil workers. Still, she was careful to acknowledge Rockefeller's brilliance and the flawlessness of the business structure he had created. She did not condemn capitalism itself, but "the open disregard of decent ethical business practices by capitalists." About Standard Oil, she wrote: "They had never played fair, and that ruined their greatness for me."

Directions: Have students read Handout 4 - The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon.

• Instruct the students to closely read and annotate as they read:
• underlining and starring the important points
• putting a question mark next what is confusing
• circling any word that they do not understand
• Once the students have completed the exercise themselves, the teacher will then go through the article with the students to help their understanding
• Students will then complete the critical thinking questions about the article and Ida Tarbell. (Hand Out 5 - The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon - Worksheet)

Activity 5:  Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey  v. U.S. (1911)

Have students listen to Rockefeller’s two minute speech to the court from “The Men Who Built America” at Rockefeller court speech from The Men Who Built America.

Possible questions after student viewing:

1. What does the judge accuse Standard Oil of doing and how? Does John D. Rockefeller address these accusations?
2. John D. Rockefeller does not deny his company's actions. Instead he reminds the court of all the jobs his company provides, millions of dollars he made for the United States. Do these things outweigh his actions? Why or why not?

Homework: Invite students to read Handout 2  - The Sherman Antitrust Act and Standard Oil and the Sherman Anti‐Trust Act. Then complete the Handout 6 - Standard Oil and the Sherman Antitrust Act -  Worksheet.

1. What was John D. Rockefeller’s role in the Standard Oil Company?
2. How did lowering prices help Standard Oil Company attract new customers?
3. How did buying other oil companies help Standard Oil gain control of the oil industry?
4. Why do you think that the United State Congress prohibited monopolies and trusts?

After the students have completed this work, reconvene the class. Call on students to share their answers with one another. (Possible answer in italics)

1. What was John Rockefeller’s role in the Standard Oil Company? John Rockefeller invested in the Standard Oil Company so that the company could afford to expand its operations.
2. How did lowering prices help Standard Oil Company attract new customers? Standard Oil Company had more money than its competitors. Therefore, they were able to survive on less income. Standard Oil could afford to cut their prices. Other companies that lacked financial infrastructure could not afford to reduce their prices. Consequently, when Standard Oil cut their prices other companies’ customers purchased Standard Oil.
3. How did buying other oil companies help Standard Oil gain control of the oil industry? Standard Oil Company not only bought the other companies’ oil, they also bought the other companies’ customers. As Standard Oil added to its customer base it increased its control of the oil industry. 4. Why do you think that the United States Congress prohibited monopolies and trusts?

Invite students to read Handout 7: Excerpts from the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911) before discussing question 4

4. Compare and discuss question 4: Why do you think that the United State Congress prohibited monopolies and trusts?.

Activity 6: Standard Oil Today

Following U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 1911, Standard Oil was broken into 33 separate companies as Rockefeller became the richest man in the world. In 1926, Jersey Standard marketed a new blend of fuel under the trade name Esso., based on the phonetic rendition of the initials ‘S’ and ‘O,’  In 1972, the name was officially changed to Exxon, and in 1999, Exxon and Mobile joined to become the Exxon Mobil Corporation. The company evolved from a domestic refiner and distributor of kerosene to a large multinational corporation, involving every level of oil and gas exploration, production, refining and marketing, and petrochemicals manufacturing.

Cartoon Analysis:  Provide students Handout 8 - Standard Has Everything.

Handout 8: This 1932 Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) advertisement is among those preserved by the Dr. Seuss Collection of the Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego. Source: http://aoghs.org/editors-picks/seuss-the-oilman/

Ask students to consider the  following questions

• What do you see?
• What is this?
• Who do you think was the artist?
• Does it look like the break-up of Standard Oil hurt the company?

Environmental Clean-up. Share the following background with students: In 2004, the state of New Jersey filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, claiming that it had polluted 1500 acres of wetlands and surrounding natural environment where it had run its petrochemical operations for decades. Exxon Mobil was found to be responsible for cleaning up the environmental damage at its Constable Hook facilities in Bayonne and its Bayway facility in Linden, NJ, as well as at 16 other facilities and roughly 1700 gas stations across the state. The clean-up at Constable Hook included excavation, stabilization, capping, and the capturing of ground water contamination and installation of steel wall containment systems. The state originally requested $8.9 billion for the clean-up.  However, Governor Christie agreed to a $225 million settlement.

Critical Thinking Exercise:  Do you think that corporations should be held liable to clean up any damage they cause to the environment by their operations?   Or should the public pay to clean-up environmental damage because it has benefitted from the products produced and such corporate liability might inhibit economic progress and jobs? Support your answer.

Activity 7: Assessment

Have students write a short essay answering one of the following questions:

• Do you think that Standard Oil should have been broken up? Support your conclusion with reasoning and facts.
• Do you think that the U.S. government should be less or more involved in regulating big businesses? Support your conclusion with specific examples and balancing of the potentially positive and negative effects of monopolies.
• Select one of the examples below (telephones, computer operating systems or airlines)) and discuss whether you think monopolistic behavior was/is involved and whether a merger should be allowed or a break-up required. Support your conclusion with evidence.

1. Telephones: AT&T and the Department of Justice settled the antitrust case against AT&T when AT&T agreed to break itself up into several firms in 1984. One firm, AT&T, would provide long-distance service, and seven other firms ("Baby Bells") would provide local telephone service in different regions. The Department of Justice found that a vertically integrated telephone company, one that provided local and long-distance service, was not required for productive efficiency, or that there were other offsetting gains from the divestiture. According to the Department of Justice, the vertical structure of the company provided an opportunity for unfair competition against other providers of long-distance service. Since 1984, the technology and industry structure have changed rapidly. The AT&T break-up probably helped upstart fiber-optic long-distance firms Sprint and MCI, who did not own local lines and had to compete with the integrated AT&T network. Severing AT&T’s local networks put all three on the same footing. But in other ways, the break up was more ceremony than substance. Each of the seven “Baby Bells” still controlled the local communications network in its region. All that changed for most consumers of local phone services was the name at the top of the bill. Meanwhile, rival networks from outside the traditional telecom world were just beginning to bubble, and they would not only moot the local-long-distance distinctions at the heart of the AT&T split but also transform communications in more fundamental ways.
2. Computer operating systems: The court concluded in 2002 that Microsoft maintained its monopoly power by anticompetitive means and attempted to monopolize the Web browser market.
3. Airlines: As the world has become more global, many large U.S. corporation have been growing and fighting off international competition through mergers and the U.S. Justice Department has been allowing them. For example, the recent merger of Continental and United Airlines was allowed and has resulted in reduced competition and higher prices at Newark and JFK airports.

Additional Resources for Teachers:

• The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust
• Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States at STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY et al., Appts., v. UNITED STATES. | Supreme Court
• Supreme Court Orders Standard Oil to be Broken Up, at https://archive.nytimes.com/learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/may-15-1911-supreme-court-orders-standard-oil-to-be-broken-up/?_r=0
• Monopoly, by George J. Stigler at Monopoly - Econlib

 

Handout 1 - Rockefeller’s Practices

Examples of ways that Rockefeller used the size and clout of Standard Oil to undercut competitors:

• Temporarily undercutting the prices of competitors until they either went out of business or sold out to Standard Oil.
• Buying up the components needed to make oil barrels in order to prevent competitors from getting their oil to customers.
• Using its large and growing volume of oil shipments to negotiate an alliance with the railroads that gave it secret rebates and thereby reduced its effective shipping costs to a level far below the rates charged to its competitors.
• Secretly buying up competitors and then having officials from those companies spy on and give advance warning of deals being planned by other competitors.
• Secretly buying up or creating new oil-related companies, such as pipeline and engineering firms, that appeared be independent operators but which gave Standard Oil hidden rebates.
• Dispatching thugs who used threats and physical violence to break up the operations of competitors who could not otherwise be persuaded.

Adapted from: The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust

 

Handout 2: The Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890

The Sherman Antitrust Act (Sherman Act, July 2, 1890, ch. 647, 26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. 1–7) was the first United States Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies.

The Act provides: "Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal".

The Act also provides: "Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony. 

The Act put responsibility upon government attorneys and district courts to pursue and investigate trusts, companies and organizations suspected of violating the Act.

Later, in 1914, the Clayton Act extended the right to sue under the antitrust laws to "any person who shall be injured in his business or property by reason of anything forbidden in the antitrust laws.". Under the Clayton Act, private parties may sue in U.S. district court and should they prevail, they may be awarded treble damages and the cost of suit, including reasonable attorney's fees.

Adapted from: Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) | National Archives

 

Handout  3 -  King of the World

John D. Rockefeller, "King of the World,", Source: Puck Magazine. 1901.

• What do you see in this cartoon? (make a list)
• Who is depicted in this political cartoon?
• Is the artist in support of monopolies and against monopolies?

 

Handout  4 - The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon

By Gilbert King , smithsonian.com (2012), The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon

At the age of 14, Ida Tarbell witnessed the Cleveland Massacre (History of Standard Oil: The Cleveland Massacre) in which dozens of small oil producers in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, including her father, were faced with a daunting choice that seemed to come out of nowhere: sell their businesses to the shrewd, confident 32 year-old John D. Rockefeller, Sr. and his newly incorporated Standard Oil Company, or attempt to compete and face ruin.  She didn’t understand it at the time, not all of it, anyway, but she would never forget the wretched effects of “the oil war” of 1872, which enabled Rockefeller to leave Cleveland owning 85 percent of the city’s oil refineries.

Tarbell was, in effect, a young woman betrayed, not by a straying lover but by Standard Oil’s secret deals with the major railroads—a collusive scheme that allowed the company to crush not only her father’s business, but all of its competitors. Almost 30 years later, Tarbell would redefine investigative journalism with a 19-part series in McClure’s magazine, a masterpiece of journalism and an unrelenting indictment that brought down one of history’s greatest tycoons and effectively broke up Standard Oil’s monopoly. By dint of what she termed “steady, painstaking work,” Tarbell unearthed damaging internal documents, supported by interviews with employees, lawyers and—with the help of Mark Twain—candid conversations with Standard Oil’s most powerful senior executive at the time, Henry H. Rogers, which sealed the company’s fate.

She became one of the most influential muckrakers of the Gilded Age, helping to usher in that age of political, economic and industrial reform known as the Progressive Era. “They had never played fair,” Tarbell wrote of Standard Oil, “and that ruined their greatness for me.

Ida Minerva Tarbell was born in 1857, in a log cabin in Hatch Hollow, in Western Pennsylvania’s oil region. Her father, Frank Tarbell, spent years building oil storage tanks but began to prosper once he switched to oil production and refining. “There was ease such as we had never known; luxuries we had never heard of,” she later wrote.  Her town of Titusville and surrounding areas in the Oil Creek Valley “had been developed into an organized industry which was now believed to have a splendid future. Then suddenly this gay, prosperous town received a blow between the eyes.”

That blow came in the form of the South Improvement Company, a corporation established in 1871 and widely viewed as an effort by Rockefeller and Standard Oil in Ohio to control the oil and gas industries in the region. In a secret alliance with Rockefeller, the three major railroads that ran through Cleveland—the Pennsylvania, the Erie and the New York Central—agreed to raise their shipping fees while paying “rebates” and “drawbacks” to him.

Word of the South Improvement Company’s scheme leaked to newspapers, and independent oilmen in the region were outraged. “A wonderful row followed,” Tarbell wrote. “There were nightly anti-monopoly meetings, violent speeches, processions; trains of oil cars loaded for members of the offending corporation were raided, the oil run on the ground, their buyers turned out of the oil exchanges.

Tarbell recalled her father coming home grim-faced, his good humor gone and his contempt directed no longer at the South Improvement Company but at a “new name, that of the Standard Oil company.” Franklin Tarbell and the other small oil refiners pleaded with state and federal officials to crack down on the business practices that were destined to ruin them, and by April of 1872 the Pennsylvania legislature repealed the South Improvement Company’s charter before a single transaction was made. But the damage had already been done. In just six weeks, the threat of an impending alliance allowed Rockefeller to buy 22 of his 26 competitors in Cleveland. “Take Standard Oil Stock,” Rockefeller told them, “and your family will never know want.” Most who accepted the buyouts did indeed become rich. Franklin Tarbell resisted and continued to produce independently, but struggled to earn a decent living. His daughter wrote that she was devastated by the “hate, suspicion and fear that engulfed the community” after the Standard Oil ruckus. Franklin Tarbell’s partner, “ruined by the complex situation,” killed himself, and Tarbell was forced to mortgage the family home to meet his company’s debts.

Rockefeller denied any conspiracy at the time, but years later, he admitted in an interview that “rebates and drawbacks were a common practice for years preceding and following this history. So much of the clamor against rebates and drawbacks came from people who knew nothing about business. Who can buy beef the cheaper—the housewife for her family, the steward for a club or hotel, or the quartermaster or commissary for an army? Who is entitled to better rebates from a railroad, those who give it for transportation 5,000 barrels a day, or those who give 500 barrels—or 50 barrels?”

Presumably, with Rockefeller’s plan uncovered in Cleveland, his efforts to corner the market would be stopped. But in fact, Rockefeller had already accomplished what he had set out to do. As his biographer Ron Chernow wrote, “Once he had a monopoly over the Cleveland refineries, he then marched on and did the same thing in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York and the other refining centers. So that was really the major turning point in his career, and it was really one of the most shameful episodes in his career.”

Still a teenager, Ida Tarbell was deeply impressed by Rockefeller’s machinations. “There was born in me a hatred of privilege, privilege of any sort,” she later wrote. “It was all pretty hazy, to be sure, but it still was well, at 15, to have one definite plan based on things seen and heard, ready for a future platform of social and economic justice if I should ever awake to my need of one.”

At age 19, she went to Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. But after studying biology, Tarbell came to realize that she preferred writing. She took an editing job for a teaching publication and eventually worked her way up to managing editor before moving to Paris in 1890 to write. It was there that she met Samuel McClure, who offered her a position at McClure’s magazine. There, Tarbell wrote a long and well-received series on Napoleon Bonaparte, which led to an immensely popular 20-part series on Abraham Lincoln. It doubled the magazine’s circulation, made her a leading authority on the early life of the former president, and landed her a book deal.

In 1900, nearly three decades after the Cleveland Massacre, Tarbell set her sights on what would become “The History of the Standard Oil Company,” a 19-part series (and book) that, as one writer described, “fed the antitrust frenzy by verifying what many had suspected for years: the pattern of deceit, secrecy and unregulated concentration of power that characterized Gilded Age business practice with its ‘commercial Machiavellianism.’ ”

Ironically, Tarbell began her research by interviewing one of her father’s former fellow independents back in Pennsylvania—Henry H. Rogers. After the Cleveland Massacre, Rogers spent 25 years working alongside Rockefeller, building Standard Oil into one of the first and largest multinational corporations in the world. Rogers, it seems, may have been under the impression, after McClure's series on Lincoln, that Tarbell was writing a flattering piece on him; he reached out to her through his good friend Mark Twain. Meeting her in his home, Rogers was remarkably candid in some regards, even going to far as to provide her with internal documents and explaining the use of drawbacks in Standard Oil’s history.

Tarbell recalled that Rogers also arranged for her to interview another of Rockefeller’s partners, Henry Flagler, who refused to give specifics about the origins of the South Improvement Company. Instead, she sat “listening to the story of how the Lord had prospered him,” she wrote. “I was never happier to leave a room, but I was no happier than Mr. Flagler was to have me go.”

Franklin Tarbell warned Ida that Rockefeller and Standard Oil were capable of crushing her, just as they’d crushed her home town of Titusville.  But his daughter was relentless.  As the articles began to appear in McClure’s in 1902, Rogers continued to speak with Tarbell, much to her surprise.  And after he went on record defending the efficiency of current Standard Oil business practices, “his face went white with rage” to find that Tarbell had uncovered documents that showed the company was still colluding with the railroads to snuff out its competition.

“Where did you get that stuff?” Rogers said angrily, pointing to the magazine. Tarbell informed him that his claims of “legitimate competition” were false. “You know this bookkeeping record is true,” she told him.

Tarbell never considered herself a writer of talent. “I was not a writer, and I knew it,” she said. But she believed her diligent research and commitment (she spent years examining hundreds of thousands of documents across the country, revealing strong-arm tactics, espionage and collusion) “ought to count for something. And perhaps I could learn to write.”

In The History of the Standard Oil Company, she managed to combine a thorough understanding of the inner workings of Rockefeller’s trust and his interest in the oil business, with simple, dramatic and elegant prose. While avoiding a condemnation of capitalism itself and acknowledging Rockefeller’s brilliance, she did not hesitate to criticize the man for stooping to unethical business practices in pursuit of his many conquests:

It takes time to crush men who are pursuing legitimate trade. But one of Mr. Rockefeller’s most impressive characteristics is patience. There never was a more patient man, or one who could dare more while he waited. The folly of hurrying, the folly of discouragement, for one who would succeed, went hand in hand. Everything must be ready before he acted, but while you wait you must prepare, must think, work. “You must put in, if you would take out.” His instinct for the money opportunity in things was amazing, his perception of the value of seizing this or that particular invention, plant, market, was unerring. He was like a general who, besieging a city surrounded by fortified hills, views from a balloon the whole great field, and sees how, this point taken, that must fall; this hill reached, that fort is commanded. And nothing was too small: the corner grocery in Browntown, the humble refining still on Oil Creek, the shortest private pipe line. Nothing, for little things grow.

Ida Tarbell concluded her series with a two-part character study of Rockefeller, where she described him as a “living mummy,” adding, “our national life is on every side distinctly poorer, uglier, meaner, for the kind of influence he exercises.” Public fury over the exposé is credited with the eventual breakup of Standard Oil, which came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that the company was violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) | National Archives.  Tarbell ultimately forced Americans to consider that the nation’s best-known tycoon was using nefarious tactics to crush legitimate competitors, driving honest men from business. Ultimately, Standard Oil was broken into “baby Standards,” which include ExxonMobil and Chevron today. Rockefeller, a great philanthropist, was deeply stung by Tarbell’s investigation. He referred to her as “that poisonous woman,” but told advisers not to comment on the series or any of the allegations. “Not a word,” Rockefeller told them. “Not a word about that misguided woman.”

Almost 40 years after the Cleveland Massacre cast a pall over Titusville, Ida Tarbell, in her own way, was able to hold the conglomerate accountable. She died in Connecticut in 1944, at the age of 86. New York University placed her book, The History of the Standard Oil Company, at No. 5 on a list of the top 100 works of 20th^-century American journalism.

Sources

Books: Ida M. Tarbell, All in the Day’s Work, Macmillan, 1939.  Ida M. Tarbell, The History of the Standard Oil Company, The Macmillan Company, 1904. Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Random House, 1998.  Steve Weinbert, Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller, W.W. Norton & Company, 2008. Clarice Stasz, The Rockefeller Women: Dynasty of Piety, Privacy, and Service, iUniverse, 2000.

Articles: “The Rockefellers,” American Experience, PBS.org, American Experience | Official Site | PBS;    “The Lessons of Ida Tarbell, by Steve Weinberg, the Alicia Patterson Foundation, The Lessons of Ida Tarbell 1 - Steve Weinberg 1997; “Ida Tarbell and the Standard Oil Company: Her Attack on the Standard Oil Company and the Influence it had Throughout Society,” by Lee Hee Yoon.

 

Handout 5: The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon - Worksheet

Directions:  Read “The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon” and answer the following questions in complete sentences citing evidence from the text.

1. Why would some oil producers in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania choose to sell to the Standard Oil Company and others choose to fight?
2. How did the South Improvement Company work with Standard Oil in Pennsylvania?
3. Why did the repeal of South Improvement Companies charter not change the lives of the oil refiners in Western Pennsylvania?
4. Explain what Ron Chernow meant when he said “Once he has a monopoly over the Cleveland refineries, he then marched on and did the same thing in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and the other refining centers.  So that was really the major turning point in his career, and it was really one of the most shameful episodes of his career,” when speaking about John D. Rockefeller.
5. Why did Henry Rogers give information and internal documents to Tarbell regarding Standard Oil?
6. How did Tarbell’s 19-part series on “The History of Standard Oil” lead to its ultimate downfall?

 

Handout 6: Standard Oil and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act - Worksheet

1. What was John D. Rockefeller’s role in the Standard Oil Company?
2. How did lowering prices help Standard Oil Company attract new customers?
3. How did buying other oil companies help Standard Oil gain control of the oil industry?
4. Why do you think that the United State Congress prohibited monopolies and trusts?

 

Handout 7: Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911)

Excerpted from Syllabus by Cornell Legal Information Institute

The Anti-Trust Act of July 2, 1890, c. 647, 26 Stat. 209, should be construed in the light of reason; and, as so construed, it prohibits all contracts and combination which amount to an unreasonable or undue restraint of trade in interstate commerce.

The combination of the defendants in this case is an unreasonable and undue restraint of trade in petroleum and its products moving in interstate commerce, and falls within the prohibitions of the act as so construed.

…The debates in Congress on the Anti-Trust Act of 1890 show that one of the influences leading to the enactment of the statute was doubt as to whether there is a common law of the United States governing the making of contracts in restraint of trade and the creation and maintenance of monopolies in the absence of legislation.

…The terms "restraint of trade," and "attempts to monopolize," as used in the Anti-Trust Act, took their origin in the common law, and were familiar in the law of this country prior to and at the time of the adoption of the act, and their meaning should be sought from the conceptions of both English and American law prior to the passage of the act.

The original doctrine that all contracts in restraint of trade were illegal was long since so modified in the interest of freedom of individuals to contract that the contract was valid if the resulting restraint was only partial in its operation, and was otherwise reasonable.

The early struggle in England against the power to create monopolies resulted in establishing that those institutions were incompatible with the English Constitution.

At common law, monopolies were unlawful because of their restriction upon individual freedom of contract and their injury to the public and at common law, and contracts creating the same evils were brought within the prohibition as impeding the due course of, or being in restraint of, trade.

At the time of the passage of the Anti-Trust Act, the English rule was that the individual was free to contract and to abstain from contracting and to exercise every reasonable right in regard thereto, except only as he was restricted from voluntarily and unreasonably or for wrongful purposes restraining his right to carry on his trade. Mogul Steamship Co. v. McGregor, 1892, A.C. 25.

A decision of the House of Lords, although announced after an event, may serve reflexively to show the state of the law in England at the time of such event.

This country has followed the line of development of the law of England, and the public policy has been to prohibit, or treat as illegal, contracts, or acts entered into with intent to wrong the public and which unreasonably restrict competitive conditions, limit the right of individuals, restrain the free flow of commerce, or bring about public evils such as the enhancement of prices.

The Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was enacted in the light of the then existing practical conception of the law against restraint of trade, and the intent of Congress was not to restrain the right to make and enforce contracts, whether resulting from combinations or otherwise, which do not unduly restrain interstate or foreign commerce, but to protect that commerce from contracts or combinations by methods, whether old or new, which would constitute an interference with, or an undue restraint upon, it.

The Anti-Trust Act contemplated and required a standard of interpretation, and it was intended that the standard of reason which had been applied at the common law should be applied in determining whether particular acts were within its prohibitions.

The word "person" in § 2 of the Anti-Trust Act, as construed by reference to § 8 thereof, implies a corporation as well as an individual.

The commerce referred to by the words "any part" in § 2 of the Antitrust Act, as construed in the light of the manifest purpose of that act, includes geographically any part of the United States and also any of the classes of things forming a part of interstate or foreign commerce.

The words "to monopolize" and "monopolize" as used in § 2 of the Anti-Trust Act reach every act bringing about the prohibited result.

Freedom to contract is the essence of freedom from undue restraint on the right to contract.

In prior cases where general language has been used, to the effect that reason could not be resorted to in determining whether a particular case was within the prohibitions of the Anti-Trust Act, the unreasonableness of the acts under consideration was pointed out, and those cases are only authoritative by the certitude that the rule of reason was applied; United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Association, 166 U.S. 290, and United States v. Joint Traffic Association, 171 U.S. 505, limited and qualified so far as they conflict with the construction now given to the Anti-Trust Act of 1890.

…The Anti-Trust Act generically enumerates the character of the acts prohibited and the wrongs which it intends to prevent, and is susceptible of being enforced without any judicial exertion of legislative power.

The unification of power and control over a commodity such as petroleum and its products by combining in one corporation the stocks of many other corporations aggregating a vast capital gives rise, of itself, to the prima facie presumption of an intent and purpose to dominate the industry connected with, and gain perpetual control of the movement of, that commodity and its products in the channels of interstate commerce in violation of the Anti-Trust Act of 1890, and that presumption is made conclusive by proof of specific acts such as those in the record of this case.

The fact that a combination over the products of a commodity such as petroleum does not include the crude article itself does not take the combination outside of the Anti-Trust Act when it appears that the monopolization of the manufactured products necessarily controls the crude article.

…The remedy to be administered in case of a combination violating the Anti-Trust Act is two-fold: first, to forbid the continuance of the prohibited act, and second, to so dissolve the combination as to neutralize the force of the unlawful power.

The constituents of an unlawful combination under the Anti-Trust Act should not be deprived of power to make normal and lawful contracts, but should be restrained from continuing or recreating the unlawful combination by any means whatever, and a dissolution of the offending combination should not deprive the constituents of the right to live under the law, but should compel them to obey it.

In determining the remedy against an unlawful combination, the court must consider the result, and not inflict serious injury on the public by causing a cessation of interstate commerce in a necessary commodity.

 

Handout 8 - Standard Has Everything

This 1932 Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) advertisement is among those preserved by the Dr. Seuss Collection of the Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego. Source: http://aoghs.org/editors-picks/seuss-the-oilman/

• What do you see?
• What is it about?
• Who do you think is the artist?
• Does it look like the break-up of Standard Oil hurt the company?

 

Prepared by: The New Jersey Center for Civic Education, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ

Grade Level:  Secondary

This unit includes several topics and classroom activities:

1. The Plessy Decision and De Jure and De Facto Segregation
2. The Hedgepeth-Williams v. Trenton Board of Education decision
3. The impact: Brown v. Board of Education and anti-discrimination laws in NJ
4. School Desegregation in New Jersey today
5. Unequal funding of schools
6. A Thorough and Efficient Education
7. School Consolidation or Regionalization

Teachers may choose to use all or parts of the lessons and activities included in this unit.

Objectives:   Students will be able to:

• Describe the difference between the de jure and de facto discrimination
• Explain why de facto discrimination might be harder to eliminate
• Explain how the Hedgepeth-Williams Trenton Board of Education decision reflected the fight to end segregation in NJ schools
• Explain how the Hedgepeth-Williams decision contributed to the watershed Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court
• Investigate actions taken by New Jersey and at least one other state or city to eliminate segregation in public schools
• Explain how school funding works in New Jersey
• Explain how school consolidation might reduce segregation in the schools
• Determine the effectiveness of cases and laws in ending segregated schools
• Determine whether the primary issue is school desegregation or equal funding for schools
• Develop a plan to ensure a high quality education for all New Jersey students

NJ Social Studies Content Standards:

6.1.12.CivicsPI.13.a: Craft an argument as to the effectiveness of the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, New Jersey Supreme Court decisions (i.e., Hedgepeth and Williams v. Trenton Board of Education), and New Jersey’s laws in eliminating segregation and discrimination

6.1.12.CivicsDP.13.a: Analyze the effectiveness of national legislation, policies, and Supreme Court decisions in promoting civil liberties and equal opportunities (i.e., the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Equal Rights Amendment, Title VII, Title IX, Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, and Roe v. Wade).

Focus Questions:

• What was the immediate and long-term impact of the Hedgepeth-Williams v. Trenton Board of Education decision?
• Have the Hedgepeth-Williams and Brown v. Board of Education decisions been successful in eliminating segregated schools in New Jersey? Why or why not?
• Is it acceptable for schools to be segregated by socio-economic factors (de facto or residential segregation)?
• How might consolidating or regionalizing the New Jersey schools reduce segregation in the schools?
• How do you think schools in New Jersey could be successfully integrated?
• What constitutes a “thorough and efficient” education?
• How can the state of New Jersey ensure that every New Jersey child receives a “thorough and efficient” education?

I.  Historical Background: The Plessy Decision

Segregated Waiting Room in Bus Depots

Despite the Civil War Amendments (the 13^th Amendment outlawing slavery, the 14^th prohibiting states from denying “due process of law” and “equal protection of the laws” and the 15^th prohibiting states from denying anyone the right to vote on the basis of race), African Americans were not treated the same as whites, especially in southern states where state laws often required that the races be segregated.  The U.S. Supreme Court had struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which would have made it a crime for an individual to deny “the full and equal enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyance on land or water, theaters or other places of public amusement…to citizens of every race and color.”  The court ruled that the 14^th Amendment did not give Congress authority to prevent discrimination by private individuals. This left victims of racial discrimination to seek relief from the states. But state governments were enacting “Jim Crow” laws, requiring that blacks and whites could not legally use the same public facilities, ride the same trains, or attend the same schools, etc. 

Although some people believed that these laws were unjust, it was not until the 1890s that they were directly challenged in court. In 1892, an African American man named Homer Plessy (who was 7/8 white) sat in the white compartment on a train in New Orleans and refused to move when he was challenged by the conductor. Plessy was arrested for violating Louisiana state law that required him to sit in a segregated compartment.  Plessy’s attorney, financed by a group of concerned black men in New Orleans, argued in court that the Louisiana law separating Blacks from Whites on trains violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. By 1896, his case, Plessy v. Ferguson, had made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. By a vote of 8-1, the Supreme Court ruled against Plessy, stating that:  "The object of the [Fourteenth] amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to endorse social, as distinguished from political, equality. . . If one race is inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane."

The lone dissenter, Justice John Marshal Harlan, interpreted the 14^th Amendment another way: "Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens." Justice Harlan's dissent would become a rallying cry for those in later generations who argued that segregation on the basis of race was unconstitutional. However, based on the Plessy decision, the U.S. Supreme Court continued to uphold the legality of Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial discrimination into the 20^th century.

Activity 1: Critical thinking:  De Jure and De Facto Segregation

1. Have students look up the phrase “de jure” in a dictionary.  “De Jure” is Latin and means according to law or by law. Discuss with students what they think this means in relation to segregation. Some ideas that will probably be mentioned are Jim Crow laws, such as those requiring segregation on buses and trains, and in restaurants, hotels and schools.  De jure segregation is segregation of a race, ethic or other group as required by law, as it was required in public accommodations such as training, buses, hotels, schools, etc., in most southern states after the Civil War until the 1950s. 
2. Have students then look up the meaning of “de facto”. “De Facto” means actual or in fact. Have students discuss how de facto segregation differs from de jure segregation. De facto segregation is segregation that happens in practice but is not required by law. De facto segregation was very prevalent in northern states until the 1950s.
3. Ask students to give examples of de facto segregation.  Responses might be:  De facto segregation would include schools that are segregated because of a policy of having neighborhood schools where the housing pattern separates families by their income and creates wealthier and poorer neighborhoods, which are then reflected in the schools. Or de facto segregation might result from the exodus of some students from public to charter schools or from self-segregation by students for courses, sports or even lunch tables.
4. Ask students why it might be more difficult to end de facto segregation and discuss. Responses should recognize that since de facto segregation in public schools is often the result of housing patterns, the solution then becomes a land use rather than a school issue. In addition, a school might have a diverse student population overall, but classes may end up being unintentionally segregated.(See the Land Use in New Jersey lesson regarding Mt. Laurel housing discrimination at https://civiced.rutgers.edu/nj-lessons/new-jersey-history-lessons).

II.  Hedgepeth- Williams v. Trenton Board of Education

Historical Background

After the Civil War, all states were required to change their constitutions to meet the Civil War Amendments.  New Jersey went further and, in 1881, enacted RS 18:14-2, which prohibited segregated schooling based on race, one of the very first such laws in the nation.  Although not enforced with Southern-style heavy-handedness, de facto segregation also existed in the North. There were no "whites only" signs in public places, or lynchings in the North. But, Blacks sat in the balconies of movie theaters while whites got the best seats. Blacks could swim at public pools from noon to 2 p.m. while whites got to swim the rest of the day

By the early part of the 20th century, changes were taking place that would doom racial segregation. World War I had triggered one of the greatest population movements in American history -- the exodus of millions of poor sharecroppers and tenant farmers from the South to the North for better jobs and the chance to join their own communities in big industrial cities. In Trenton, most of the Black newcomers came from Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. They settled in the industrial North Ward and on Spring Street and Passaic Street in the shadow of the State House. In 1920, there were 5,315 Blacks in Trenton, 4 percent of the city; by 1950, they made up 11 percent of the city. Today the figure hovers around 50 percent. Blacks of Trenton included skilled factory hands, teachers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals. One of them was Robert Queen, an eloquent lawyer who reinvigorated Trenton's branch of the NAACP. In 1932, Queen sued to stop the practice of requiring Black students to take swimming lessons at the high school on Friday afternoon only, while white children could swim the rest of the week. The state Supreme Court struck down the school rules and ordered the school pool integrated. Once America went to war against Nazi Germany in 1941, it became harder than ever to defend Jim Crow laws. How could the country discriminate against Blacks when we were fighting for democracy?

In 1943, a couple of 12-year-old students, Leon Williams and Janet Hedgepeth, wanted to go to the same classes as their playmates. But, when their parents tried to get them into their neighborhood school, Junior High No. 2, they were told by the principal that they could not attend that school because it was “not built for Negroes.” Since Leon Williams and Janet Hedgepeth were black, they had to walk 2 ½ miles instead to the all-Black New Lincoln School. 

To the angry mothers of Leon Williams and Janet Hedgepeth, the Jim Crow era rules of Trenton just were not fair. The New Lincoln School, on North Montgomery Street, was built as a Black-only junior high school in 1923 -- and celebrated as a sign of racial progress.  But Gladys Hedgepeth and Berline Williams did not see it that way. They both served as volunteers for the NAACP; Mrs. Hedgepeth also belonged to the city's Interracial Committee for Unity. All their lives, they had put up with petty discrimination --- but they also never wavered in believing they deserved equality.

 "My mother saw that Black people were treated differently than white people," said Williams' daughter, Thelma Smith. "But our neighborhood was mixed, and we all took care of each other. We had Italian neighbors, Jewish neighbors, and Polish neighbors. We were all in poverty, but it was a poverty of money, not a poverty of spirit.  As kids, I don't think we were even conscious of color. We just played with each other.  We'd be out on the street, jumping rope, playing red-light, rolling around on scooters.  Or we'd have a Popsicle on the front porch. And our parents would be sitting around to make sure we didn't get in trouble."

On Sept. 13, 1943, the school year began.  Mrs. Hedgepeth and Mrs. Williams enrolled their kids at the Lincoln School -- but they also filed suit against the Trenton Board of Education demanding that their children be allowed to attend the same school as their white friends. The NAACP took over their legal defense and argued it all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court in less than a month. The parents' lawyer was Robert Queen, the same man who had desegregated the swimming classes at Trenton High School. Queen read the 1881 law that prohibited school boards from excluding children based on race, color or creed, then asked Trenton’ school superintendent, Paul Loser,  why blacks were excluded from the white junior high schools.  "Aren't Leon and Janet excluded from Junior 2 on the grounds of color?" Queen asked Loser. The superintendent hesitated then said the answer was yes, but only because it was better for the black students. Blacks, he said, tended to segregate themselves anyway, and they would have "better opportunities for leadership when they are segregated." "In that case," Queen shot back, "do you consider it advisable to set up separate schools for minority groups such as Italians, Poles, Jews, Hungarians and Germans?"  The superintendent had no answer.

When the Supreme Court made its ruling on January 31, 1944, the justices held unanimously for Mrs. Hedgepeth and Mrs. Williams. Chief Justice Newton Porter, writing for the court, stated: “The sole question presented is the legal right of the respondent (Trenton Board of Education) to refuse these children admission in the school nearest their residences. The only reason the admission sought is denied them is because of their race. We think it clear that the children are unlawfully discriminated against. It is unlawful for Boards of Education to exclude children from any public school on the ground that they are of the Negro race.”  (131 NJL 153 (1944). The court cited the 1881 statute that declared it “unlawful for boards of education to exclude children from any public school on the ground that they are of a Negro race”. (See The Trentonian, 1943: Hedgepeth-Williams)

Optional Activity 2:  Roleplay the 1943 Trenton Board of Education meeting

Have students act out the meeting that Mrs. Hedgepeth and Mrs. Williams had with School Superintendent Paul Loser and members of the Trenton Board of Education. Use the information provided above or have students do additional research.

The roles: Mrs. Hedgepeth, Mrs. Williams, their lawyer Robert Queen, Paul Loser, members of the Trenton Board of Education, Parents Association of the newer white school (Junior High No. #2, the NAACP).

Following the roleplay, have students write letters to the editors of the local newspaper, The Trenton Times, explaining why they agree or disagree with the decision of the Trenton Board of Education. (For additional information on the structures and process of New Jersey Board of Education meetings, see A Guide to Board of Education Meetings in New Jersey)

Activity 2: The impact of Hedgepeth-Williams 

In Topeka, Kansas in the 1950s, schools were still segregated by race. Each day, Linda Brown and her sister had to walk through a dangerous railroad switchyard to get to the bus stop for the ride to their all-black elementary school. There was a school closer to the Brown's house, but it was for white students only. Linda Brown and her family believed that the segregated school system violated the Fourteenth Amendment and took their case to court. The federal district court decided that segregation in public education was harmful to Black children, but because all-Black schools and all-white schools had similar buildings, transportation, curricula, and teachers, the segregation was legal. The Browns appealed their case to the Supreme Court stating that even if the facilities were similar, segregated schools could never be equal to one another. Brown v. Board of Education was the name given to five separate cases that were consolidated and heard by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the issue of segregation in public schools.  While the facts of each case differed, the main issue in each was the constitutionality of state-sponsored segregation in public schools.

NAACP lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He contended that  separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, and thus violated the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, relying on sociological tests, such as the one performed by social scientist Kenneth Clark, and other data, he also maintained that segregated school systems had a tendency to make Black children feel inferior to white children, and thus such a system should not be legally permissible. Seeking precedents, Marshall wrote to the lawyer, Robert Queen, who had represented the plaintiffs in the Hedgepeth-Williams case.  Marshall cited the New Jersey State Supreme Court's decision as one of several precedents for overturning racial segregation everywhere in the United States, the only one involving public schools.

Meeting to decide the case, the Justices of the Supreme Court realized that they were deeply divided over the issues raised.  On May 14, 1954, after a rehearing and a change on the court-- Chief Justice Fred Vinson died and was replaced by Gov. Earl Warren of California—Chief Justice Warren delivered the unanimous opinion of the Court, stating that "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. . ."

Expecting opposition to its ruling, especially in the southern states, the Supreme Court did not immediately try to give direction for the implementation of its ruling. Rather, it asked the attorney generals of all states with laws permitting segregation in their public schools to submit plans for how to proceed with desegregation. After still more hearings, on May 31, 1955, the Justices handed down a plan for how it was to proceed; desegregation was to proceed with "all deliberate speed." Although it would be many years before all segregated school systems were to be desegregated, the Brown decisions started the process of eliminating legally segregated schools. (See History - Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment)

FIRST DAY The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education integrated the schools. But today its meaning is at issue. Here, the first day of desegregation, on Sept. 8, 1954, at Fort Myer Elementary School in Fort Myer, Va. CreditBettmann/Corbis

In addition to providing precedent for U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Hedgepeth- Williams decision influenced the creation of affirmative action law and policy in New Jersey:

• 1945: The Fair Employment Act was enacted, prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of race.
• 1945: The New Jersey Division Against Discrimination was established in the New Jersey Department of Education to protect the civil rights of persons on the basis of race, color, creed, ancestry and national origin in schools and in employment and housing practices.
• 1947: The New Jersey Constitution was ratified, with a list of Rights and Privileges including the right of every student not to “be segregated…in the public schools because of religious principles, race, color, ancestry or national origin” (Art I, para. 5)
• 1949: The Freeman Act was passed to provide victims of discrimination with a vehicle for filing for relief via appeals to, and orders for relief from, the NJ Division Against Discrimination
• 1950: The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination was enacted, prohibiting discrimination in every arena of public life in New Jersey; transferring the Division Against Discrimination to the NJ Department of Law and Public Safety, thereby giving its decisions the force of law and empowering it with the full authority of the State Attorney General; but keeping oversight of school desegregation with the NJ Dept. of Education.
• 1965: Hedgepeth-Williams served as a legal precedent for the landmark New Jersey Supreme Court case,Booker v. Board of Education, City of Plainfield(1965), which found that the unintentional segregation of students by race due to housing patterns and neighborhood schools injures students; and required local boards of education to take reasonable actions to correct the racial imbalance of schools.
• 1973: NJSA 18A:36-20 was enacted, requiring local school districts to remove all vestiges of discrimination in their educational policies and practices, and to act affirmatively to provide equal opportunity for all students and staff in the district.
• 1975: The State Board of Education issued regulations governing Equality in Educational Programs (NJAC 6:4) to enforce equity compliance in all NJ public schools.
• 1991: The Trenton Board of Education renamed the former "whites only" Junior High School #2, the Hedgepeth-Williams School.

In response to the Brown decision, many of the Southern states established, expanded and supported private schools to preserve the Southern tradition of racial segregation.  White students left public schools in droves to both traditional and newly formed private schools. From 1950 to 1965 private school enrollment grew at unprecedented rates all over the nation, with the South having the largest growth.  This growth was catalyzed by Southern state legislatures, who enacted as many as 450 laws and resolutions between 1954 and 1964 attempting to block, postpone, limit, or evade the desegregation of public schools, many of which expressly authorized the systematic transfer of public assets and monies to private schools. Eventually these enactments supporting private schools were invalidated by federal courts or abandoned by Southern states that faced likely court challenges.

With the adoption of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal government was authorized by Title IV to file school desegregation cases.  In 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered states to dismantle segregated school systems "root and branch." The next year, the Court ordered the “immediate” desegregation of Mississippi schools.  In 1971, the Court approved busing, magnet schools, compensatory education and other tools as appropriate remedies to overcome the role of residential segregation in perpetuating racially segregated schools.  However, even into the 1970s, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina had dual systems of education. Ultimately, some of the Southern states moved to county or city-wide school districts, which helped to reduce the segregation in the schools.

Most Northern states, like New Jersey, continued to have neighborhood schools, which became more and more segregated especially after the riots in the 1960s  (See the Lesson on Civil Rights and Race Riots in New Jersey at https://civiced.rutgers.edu/nj-lessons/new-jersey-history-lessons) as a large portion of the white population previously in the cities moved to the suburbs leaving a mostly poor, mostly minority population in the city schools. Efforts to integrate schools by busing students in Northern cities like Boston and New York met with fierce resistance by parents.

Emphasizing that court orders are not intended "to operate in perpetuity," the Supreme Court in 1991 made it easier for formerly segregated school systems to fulfill their obligations under desegregation decrees. (See Board of Education of Oklahoma City Public Schools v. Dowell | Oyez). After being released from a court order, the Oklahoma City school system abandoned its desegregation efforts and returned to segregated  neighborhood schools.  In 2001, white parents in Charlotte, N.C., schools successfully sought an end to the desegregation process and the use of race in making student assignments.  A 2002 report from Harvard's Civil Rights Project concluded that America's schools were resegregating. (See https://archive.learningforjustice.org/magazine/spring-2004/brown-v-board-timeline-of-school-integration-in-the-us)

Activity 3: Compare efforts to desegregate the schools in NJ with school desegregation elsewhere

Students should read the synopsis of both the factual background, arguments and decisions in Hedgepeth- Williams vs Trenton Board of Education (1944) and Brown vs Board of Education (1954) provided above or research an online synopsis of the cases at Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1) |Oyez. Then, have students research the response to court-mandated desegregation of public schools in New Jersey and elsewhere (e.g., in the South, in Boston, in Denver, in Detroit, in New York City, in California), Students should select at least one other state or city for comparison, record their findings, and discuss the results as a class.

For example, a “freedom of choice” plan for school desegregation in Virginia was rejected and the court required a more realistic plan to desegregate schools. (See Green v. County School Board of New Kent County | Oyez).  In Charlotte, North Carolina, which merged its public school system with surrounding Mecklenburg County schools, but still only had 2% of the district’s Black students attending school with white students and the vast majority of these were in one school, the U.S. Supreme Court held that busing was an appropriate remedy for the problem of racial imbalance in schools, even when the imbalance resulted from the selection of students based on geographic proximity to the school rather than from deliberate assignment based on race. See Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1 (1971). However, when the NAACP sued the state of Michigan to desegregate Detroit’s schools and suggested a desegregation plan that would involve both the city and the suburbs and significant busing across 53 school districts, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5/4 decision in Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974), that such a plan was not required because neither the school districts nor the municipalities had deliberately engaged in a policy of segregation.

III.  School Desegregation in New Jersey today

In 2015, the New York Times created an interactive map of racial segregation. You can go to  Mapping Segregation - The New York Times to see the racial make-up of every city and town.  New Jersey, along with New York, Illinois and Michigan have some of the highest levels of residential segregation by race and income, which is reflected in the schools.

In 2013, the Institute on Law and Policy at Rutgers-Newark and the Civil Rights Project at University of California, Los Angeles, jointly submitted a report about the state of segregation in New Jersey’s schools. The title sums up its conclusion: “New Jersey’s Apartheid and Intensely Segregated Urban Schools.” Rather than “segregation”, the report is using the term “Apartheid” to emphasize the institutional nature and extreme segregation of the New Jersey schools. “Apartheid” was the official policy of racial segregation, involving political, legal, and economic discrimination against nonwhites, formerly practiced in the Republic of South Africa.  Across the country, 43 percent of Latino students and 38 percent of Black students go to schools where fewer than 10 percent of their classmates are white, and more than one in seven Black and Latino students attend schools where less than 1 percent of their classmates are white. Schools with high-minority populations usually have low-income populations, making the schools economically homogeneous as well. But the situation in New Jersey’s schools is even worse.

The studies updated and detailed the long-running picture of race in New Jersey schools, which has some of the most segregated schools in the nation. The Civil Rights Project report tracked data since 1989 to show little change, even as the general population has grown more diverse. In 1989, 5% of New Jersey schools were 99-100% African American and Latino. By 2010, it had increased to 8%. The Rutgers report explained that the most segregated schools are in the urban centers, sometimes within a stone’s throw of suburban schools where there are few Black or Hispanic students.  For example, all of the 30 schools in Camden are 100% segregated; all of the 20 schools in East Orange are 100% segregated; all of the 16 schools in Passaic are 100% segregated (U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Public Elementary/Secondary School Survey Data). In spite of the proactive New Jersey and national court decisions and legislation, segregation continues, primarily due to the legacy and continuation of segregated housing patterns in the state.  (See the lessons “Civil Rights and Urban Riots in New Jersey,” and “Land Use in New Jersey”). Less than 1% of the population of Camden, East Orange and Passaic is white and more than 70% of their populations live below the poverty level.  Even the charter schools were intensely segregated.  Although some of the county magnet high schools have a more diversified student body, only students who meet their high academic standards are accepted.

Trenton Central High School West commencement, June 27, 2017

In Trenton, where New Jersey’s efforts against school segregation began, only 2.1% of the population was white in 2013 and 66% lived in poverty.  Hedgepeth-Williams Middle School, once all white, is now almost entirely African-American and Latino:  in 2015-16, 52.6% of the school population was Black, 45.5% Hispanic and 0.4% white.  Students at the school performed far below the state level for proficiency in English Language (22%) and math (13%). (For additional information, see Trenton Public School District - U.S. News Education)

An updated report, “New Jersey’s Segregated Schools: Trends and Paths Forward,” issued in 2017 looked at how the state’s school population changed between 2010 and 2015. Although the state was getting more diverse, the schools were getting more segregated. Total public school enrollment in New Jersey in 2015-16 was 46.4% white, 15.7% black, 9.9% Asian, and 26.2% Hispanic. Black and Hispanic students were highly concentrated in more densely populated urban areas along the New York City/Philadelphia corridor. More than half of the students in charter schools were African American and 31% were Hispanic in 2015. School segregation was not only by race but also by income. Students’ academic outcomes are closely linked with the community’s overall social-economic levels. (For additional information, see New Jersey’s Segregated Schools Trends and Paths Forward)

The 2013 Rutgers/UCLA reports offered the following recommendations (the2017 report updated the data but did not change the recommendations) :

• Prioritize the use of regional magnet schools
• Adopt explicitly racial and socioeconomic diversity goals and procedures for all existing state-supported choice programs, such as charter schools and inter-district choice programs
• Locate affordable housing options outside of cities to bring a more diverse mix of incomes to school districts
• Require existing and new state and local legislation, policies and practices to promote racial and socioeconomic diversity of communities and their schools
• Develop a state policy to consolidate school districts for racial and socioeconomic reasons, as well as economic efficiency.

Activity 4: Analyze the Rutgers/UCLA report. Divide the class into small groups and have them evaluate the feasibility of the recommendations in the Rutgers/UCLA report.

IV. Unequal funding of education

As the above data indicates, New Jersey’s schools are segregated as much by income as by race and ethnicity. All of New Jersey’s public schools are funded by a combination of local property taxes, state aid and federal aid.  The local property tax is a tax on real property based on a tax rate (ex. “X” number of dollars per $100 value of your house and property).  It accounts for approximately 68% of the cost of school funding.  State taxes yield 25%, and the federal government pays the additional 5%.  Such heavy reliance on local property taxes has resulted in substantially unequal funding for education.  Those people residing in lower-income areas of New Jersey generate less money from property taxes based on the value of their houses. Consequently, these areas yield substantially less revenue to pay for their public schools than more affluent areas.

Activity 5:  Consider unequal local tax bases for funding local public education.

Have students review the chart below regarding hypothetical school districts A, B and C, then answer the questions.

	NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT A	NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT B	NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT C
School district wealth	Very wealthy, suburban area with growing school population	Very poor, urban area	Middle income, working class, older exurban area with declining school population
School district description	Very little crime Most people live in expensive, single-family homes.	There is a lot of crime and gang-related incidents are a problem. Many people live in apartment buildings.	There is a growing amount of crime. Mixed single-family homes and apartments, with diminishing property values.
Number of students in the district’s schools	1000	5,000	1500
Amount collected from property taxes	$20 million	$30 million	$15 million
Amount the district contributed to the public school system	$15 million	$20 million	$10 million
Amount contributed to the police force	$2 million	$7 million	$3 million
Amount contributed to local services such as the parks and libraries, etc.	$3 million	$3 million	$2 million

Questions:

What is the per pupil expenditure for School Districts A, B and C?

Answer:  A = $20,000; B = $6,000; C = $10,000

Explain why School District A is able to collect more money from their property taxes.

Answer: School District A has wealthy homeowners

Explain why School Districts B and C cannot contribute all revenue to their public school system.

Answer: School Districts B and C need to spend more money on their police because of higher crime rates.

How could the differences in funding affect the education of the students?

Answer: Facilities might not be taken care of or may be overcrowded. Students may not have high quality, up-to-date materials. Teachers might not be well-paid and may leave for other districts.

Historical Background to school funding

Following the Brown v. Board of Education decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take the next step and require equal funding for public education. In a 5/4 decision in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez | Oyez  the high court rejected the argument that education was a fundamental right protected by the equal protection clause of the Constitution. The majority reasoned that the federal constitution did not explicitly or implicitly guarantee a right to education and added that there was no proof that the Texas school system "fails to provide each child with an opportunity to acquire the basic minimal skills necessary for the enjoyment of the rights of speech and of full participation in the political process." The U.S. Supreme Court left the issue of funding for public education to the individual states.

The same year as the San Antonio decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court took a very different approach to funding public education. Since 1875 the New Jersey State Constitution has included the following provision:  “The Legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all the children in the State between the ages of five and eighteen years.” It was continued in the 1947 State Constitution as Art VIII , Sec. IV, para. 1.  Known as the “thorough and efficient” or “T and E” clause, it was never put to a test until 1973 when the parents of students from several urban school districts argued in Robinson v. Cahill that the system of funding local public schools, which relied primarily on local property taxes, violated the “thorough and efficient” clause, which made the funding of public schools a state responsibility.

Rather than focusing on whether education is a fundamental right under the state constitution, the New Jersey State Supreme Court found that the existing system for funding education based primarily on local property taxes could not meet the requirements of a  thorough and efficient education and was, therefore, unconstitutional.  The Court gave the state a year to come up with a constitutional plan. (See Robinson v. Cahill at Robinson v. Cahill :: 1973 :: Supreme Court of New Jersey Decisions).  By 1976, no solution had been agreed upon, so the State Supreme Court enjoined all public school spending (essentially closing the schools) until the Legislature acted to fund a system that satisfied the terms of the previous rulings. The Legislature and Governor Byrne responded with the state’s first income tax.

Five years later in 1981, the Education Law Center filed a complaint on behalf of 20 children attending public schools in the cities of Camden, East Orange, Irvington, and Jersey City, claiming in Abbott v. Burke that the school funding system still failed to satisfy the “thorough and efficient” clause. The Supreme Court agreed and laid out a plan for the state to follow. In Abbott II in 1990, the Supreme Court made the state’s responsibility clearer by requiring it to provide aid to the 30 poorest urban school districts in order to raise the per-pupil spending on par with the average per pupil spending in districts of the highest socioeconomic levels. This decision has led to dramatic increases in aid to the “Abbott” school districts. The Abbott III decision in 1994 directed the Legislature to adopt a funding law that would assure “substantial equivalence” in per pupil foundational funding with suburban districts and would provide the necessary supplemental programs. Three additional Abbott decisions established a mandate for early education in the urban districts. Several additional Abbott decisions required state funding for facilities remediation and construction.  (For additional information see The History of Abbott v. Burke - Education Law Center)

As a result of the Abbott court decisions, middle income suburban areas and wealthier suburban areas have seen a decline in state aid for education, thus necessitating a yearly increase in local property taxes which has resulted in New Jersey having the highest property-tax rates in the nation. Since taking office in 2010, Governor Christie has refused to fully fund the state education plan but was required by the court to fund the 31 districts designated by the Abbott decision as special needs. He then cut funding to all other districts. In 2017, Governor Christie proposed an overhaul of state funding for education, with what he called a "fairness formula," that would have shifted millions in state aid from urban and low-income districts to provide some additional funding to most of the other school districts. After negotiations with the state’s Democratic Legislature, the state budget for 2018 included additional school funding, with some shifted to districts considered underfunded.  Although state aid to school districts for 2018 is more than $9 billion--nearly a third of the total state budget--there is still a gap between what the school districts receive and what the law calls for.

Activity 6: Critically Thinking about School Funding

1. What constitutes a “thorough and efficient” education?

Divide the class into small groups of 3 to 5 and have them try to come to an agreement as to the meaning of a “through and efficient” education. Then have the groups share their results and discuss as a whole class. There will probably be differences of opinion.  Students may describe a merely “adequate” or “minimal” education, or they may describe a “high quality” education, one involving up-to-date and adequate school facilities, equipment and materials, good school leadership, dedicated and well-prepared teachers, and may even suggest good outcomes as shown by statewide testing. Try to have the class come to some sense of agreement.

2. What do you think?

The Abbott decisions were, and still are, highly controversial.  On the one hand, they seem to have addressed the disparity that existed in the funding of the local school districts.  On the other hand, some people question whether this additional funding really modifies and advances the public school systems in the lower-income areas.  Others ask whether their state tax monies should be distributed unevenly to the low-income areas. 

What do you think?  Do you agree with the Supreme Court of the United States that education is not a fundamental right and that students in low-income areas are not being denied an equal opportunity to obtain basic minimal skills because of the limited ability of local property taxes to meet the needs of the school district?  Or do you think that there should be parity within the educational system as specified in the Abbott decisions?

3. Does equal funding guarantee equal education? Why or why not?

Ask students whether equal funding guarantees an equal education and to explain why or why not. Have students respond orally or prepare written responses. Have students compare their answers and discuss. Most students will probably answer “no”. The NJ Supreme Court recognized that equal funding was necessary but not sufficient.  Brainstorm what other factors might influence the quality of one’s education?  Possible answers include the quality of the teacher and administrative staff, the involvement and support of parents, stable home life, adequate food and sleep, freedom from fear of crime or injury, etc.  The majority of white and Asian students in New Jersey attend schools where 22% to 24% of students are poor, while many Black and Hispanic students attend schools where nearly 60% of students are living in poverty by the same standards, according to a 2017 report from UCLA’s Center for Civil Rights.

V. School Regionalization or Consolidation

Background

New Jersey had over 600 separate school districts (now reduced to 545), with more than 100 of them (144) that have only one school. By comparison, Virginia, which has a similar size school population as New Jersey, has 25 county or city-wide school districts. Throughout the country there was a great wave of school district consolidation in the 1970s and 1980s. Generally speaking, this consolidation consisted of bringing multiple small school districts together under a single set of administrators. Sometimes, but not always, individual schools were closed in the process.  New Jersey, however, has never regionalized or consolidated its schools, although the issue has been visited many times:

• 1960s report recommended consolidating schools
• 1999: An Assembly Task Force on School District Regionalization recommended regionalizing the schools (Assembly Task Force on School District Regionalization)
• 2004: A report by the NJ Association of School Administrators concluded that consolidation would not save substantial money https://www.njsba.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/MandateReviewStudyCommission-2004.pdf
• 2010: The county superintendents identified over 100 districts that should be consolidated https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2014/09/14-09-16-op-ed-school-district-consolidation-should-be-welcomed-in-new-jersey/
• 2013: “School District Size Matters” - Size Matters: A Look at School- District Consolidation
• 2014: “Why Schools Resist Consolidating” in Governing the States and Localities Why Schools Resist Consolidating
• 2015: The NJ Senate passed a bill to establish a 16-member Task Force on School Regionalization to study the issue but it died in the State Assembly  Education Committee (NJ senators urge school district consolidation)
• A lawsuit filed in 2018 in Mercer County by the Latino Action Network, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other organizations alleges that New Jersey’s public schools are intensely segregated racially and economically. The lawsuit asks for the following:
  • A ruling declaring that New Jersey’s segregation of Black and Latino students is unlawful and that assigning students to public schools based on their municipality is unlawful because it causes segregation.
  • A ruling that it is unlawful to require charter schools to prioritize enrolling students who live in-district.
  • “Enjoin” or stop the practice of assigning students to public schools based on where they reside. Order the state Legislature and Education Department to adopt a “replacement assignment methodology” with a plan in three months.
  • In April 2019, it was reported that settlement talks had broken down. In March 2022, Judge Robert Lougy held a hearing in the matter and, as of October 2022, the parties await a ruling.

Activity 7: Research the arguments for and against school consolidation/regionalization.

Have students research the issue of school consolidation in New Jersey or consider some of the above-mentioned reports about school consolidation/regionalization and use the graphic organizer, Handout 5, to organize the arguments for and against school consolidation/regionalization. A completed chart might look as follows:

Arguments for	Arguments Against
Enhances educational opportunities	People like local control of their schools
Streamlines educational services and staff	Cost savings can result from shared services rather than consolidation
Reduces property taxes	Varying staff salaries among districts may  lead to increased salaries for all and little reduction in costs
Might help to desegregate schools	Individual schools and classes may still be segregated even if the larger district reflects a more even mix of races and socio-economic classes
Better articulation among grades and schools in K-12 districts—only 1/3 of NJ districts are K-12	Consolidation might be difficult to implement

Have students debate or write a short essay explaining why they would support or oppose school consolidation/regionalization.

Concluding Critical Thinking Activity or Assessment:  Is the primary issue today about school desegregation or the requirement to provide a thorough and efficient education (as defined by your students in activity 5) for all students? 

Historical Background:  Thurgood Marshall argued in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools not only violated equal protection but also “had a tendency to make Black children feel inferior to white children

Echoing Brown in a case involving de facto segregation in schools from “housing patterns resulting from socio-economic factors”, the New Jersey Supreme Court in Booker v. Board of Education of Plainfield, stressed the importance of integrating students in school: “The children must learn to respect and live with one another in multi-racial and multi-cultural communities and the earlier they do so the better. It is during their formative school years that firm foundations may be laid for good citizenship and broad participation in the mainstream of affairs. Recognizing this, leading educators stress the democratic and educational advantages of heterogeneous student populations and point to the disadvantages of homogeneous student populations, particularly when they are composed of a racial minority whose separation generates feelings of inferiority.” (See Booker v. Board of Education of City of Plainfield :: 1965 :: Supreme Court of New Jersey Decisions).

Dr. Napoleon-Smith, daughter of Mrs. Williams of the Hedgepeth and Williams case, and a long-time educator and administrator (now retired) in the Trenton School system, explained: “I think it’s the isolation from each other that feeds that disrespect and anger, because the children realize they’re segregated from other children.” (See “62 Years Later, a Question of What is Right,” New York Times article about the current environment of Trenton School at 62 Years Later, a Question of What Is Right - The New York Times.)

Richard Kahlenburg, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, notes that research broadly shows the importance of integration in improving the student outcomes over simply increasing funding for districts with mostly impoverished students. Howard Fuller, civil rights activist and education reform advocate and author of the book, “No Struggle, No Progress: A Warrior’s Life from Black Power to Education Reform,” argues that while he understands the research clearly illustrates the importance of integration, it is important to raise the standards for students so that they are prepared for the global marketplace, regardless of whether their schools are integrated. https://thinkprogress.org/school-segregation-is-much-bigger-than-a-few-schools-in-the-south-8a7f6d2132e1/

Concluding Activity or Assessment: 

Have your class read the statements above in Handout 7 and then discuss whether the issue is school desegregation or the need to provide a thorough and efficient education for all students.

After the discussion, ask your students to select (or assign them to) either a School Desegregation Committee or a Thorough and Efficient Education Committee. 

The School Desegregation Committee should develop a plan to ensure that the schools in New Jersey are desegregated. 

The Thorough and Efficient Education Committee should develop a plan to ensure that every New Jersey student gets a thorough and efficient education (within the meaning of this term as previously agreed upon by the class).

Have the committees read their proposals to the whole class. After discussion and possible modification, have your students send their proposal to your state legislators.

Alternative Activity: Simulated Legislative Hearing

Alternatively, have your class hold a simulated legislative hearing.  Divide the class into four groups:

• Group A will represent A School Districts as defined in Activity 4.
• Group B will represent B School Districts as defined in Activity 4.
• Group C will represent C School Districts as defined in Activity 4.
• Group D will be the members of the New Jersey Joint Legislative Committee on Public School Funding Reform.

Groups A, B and C will each develop and present a plan to reform the state’s system for funding education that will be fair as well as reduce segregation in the schools.

The Legislative Committee members will develop and ask questions of each group, discuss the proposals and then vote on what they think would be the best way to provide a thorough and efficient education for New Jersey students that will also reduce segregation in the schools.

After discussion and possible modification, have your students send their proposal to your state legislators.

Whichever format you select, a lively debate should transpire as students are forced to evaluate the educational system through varying perspectives.

Alternative Activity: Mini Moot Court Hearing

Alternatively, have your class hold a moot court hearing concerning the pending lawsuit, Latino Action Network v. New Jersey.

• Organize your students in groups of three and have each group count by 3.
  • Ones = attorneys for the Latino Action Network
  • Twos = attorneys for the state of New Jersey
  • Threes =the judges
• Attorneys prepare their arguments; judges prepare several questions to ask
• Attorneys for the Latino Action Network make a brief 2-5 minute argument—judges may ask 1-2 short questions
• Attorneys for the state of New Jersey make a brief 2-5 minute argument—judges may ask 1-2 short questions
• Ask all of the judges from the triads to come to the front of the classroom and have an open court hearing where they discuss their opinions and reasons. Some judges may decide to change their initial views after they have heard their colleagues.
• Debrief: Have the class consider the possible options and the pros and cons of each option
• Compare the results of the class moot court with the results of the actual case after it has been decided.

Extension: 

1. Invite a New Jersey legislator to speak on the Abbott decision and method of funding education in the state.
2. Invite an educator or administrator from one of the Abbott school districts to explain the problems that occur within their school district and to explain how additional state funding helps their school district.
3. Have students examine the system of funding in other states and evaluate whether they agree with the current New Jersey system.
4. Have students conduct research on the success of the Abbott decisions and evaluate whether the additional funds helped create thorough and efficient education in the Abbott school districts.
5. Have students research school testing scores (ex. GEPA, HSPA) and compare Abbott district scores to those in other districts across the state.

 

Handout 1: Hedgepeth and Williams v. Trenton Board of Education (1944)

Historical Background

After the Civil War, all states were required to change their constitutions to meet the Civil War Amendments.  New Jersey went further and, in 1881, enacted RS 18:14-2, which prohibited segregated schooling based on race, one of the very first such laws in the nation.  Although not enforced as in the south, de facto segregation still continued in the North into the twentieth century. There were no "whites only" signs in public places, or lynchings. But, Blacks sat in the balconies of movie theaters while whites got the best seats. Blacks could swim at public pools from noon to 2 p.m. while whites got to swim the rest of the day

By the early part of the 20th century, changes were taking place that would doom racial segregation. World War I had triggered one of the greatest population movements in American history -- the exodus of millions of poor sharecroppers and tenant farmers from the South to the North for better jobs and the chance to join their own communities in big industrial cities. In Trenton, most of the black newcomers came from Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. They settled in the industrial North Ward and on Spring Street and Passaic Street in the shadow of the State House. In 1920, there were 5,315 blacks in Trenton, 4 percent of the city; by 1950, they made up 11 percent of the city. Today the figure hovers around 50 percent. The blacks of Trenton included skilled factory hands, teachers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals. One of them was Robert Queen, an eloquent lawyer who reinvigorated Trenton's branch of the NAACP. In 1932, Queen sued to stop the practice of requiring black students to take swimming lessons at the high school on Friday afternoon only, while white kids could swim the rest of the week. The state Supreme Court struck down the school rules and ordered the school pool integrated. Once America went to war against Nazi Germany in 1941, it became harder than ever to defend Jim Crow laws. How could the country discriminate against Blacks when we were fighting for democracy?

In 1943, a couple of 12-year-old kids, Leon Williams and Janet Hedgepeth, wanted to go to the same classes as their playmates. But, when their parents tried to get them into their neighborhood school, Junior High No. 2, they were told by the principal that they could not attend that school because it was “not built for Negroes.” Since Leon Williams and Janet Hedgepeth were Black, they had to walk 2 ½ miles instead to the all-black New Lincoln School.

Those were the rules of the Jim Crow era in Trenton. But to the angry mothers of Leon Williams and Janet Hedgepeth, the rules just weren't fair. The New Lincoln School, on North Montgomery Street, was built as a black-only junior high school in 1923 -- and celebrated as a sign of racial progress.  But Gladys Hedgepeth and Berline Williams did not see it that way. They both served as volunteers for the NAACP; Mrs. Hedgepeth also belonged to the city's Interracial Committee for Unity. All their lives, they had put up with petty discrimination --- but they also never wavered in believing they deserved equality.

 "My mother saw that black people were treated differently than white people," said Williams' daughter, Thelma Smith. "But our neighborhood was mixed, and we all took care of each other. We had Italian neighbors, Jewish neighbors, and Polish neighbors. We were all in poverty, but it was a poverty of money, not a poverty of spirit.  As kids, I don't think we were even conscious of color. We just played with each other.  We'd be out on the street, jumping rope, playing red-light, rolling around on scooters.  Or we'd have a Popsicle on the front porch. And our parents would be sitting around to make sure we didn't get in trouble."

On Sept. 13, 1943, the school year began.  Mrs. Hedgepeth and Mrs. Williams enrolled their kids at the Lincoln School -- but they also filed suit against the Trenton Board of Education demanding that their children be allowed to attend the same school as their white friends. The NAACP took over their legal defense and argued it all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court in less than a month. The parents' lawyer was Robert Queen, the same man who had desegregated the swimming classes at Trenton High School. Queen read the 1881 law that prohibited school boards from excluding children based on race, color or creed, then asked Trenton’ school superintendent, Paul Loser,  why Blacks were excluded from the white junior high schools.  "Aren't Leon and Janet excluded from Junior 2 on the grounds of color?" Queen asked Loser. The superintendent hesitated then said the answer was yes, but only because it was better for the black students. Blacks, he said, tended to segregate themselves anyway, and they would have "better opportunities for leadership when they are segregated." "In that case," Queen shot back, "do you consider it advisable to set up separate schools for minority groups such as Italians, Poles, Jews, Hungarians and Germans?"  The superintendent had no answer.

The decision: Hedgepeth and Williams v. Trenton Board of Education

When the Supreme Court made its ruling on January 31, 1944, the justices held unanimously for Mrs. Hedgepeth and Mrs. Williams. Chief Justice Newton Porter, writing for the court, stated: “The sole question presented is the legal right of the respondent (Trenton Board of Education) to refuse these children admission in the school nearest their residences. The only reason the admission sought is denied them is because of their race. We think it clear that the children are unlawfully discriminated against. It is unlawful for Boards of Education to exclude children from any public school on the ground that they are of the Negro race.”  (131 NJL 153 (1944). The court cited the 1881 statute that declared it “unlawful for boards of education to exclude children from any public school on the ground that they are of a Negro race”. (See The Trentonian, 1943: Hedgepeth-Williams)

 

Handout 2:  Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

FIRST DAY The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education integrated the schools. But today its meaning is at issue. Here, the first day of desegregation, on Sept. 8, 1954, at Fort Myer Elementary School in Fort Myer, Va. CreditBettmann/Corbis

Historical Background

In Topeka, Kansas in the 1950s, schools were still segregated by race. Each day, Linda Brown and her sister had to walk through a dangerous railroad switchyard to get to the bus stop for the ride to their all-black elementary school. There was a school closer to the Brown's house, but it was for white students only. Linda Brown and her family believed that the segregated school system violated the Fourteenth Amendment and took their case to court. The federal district court decided that segregation in public education was harmful to black children, but because all-black schools and all-white schools had similar buildings, transportation, curricula, and teachers, the segregation was legal. The Browns appealed their case to the Supreme Court stating that even if the facilities were similar, segregated schools could never be equal to one another. Brown v. Board of Education was the name given to five separate cases that were consolidated and heard by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the issue of segregation in public schools.  While the facts of each case differed, the main issue in each was the constitutionality of state-sponsored segregation in public schools.

NAACP lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He contended that  separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, and thus violated the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, relying on sociological tests, such as the one performed by social scientist Kenneth Clark, and other data, he also maintained that segregated school systems had a tendency to make black children feel inferior to white children, and thus such a system should not be legally permissible. Seeking precedents, Marshall wrote to the lawyer, Robert Queen, who had represented the plaintiffs in the Hedgepeth-Williams case.  Marshall cited the New Jersey State Supreme Court's decision as one of several precedents for overturning racial segregation everywhere in the United States, the only one involving public schools.

The decision: Brown v. Board of Education

Meeting to decide the case, the Justices of the Supreme Court realized that they were deeply divided over the issues raised.  On May 14, 1954, after a rehearing and a change on the court-- Chief Justice Fred Vinson died and was replaced by Gov. Earl Warren of California—Chief Justice Warren delivered the unanimous opinion of the Court, stating that "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. . ."

Expecting opposition to its ruling, especially in the southern states, the Supreme Court did not immediately try to give direction for the implementation of its ruling. Rather, it asked the attorney generals of all states with laws permitting segregation in their public schools to submit plans for how to proceed with desegregation. After still more hearings, on May 31, 1955, the Justices handed down a plan for how it was to proceed; desegregation was to proceed with "all deliberate speed." Although it would be many years before all segregated school systems were to be desegregated, the Brown decisions started the process of eliminating legally segregated schools. (See History - Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment)

 

Handout 3: School Segregation in New Jersey Today

Report by the Institute on Law and Policy at Rutgers-Newark and the Civil Rights Project at University of California, Los Angeles

In 2013, the Institute on Law and Policy at Rutgers-Newark and the Civil Rights Project at University of California, Los Angeles, jointly submitted a report about the state of segregation in New Jersey’s schools. The title sums up its conclusion: “New Jersey’s Apartheid and Intensely Segregated Urban Schools.” Rather than “Segregation”, the report is using the term “Apartheid” to emphasize the institutional nature and extreme segregation of the New Jersey schools. “Apartheid” was the official policy of racial segregation, involving political, legal, and economic discrimination against nonwhites, formerly practiced in the Republic of South Africa.

The studies updated and detailed the long-running picture of race in New Jersey schools, which continues to have some of the most segregated schools in the nation. The Civil Rights Project report tracked data since 1989 to show little change, even as the general population has grown more diverse. In 1989, 5% of New Jersey schools were 99-100% African American and Latino. By 2010, it had increased to 8%. The Rutgers report explained that the most segregated schools are in the urban centers, sometimes within a stone’s throw of suburban schools where there are few black or Hispanic students.  For example, all of the 30 schools in Camden are 100% segregated; all of the 20 schools in East Orange are 100% segregated; all of the 16 schools in Passaic are 100% segregated (U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Common Core Data, Public Elementary/Secondary School Survey Data). In spite of the proactive New Jersey and national court decisions and legislation, segregation continues, primarily due to the legacy and continuation of segregated housing patterns in the state.  (See the lessons “Civil Rights and Urban Riots in New Jersey,” and “Land Use in New Jersey”). Less than 1% of the population of Camden, East Orange and Passaic is white and more than 70% of their populations live below the poverty level.  Even the charter schools were intensely segregated.  Although  some of the county magnet high schools have a more diversified student body, only students who meet their high academic standards are accepted. (See Trenton Public School District - U.S. News Education)

Trenton Central High School West commencement, June 27, 2017

In Trenton, where New Jersey’s efforts against school segregation began, only 2.1% of the population was white in 2013 and 66% lived in poverty.  Hedgepeth-Williams Middle School, once all white, is now almost entirely African-American and Latino:  in 2015-16, 52.6% of the school population was black, 45.5% Hispanic and 0.4% white. Students at the school performed far below the state level for proficiency in English Language (22%) and math (13%). See Trenton Public School District - U.S. News Education)

The Rutgers/UCLA reports offered the following recommendations:

• Prioritize the use of regional magnet schools
• Adopt explicitly racial and socioeconomic diversity goals and procedures for all existing state-supported choice programs, such as charter schools and inter-district choice programs
• Do not build or subsidize low-income housing in areas where neighborhood and scholar are already intensely segregated
• Require existing and new state and local legislation, policies and practices to promote racial and socioeconomic diversity of communities and their schools
• Develop a state policy to consolidate school districts for racial and socioeconomic reasons, as well as economic efficiency.

 

Handout 4: School Funding Chart and Questions

	NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT    A	NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT B	NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT C
School district wealth	Very wealthy, suburban area with growing school population	Very poor, urban area	Middle income, working class, older exurban area with declining school population
School district description	Very little crime Most people live in expensive, single-family homes.	There is a lot of crime and gang-related incidents are a problem. Many people live in apartment buildings.	There is a growing amount of crime. Mixed single-family homes and apartments, with diminishing property values.
Number of students in the district’s schools	1000	5,000	1500
Amount collected from property taxes	$20 million	$30 million	$15 million
Amount the district contributed to the public school system	$15 million	$20 million	$10 million
Amount contributed to the police force	$2 million	$7 million	$3 million
Amount contributed to local services such as the parks and libraries, etc.	$3 million	$3 million	$2 million

 

What is the per pupil expenditure for School Districts A, B and C?

Explain why School District A is able to collect more money from their property taxes.

Explain why School Districts B and C cannot contribute all revenue to their public school system.

How could the differences in funding affect the education of the students?

Do you think that this is a problem?  EXPLAIN!

 

Handout 5: School Funding in New Jersey

Historical Background: Following the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take the next step and require equal funding for public education. In a 5/4 decision in San Antonio v. Rodriquez, (93 S. Ct. 1278)(1973))the high court rejected the argument that education was a fundamental right protected by the equal protection clause of the Constitution. It reasoned that the federal constitution did not explicitly or implicitly guarantee a right to education and added that there was no proof that the Texas school system "fails to provide each child with an opportunity to acquire the basic minimal skills necessary for the enjoyment of the rights of speech and of full participation in the political process" (93 S. Ct. at 1299). The U.S. Supreme Court left the issue of funding for public education to the individual states.

The same year as the San Antonio decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court took a very different approach to funding public education. Since 1875 the New Jersey State Constitution has included the following provision:  “The Legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all the children in the State between the ages of five and eighteen years.” It was continued in the 1947 State Constitution as Art VIII , Sec. IV, para. 1.  Known as the “thorough and efficient” or “T and E” clause, it was never put to a test until 1973 when the parents of students from several urban school districts argued in Robinson v. Cahill that the system of funding local public schools, which relied primarily on local property taxes, violated the “thorough and efficient” clause, which made the funding of public schools a state responsibility. Rather than focusing on whether education is a fundamental right under the state constitution, the New Jersey State Supreme Court found that the existing system for funding education based primarily on local property taxes could not meet the requirements of a  thorough and efficient education and was, therefore, unconstitutional.  The Court gave the state a year to come up with a constitutional plan. (See Robinson v. Cahill at Robinson v. Cahill :: 1973 :: Supreme Court of New Jersey Decisions).  By 1976, no solution had been agreed upon, so the State Supreme Court enjoined all public school spending (essentially closing the schools) until the Legislature acted to fund a system that satisfied the terms of the previous rulings. The Legislature and Governor Byrne responded with the state’s first income tax.

Five years later in 1981, the Education Law Center filed a complaint on behalf of 20 children attending public schools in the cities of Camden, East Orange, Irvington, and Jersey City, claiming in Abbott v. Burke that the school funding system still failed to satisfy the “thorough and efficient” clause. The Supreme Court agreed and laid out a plan for the state to follow. In Abbott II in 1990, the Supreme Court made the state’s responsibility clearer by requiring it to provide aid to the 30 poorest urban school districts in order to raise the per-pupil spending on par with the average per pupil spending in districts of the highest socioeconomic levels. This decision has led to dramatic increases in aid to the “Abbott” school districts. The Abbott III

decision in 1994 directed the Legislature to adopt a funding law that would assure “substantial equivalence” in per pupil foundational funding with suburban districts and would provide the necessary supplemental programs. Three additional Abbott decisions established a mandate for

early education in the urban districts. Several additional Abbott decisions required state funding for facilities remediation and construction. 

As a result of the Abbott court decisions, middle income suburban areas and wealthier suburban areas have seen a decline in state aid for education, thus necessitating a yearly increase in local property taxes which has resulted in New Jersey having the highest property-tax rates in the nation. Since taking office in 2010, Governor Christie has refused to fully fund the state education plan but was required by the court to fund the 31 districts designated by the Abbott decision as special needs. He then cut funding to all other districts. In 2017, Governor Christie proposed an overhaul of state funding for education, with what he called a "fairness formula," that would have shifted millions in state aid from urban and low-income districts to provide some additional funding to most of the other school districts. After negotiations with the state’s Democratic Legislature, the state budget for 2018 included additional school funding, with some shifted to districts considered underfunded.  Although state aid to school districts for 2018 is more than $9 billion--nearly a third of the total state budget--there is still a gap between what the school districts receive and what the law calls for.

What constitutes a “thorough and efficient” education?

In small groups of 3 to 5 try to come to an agreement as to the meaning of a “through and efficient” education. Then share your results and discuss as a whole class. There will probably be differences of opinion.  Try to come to some sense of agreement.

What do you think?

Do you agree with the Supreme Court of the United States that education is not a fundamental right and that students in low-income areas are not being denied an equal opportunity to obtain basic minimal skills because of the limited ability of local property taxes to meet the needs of the school district?  Or do you think that there should be parity within the educational system as specified in the Abbott decisions?

Does equal funding guarantee equal education? Why or why not?

Brainstorm what other factors might influence the quality of one’s education.

 

Handout 6: School Consolidation/Regionalization

 

Handout 7: Is the primary issue today about school desegregation or the need to provide a thorough and efficient education for all students? 

Background:

Thurgood Marshall argued in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools not only violated equal protection but also “had a tendency to make black children feel inferior to white children “. 

Echoing Brown in a case involving de facto segregation in schools from “housing patterns resulting from socio-economic factors”, the New Jersey Supreme Court in Booker v. Board of Education of Plainfield (1965), stressed the importance of integrating students in school: “The children must learn to respect and live with one another in multi-racial and multi-cultural communities and the earlier they do so the better. It is during their formative school years that firm foundations may be laid for good citizenship and broad participation in the mainstream of affairs. Recognizing this, leading educators stress the democratic and educational advantages of heterogeneous student populations and point to the disadvantages of homogeneous student populations, particularly when they are composed of a racial minority whose separation generates feelings of inferiority.” (See Booker v. Board of Education of City of Plainfield :: 1965 :: Supreme Court of New Jersey Decisions).

Dr. Napoleon-Smith, daughter of Mrs. Williams of the Hedgepeth and Williams case, and a long-time educator and administrator (now retired) in the Trenton School system, explained: “I think it’s the isolation from each other that feeds that disrespect and anger, because the children realize they’re segregated from other children.” (See “62 Years Later, a Question of What is Right,” New York Times article about the current environment of Trenton School at 62 Years Later, a Question of What Is Right - The New York Times.)

Richard Kahlenburg, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, said that research broadly shows the importance of integration in improving the student outcomes over simply increasing funding for districts with mostly impoverished students. Howard Fuller, civil rights activist and education reform advocate and author of the book, “No Struggle, No Progress: A Warrior’s Life from Black Power to Education Reform,” Fuller argues that while he understands the research clearly illustrates the importance of integration, he wants to focus on what he can do to raise standards for students now to prepare them for the global marketplace, regardless of whether those schools are integrated. https://thinkprogress.org/school-segregation-is-much-bigger-than-a-few-schools-in-the-south-8a7f6d2132e1/

See the lesson, “Land Use in New Jersey,” at for additional background on housing patterns in the state at  https://civiced.rutgers.edu/nj-lessons/new-jersey-history-lessons

Committees:

Read the three statements above and then discuss whether the issue is school desegregation or the need to provide a thorough and efficient education for all students.

After the discussion, choose to be on either the School Desegregation Committee or the Thorough and Efficient Education Committee. 

The School Desegregation Committee should develop a plan to ensure that the schools in New Jersey are desegregated.

The Thorough and Efficient Education Committee should develop a plan to ensure that every New Jersey student gets a thorough and efficient education (within the meaning of this term as previously agreed upon by the class).

Have the committees read their proposals to the whole class. After discussion and possible modification, have your students send their proposal to your state legislators.

Simulated Legislative Hearing

Divide into four groups:

• Group A will represent A School Districts as defined in Activity 5.
• Group B will represent B School Districts as defined in Activity 5.
• Group C will represent C School Districts as defined in Activity 6.
• Group D will be the members of the New Jersey Joint Legislative Committee on Public School Funding Reform.

Groups A, B and C will each develop and present a plan to reform the state’s system for funding education that will be fair as well as reduce segregation in the schools.

The Legislative Committee members will develop and ask questions of each group, discuss the proposals and then vote on what they think would be the best way to provide a thorough and efficient education for New Jersey students that will also reduce the segregation in the schools.

 

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, East Rutherford, New Jersey - Sept. 3, 2023

Lesson Creator: Rebecca DiBrienza, U.S. History Teacher, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, NJ

Grade Level:   Secondary

Objectives: Students will be able to:

• Identify, through an analysis of song lyrics from various time periods, evidence of “regional identity” in the works of local musical artists (in the form of specific quotes and phrases that refer to or describe life in New Jersey).
• Explain how the beliefs/values/attitudes expressed in each song relate to its historical climate.
• Describe certain recurring “themes” in local music and how those thematic elements come together to create a “Jersey sound”.
• Analyze why and how that sound has changed and evolved over time, citing examples to support their conclusion.

New Jersey Core Content Social Studies Standards:

6.1.12.HistoryCC.3.a: Evaluate the role of religion, music, literature, and media in shaping contemporary American culture over different time periods.

6.1.12.HistoryUP.13.a: Determine the extent to which suburban living and television supported conformity and stereotyping during this time period, while new music, art, and literature acted as catalysts for the counterculture movement

6.1.12.HistoryCA.14.c: Determine the influence of multicultural beliefs, products (i.e., art, food, music, and literature), and practices in shaping contemporary American culture

6.1.12.HistoryUP.16.a: Analyze the impact of American culture on other world cultures and determine the impact of social media on the dissemination of American culture.

Common Core ELA Standards:

RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

RH.9-10.6: Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

RL.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

Materials:

• An informational packet for each student, containing song lyrics, background on the artists, and a short historical sketch of key events occurring at that time in American History (which packet each student gets will depend on whether they are put in the 1950s/1960s group, the 1970s/1980s group, or the 1990s-Present group).
• A song analysis handout for each student.
• Laptops and headphones for the students to listen to the playlists that the teacher created beforehand on either Spotify or YouTube).
• Large chart paper and markers for each group.

Time required: Three days,  or teachers may want to include one day of music as they teach the 1950-60s, the 1970-80s, and the 1990s-today.

Focus Questions:

• What can popular music tell us about the social experience of living in a specific geographic locale at a certain time period?
• To what extent can music shape culture and impact one’s attitudes, values, and ideals? To what extent is music shaped by culture, and in what ways does it reflect commonly-held attitudes, values, and ideals?
• How is New Jersey portrayed in popular media over time? What aspects of these portrayals do we feel are accurate, and why?
• To what extent can a specific geographic region be characterized by one “sound”? How might racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity come into play? What can we determine from listening to different styles of music from the same place and time?

Activities/Procedures:

1. Do Now: Ask students to respond to the following question: Think about the music you enjoy listening to.

• If you played it for someone who was unfamiliar with it, what might they assume about you and your life?
• What generalizations could they make about your tastes, values, and attitudes? How and why might your musical preferences differ from others you know?
• Allow students to free-write for a few minutes, and then ask for volunteers to share their thoughts, provoking a brief group discussion.
• What can our music tell us about who we are and what we believe?
• How might someone from another time, or a different place, feel about the things we listen to?

2. Background: Provide some brief background on New Jersey musicians (a PowerPoint with some images may be helpful). Students should play a role in constructing this background knowledge. The teacher can ask probing questions like “What stereotypes do you think people hold about New Jersey music?” or “Which of these artists have you heard of? When were they popular? Are they still recording?”

3. Listening Activity:

• Introduce students to the listening activity that they will be completing in order to draw conclusions about how New Jersey’s musical artists have portrayed New Jersey in song, and how those songs fit in with their times.
• Split the class into three groups, with each group looking at each decade: Group 1 - 1950s and 60s: Group 2 - 1970s and 80s: Group 3 - 1990s-present.
• Use the playlist of songs on https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0lX3sWFVk5ukrMGy6F91kj
• Give students time to listen to the songs in their groups and discuss them, filling out the Song Analysis handout as they move through the different music selections.
• The listening could be accomplished in one of three ways, depending on the logistics of the particular classroom in question: Students could all be in the same room, but could use headphones so each group can clearly hear their music without it being drowned out by music from one of the other time periods. Alternately, each of the 3 groups of students could be sent to 3 different locations (a classroom, the hallway, and a nearby computer lab or other common space) so that they can listen to their songs without headphones. If neither of those scenarios work, the songs can be placed on a wiki, and for homework the night before, students will be asked to listen to the 6 songs for their time period and post or record their initial reactions to the music (both to get them thinking about the content, and to serve as evidence that they did the assignment).
• As the students work, the teacher should circulate and engage the groups in conversations about the songs, and should assess their understanding by viewing which details they focus

4. Group assessment task: After completion of the song analysis chart, students move on to the group assessment task.

• They should pick one lyric out of the songs they listened to that they feel best sums up the “New Jersey experience” during that time period.
• They should write it out on a piece of chart paper, along with a sentence or two of background information about the song and artist.
• They should also write on the chart paper a brief explanation of why they chose that particular lyric, how it relates to its time, and how it represents the attitudes and values of our region.
• Directions for this part of the activity should be projected or written on the board.

5. Group Presentations: Each of the 3 groups will share with the whole class what they came up with, not only presenting what is on their chart paper, but also playing a clip of the lyric they chose so that students who listened to songs from other decades get a “sample” of the different sounds. The teacher can assess this “final product” by checking to see that the connections between the song and time period are relevant.

6. Closure: wrap-up discussion that asks students’ opinions on the following points:

• Is there one “Jersey sound”? How has it changed over time? What are some of the most striking differences that you noticed between earlier songs and later songs?
• How have various societal and historical factors made their way into local popular music? What can this tell us about how space, place, and location shape the way we experience our surroundings?

Homework/Extension: Ask each student to find a primary source, such as an article from a New Jersey newspaper, and write a short response connecting it to one of the “recurring themes” in the songs they heard.

Alternatively, students could respond to the prompt “Do the local artists you listened to today convey a sense of ‘Jersey Pride’? Why or why not? Justify your answer with specific examples from your listening activity. If you don’t feel that the musicians are expressing pride in their surroundings, what emotion do you think more accurately describes how they feel about New Jersey? What factors do you think might account for some artists being more enthusiastic than others about their experience in our state?”

An interesting way to expand this lesson might be for the teacher to join forces with two other U.S. History classes, and make one class responsible for analyzing songs from the 50s and 60s, another class responsible for songs from the 70s and 80s, and another class responsible for songs from the 90s and today. Then, during another class period, the 3 classes could meet in a common area and have a sort of “teach-out” where they highlight the values/attitudes expressed in the music from each time period, and what the tone/mood/sound of each of the song sets can tell us about the different ways in which these local artists have experienced life in the Garden State.

Teachers can feel free to vary up the song choices. “Rosalita” and “My Hometown” would be good choices for Bruce Springsteen. “December 1963” by The Four Seasons also has a good Jersey vibe. Perhaps Lesley Gore could be used instead of Connie Francis, as both represent the experience of being young, privileged, white, and female in 1960s New Jersey. Since there are so many popular rock bands from New Jersey today, like Titus Andronicus or Lifetime, students may even be able to choose some of their own listening material. The Gaslight Anthem is probably the least esoteric and most explicit example, though: “the Diamond Street Church Choir”, “The Navesink Banks”, “The Patient Ferris Wheel”, and “We Came to Dance” all specifically reference lead singer Brian Fallon’s upbringing in Central Jersey.

A final topic to explore would be the extent to which local artists have influenced each other’s sound over time. Being raised in New Jersey means exposure to “Jersey music”; how might that aspect of one’s regional identity go on to shape a career? Students can read one of many articles that speculate as to whether The Gaslight Anthem is Springsteen’s “heir”: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/magazine/is-gaslight-anthems-brian-fallon-the-true-heir-to-springsteen.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Song Analysis Handout 1: Local Musicians (1950s & 1960s)

Song and Artist	What is the tone/mood of the song? How would you describe the sound?	Provide evidence from the lyrics that this artist has experienced NJ life. Explain your reasoning.	How does the song reflect or relate to its time? What values or ideals does it convey?
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, “Big Man in Town”, 1965
Dionne Warwick, “I Say a Little Prayer”, 1965
Ricky Nelson, “That Warm Summer Night”, 1961
Connie Francis, “Where the Boys Are”, 1961
Frank Sinatra, “Our Town”, 1955
Janis Ian, “Society’s Child”, 1967

 

Corroboration (Putting it all together…)

1. What generalizations can you make about the “New Jersey experience” in these decades after hearing the song selections?

 

 

 

2. What “themes” seem to reoccur, and what do you think might account for these similarities?

 

 

 

3. Which songs have a different sound or hint at a different New Jersey experience? What factors might cause such diverse outlooks (even though these artists were all famous around the same time)?

 

 

 

 

Song Analysis Handout 2: Local Musicians (1970s & 1980s)

Song and Artist	What is the tone/mood of the song? How would you describe the sound?	Provide evidence from the lyrics that this artist has experienced NJ life. Explain your reasoning.	How does the song reflect or relate to its time? What values or ideals does it convey?
Bon Jovi, “Livin’ on a Prayer”, 1986
Bruce Springsteen “4th of July, Asbury Park”, 1973
Blondie, “Union City Blue”, 1979
The B-52s, “Deadbeat Club”, 1989
The Sugarhill Gang, “Rapper’s Delight”, 1979
Kool & the Gang, “This is You, This is Me”, 1973

Corroboration (Putting it all together…)

1. What generalizations can you make about the “New Jersey experience” in these decades after hearing the song selections?

2. What “themes” seem to reoccur, and what do you think might account for these similarities?

3. Which songs have a different sound or hint at a different New Jersey experience? What factors might cause such diverse outlooks (even though these artists were all famous around the same time)?

 

Song Analysis Handout 3: Local Musicians (1990s - Present)

Song and Artist	What is the tone/mood of the song? How would you describe the sound?	Provide evidence from the lyrics that this artist has experienced NJ life. Explain your reasoning.	How does the song reflect or relate to its time? What values or ideals does it convey?
The Gaslight Anthem, “Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts”, 2008
Lauryn Hill, “Every Ghetto, Every City”, 1998
Real Estate, “Suburban Dogs”, 2009
Promise Ring, “Jersey Shore”, 1999
John Gorka, “I’m From New Jersey”, 2006
Bouncing Souls, “So Jersey”, 2006

Corroboration (Putting it all together…)

1. What generalizations can you make about the “New Jersey experience” in these decades after hearing the song selections?

2. What “themes” seem to reoccur, and what do you think might account for these similarities?

3. Which songs have a different sound or hint at a different New Jersey experience? What factors might cause such diverse outlooks (even though these artists were all famous around the same time)?

 

Historical Background, Song Lyrics & Artist Information Handout 1:
The 1950s &1960s

What Was Occurring in U.S. History (Political, Economic & Social)?

The United States had recovered from WWII and the peacetime consumer economy was doing well. There was a mass exodus of middle-class white American families from the crowded cities to the cookie-cutter suburbs, which placed an emphasis on leisure, style, and achieving the “American Dream:, often enforcing strict gender roles or stereotypes. The “Red Scare” prompted many older Americans to be politically conservative and concerned with conformity. Very few people wanted to tackle sensitive social issues, as they feared being labeled “radical”. “Teen culture”, however, was hot: as America moved into the 60s, a rise in automobiles, dance halls, and drive-in movie theaters entertained growing “baby boomers”.

Like much of U.S. history, though, this time period was characterized by intense segregation. There was a wide gap between the rich and the poor. The Civil Rights movement begins to take off, characterized at first by boycotts and peaceful protests, and later by more intense race riots in the inner cities. Despite the landmark Brown v. Board decision, it was rare for black students and white students to share a school. In the later 60s, a clash in values will begin to emerge between those who subscribe to a “counterculture” and want more individual freedom of expression, and those who embrace more traditional social norms.

How Does All of That Relate to Life in the Garden State at This Time?

The port cities of Newark and Elizabeth become increasingly vital to the economy at this time, providing jobs for lower-middle-class New Jerseyans. Many cities experienced urban decay as these decades wore on, though, mostly due to the increasing growth of the suburbs (which caused families with economic means to leave crowded urban areas, leaving behind a population of poor racial minorities who were neglected in terms of receiving needed social services and government attention). There were several clashes between minorities and the (mostly White) police forces in places like Jersey City and Plainfield.

What Do I Need to Know About the Music Scene During This Time?

The “crooners” of the late 1940s, like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, were well-established. Rock & Roll, however, was beginning to take off, as kids hungered for something they could dance to. Themes of 1950s song lyrics were quite wholesome, but in the 60s, folk songs tried to explore “tough topics” like race. Minority youths created a market for soul music, which later influenced the musical tastes of White youths.

 

Song 1: “Big Man In Town” by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

The Four Seasons were a pop band founded in 1960 in Belleville, New Jersey. The fact that their male lead singer, Frankie Valli, had a falsetto voice set them apart. The movie/play Jersey Boys is based on their fame.

Each day as I grow older
The nights are getting colder
Some day the sun will shine on me
Money, I don't have any
I'm down to my last penny
But darlin' don't cry over me
I'll be a big man in town, honest honey
I'll be a big man in town, promise darlin'
I'll be a big man in town, just you wait and see
You'll be proud of me
Big man in town
They think that I'm a rover
But my rovin' days are over
Some day your folks will welcome me
I went away a small man
But I'll come home a tall man
Then what a pretty bride you'll be
[repeat chorus]
Coda: (Big man in town)
I'm gonna make it, just wait and see
Oh, I'm gonna make it, just wait and see
Girl I'm gonna make it, just wait and see

 

Song 2: “I Say A Little Prayer” by Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick is a Soul and R&B singer from an ethnically-diverse neighborhood in East Orange, New Jersey. Her mother was a gospel singer at a church in Newark and her father floated from job to job. This song was conceptualized as a working-class woman’s worry about a boyfriend in the army.

The moment I wake up
Before I put on my makeup
I say a little prayer for you
While combing my hair, now,
And wondering what dress to wear, now,
I say a little prayer for you
Forever, forever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
Forever, forever, we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you
Together, together, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me.
I run for the bus, dear,
While riding I think of us, dear,
I say a little prayer for you.
At work I just take time
And all through my coffee break-time,
I say a little prayer for you.
Forever, forever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
Forever, forever we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you
Together, together, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me.

 

Song 3: “That Warm Summer Night” by Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson was a teenage pop superstar in the early 60s who focused on young love, very much like today’s Jonas Brothers. He was born in Teaneck, NJ, raised in a suburban environment until he got his start as a small-scale television actor in the late 1950s. He was known for his soft rock and heartthrob status.

The April walk through fields and farms<
And then I held you in my arms<
But most of all, I still recall<
That warm summer night<
The autumn hayride, the frosty breeze<
The fading color of the trees<
But through the fall, I still recall<
That warm summer night<
Through all my life, I can't forget<
That moonlit picnic by the sea<
We left the others far behind<
And then you gave your love to me<
The winter sleigh ride through falling snow<
A kiss beneath the mistletoe<
Through cold December, I still remember<
That warm summer night<
Through all my life, I can't forget<
That moonlit picnic by the sea<
We left the others far behind<
And then you gave your love to me<
The winter sleigh ride through falling snow<
A kiss beneath the mistletoe<
Through cold December, I still remember<
That warm summer night

 

Song 4: “Where the Boys Are” by Connie Francis

Connie Francis was an Italian-American pop singer famous in the early 1960s. She was born in Newark, and in addition to her hits, she also recorded songs in Italian and Hebrew (because her neighborhood contained a mix of Catholics and Jews). Her songs had contemporary musical arrangements to encourage dancing.

Where the boys are
Someone waits for me,
A smiling face, a warm embrace,
Two arms to hold me tenderly.
Where the boys are
My true love will be,
He's walking down some street in town
And I know he's looking there for me.
In the crowd of a million people
I'll find my valentine,
Then I'll climb to the highest steeple
And tell the world he's mine.
'Til he holds me
I wait impatiently.
Where the boys are,
Where the boys are,
Where the boys are,
Someone waits for me.
'Til he holds me
I wait impatiently.
Where the boys are,
Where the boys are,
Where the boys are,
Someone waits for me.

 

Song 5: “Our Town” by Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra is a native of Hoboken, New Jersey. His wide appeal and easy-to-listen-to tunes made him one of the most famous male vocalists ever, although he couldn’t read music. He was arrested for adultery before he got his start singing in nightclubs. This song was inspired by a 1938 Thornton Wilder play.

You will like the folks you meet in our town,
The folks you'll meet on any street in our town.
Pick out any cottage, white or brown.
They're all so appealing, with that "lived-in" feelin'.
You will like the shady lanes in our town.
The music of the passing trains in our town.
You will lose your heart, I promise you,
In this, our "two by four" town,
"Welcome" on the door town,
If you'll make it your town, too.
(Musical interlude)
You will lose your heart, I promise you,
In this, our "two by four" town,
"Welcome" on the door town,
If you'll make it your town, too.

 

Song 6: “Society’s Child” by Janis Ian

Janis Ian, a folk singer, got her start in the 60s, so she was less mainstream than some of the artists heating up the Billboard charts in this era. Many of her songs tell stories about significant social issues at the time, so they’re not all “feel-good music”. This one, in particular, discusses the pain of an interracial relationship. Janis Ian lived in East Orange, New Jersey, and was actually one of very few White students at her school.

Come to my door, baby,
Face is clean and shining black as night.
My mother went to answer you know
That you looked so fine.
Now I could understand your tears and your shame,
She called you "boy" instead of your name.
When she wouldn't let you inside,
When she turned and said
"But honey, he's not our kind."
She says I can't see you any more, baby,
Can't see you anymore.
Walk me down to school, baby,
Everybody's acting deaf and blind.
Until they turn and say,
"Why don't you stick to your own kind."
My teachers all laugh, their smirking stares,
Cutting deep down in our affairs.
Preachers of equality,
Think they believe it,
Then why won't they just let us be?
They say I can't see you anymore baby,
Can't see you anymore.
One of these days I'm gonna stop my listening,
Gonna raise my head up high.
One of these days I'm gonna raise up my glistening wings and fly.
But that day will have to wait for a while.
Baby I'm only society's child.
When we're older things may change,
But for now this is the way they must remain.
I say I can't see you anymore baby,
Can't see you anymore.
No, I don't want to see you anymore, baby.

 

Historical Background, Song Lyrics & Artist Information:
The 1970s &1980s

What Was Occurring in U.S. History (Political, Economic & Social)?

The 1970s was a time of dissatisfaction. The second-wave feminist movement pushed for changes in the role of women. Young people on college campuses protested involvement in the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975. The period was characterized by an increasing sense of distrust in the government, brought about partly by frustration that men were sent off to die in unnecessary foreign conflicts that the United States got involved in for immoral reasons. The Watergate scandal, which led to President Nixon’s resignation, did not help matters much. Two rather weak and unpopular presidents, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, followed him, so when Ronald Reagan took office in the 80s, patriotism was rather low.

The 1970s economy was stagnant; as evidenced by an oil crisis with the Middle East that led to terrible fuel shortages, the beginnings of outsourcing production to developing nations where it could be done more cheaply even if it meant the closing of American factories and the laying off of American workers, and pervasive inflation that no president could seem to fix. The consumer economy picks back up in the 80s because of “trickle-down economics”, but the people who benefited from that were the wealthy. Society is becoming more racially integrated, so African-Americans find fame in music and television.

How Does All of That Relate to Life in the Garden State at This Time?

At this politically-active time, women are granted further equal-protection rights by the state legislature, and the voting age is lowered to 18. To fight the growing economic crisis, New jersey mandated a state income tax and legalized privately-owned casinos so that the tax revenue could be used to fund education and social welfare. In the 1980s, as the Cold War “heated up” again under Ronald Reagan, and defense spending took up government money that had previously gone toward the funding of social welfare programs, New Jersey actually became a key missile defense site (maintained, but never utilized).

What Do I Need to Know About the Music Scene During This Time?

These decades saw an increase in musical genres and styles, namely rap, disco and reggae, although rock & roll, (now recorded increasingly by women as well as men!) reigned supreme in terms of popularity. The sound grew louder and more electronic, speaking to an increase in recording technology, or perhaps the general public mood of dissatisfaction that pervaded the time. Glam rock and “urban” music were born.

 

Song 1: “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi, 1986

This song describes a fictional couple enduring economic hardship. It was the first number one hit for this popular rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey. Jon Bon Jovi was working at a shoe store when he got a chance to be an opening act for another popular New Jersey band, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes.

Tommy used to work on the docks
Union's been on strike
He's down on his luck
It's tough, so tough
Gina works at a diner all day
Working for her man
She brings home her pay
For love, for love
She says
We've gotta hold on
To what we've got
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
We've got each other
And that's a lot
For love, we'll give it a shot
Oh, they're halfway there
Oh, living on a prayer
Take my hand
We'll make it I swear
Oh, living on a prayer
Tommy's got his six-string in hock
Now he's holding in when he used to make it talk
So tough, it's tough
Gina dreams of running away
She cries in the night
Tommy whispers 'baby it's okay, someday...'
We've gotta hold on
To what we've got
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
We've got each other
And that's a lot
For love, we'll give it a shot
Oh, they're halfway there
Oh, living on a prayer
Take my hand
We'll make it I swear
Oh, living on a prayer
Living on a prayer
Oh, we've gotta hold on
Ready or not
You live for the fight
When that's all that you've got
Oh, they're halfway there
Oh, living on a prayer
Take my hand
And we'll make it I swear
Oh, living on a prayer

 

Song 2: “4^th of July, Asbury Park” by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen, raised in Freehold, is the artist who is most commonly associated with New Jersey. His songs, particularly the earlier ones, have a clear “bar band” sound that has influenced many Jersey-Shore-area artists. The imagery in his lyrics refers to specific places, experiences, and memories. “Little Eden” is a nickname for the boardwalk section of Asbury Park. Today, it’s the name of a recording studio there.

Sandy, the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight
Forcin' a light into all those stoney faces left stranded on this warm July
Down in town the circuit's full with switchblade lovers so fast, so shiny, so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasin' all them silly New York virgins by the score
Sandy, the aurora is risin' behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight for I may never see you again
Hey Sandy girl, my baby
Now the greasers they tramp the streets or get busted for sleeping on the beach all night
Them boys in their high heels, ah
Sandy, their skins are so white
And me I just got tired of hangin' in them dusty arcades bangin' them pleasure machines
Chasin' the factory girls underneath the boardwalk where they promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And they kept me spinnin'
I didn't think I'd ever get off
Oh Sandy, the aurora is risin' behind us
This pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin', laughin' 'neath the boardwalk with the boss's daughter
I remember, Sandy girl, now baby
Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her last night, she said she won't set herself on fire for me anymore
She worked that joint under the boardwalk, she was always the girl you saw boppin' down the beach with the radio
The kids say last night she was dressed like a star in one of them cheap little seaside bars and I saw her parked with Loverboy out on the Kokomo
Did you hear the cops finally busted Madam Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do
For me this boardwalk life's through, babe
You ought to quit this scene too
Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever

 

Song 3: “Union City Blue” by Blondie, 1979

This song was written by Blondie’s female frontwoman, Debbie Harry, to go along with a movie that had the same name. The movie was filmed on location in Union City, NJ, and it was about a man who became obsessed with finding and attacking the person who is drinking from the milk bottles delivered to his home. Debbie Harry grew up in Hawthorne, New Jersey, worked as a waitress, and formed a popular punk band.

Oh, oh, what are we gonna do?
Union, Union, Union City blue
Tunnel to the other side
It becomes daylight
I say he's mine
Oh power, passion plays a double hand
Union, Union Union City man
Arrive, climb up four flights
To the orange side
Rearrange my mind
In turquoise Union, Union, Union City blue
Skyline, passion, Union City blue
Power, passion plays a double hand
Union, Union, Union City man
I say he's mine
I have a plan
I say he's my Union City man
Oh, oh, what are we gonna do?
Union, Union, Union City blue

 

Song 4: “Deadbeat Club” by The B-52’s, 1989

This song is about a group of musicians who have been labeled “deadbeats” by their parents because they are waiting to make it big but don’t have jobs and can’t support themselves. Their lead singer, Kate Pierson, was born in Weehawken, New Jersey. Their style is “new wave”: electronic pop with punk influences.

Huh, Get a job, what for, I'm trying to think
I was good, I could talk
A mile a minute,
On this caffeine buzz I was on
We were really hummin'
We would talk every day for hours
We belong to the deadbeat club
Anyway we can,
We're gonna find something
We'll dance in the garden
In torn sheets in the rain
We're the deadbeat club
We're the deadbeat club
Going down to Allen's for
A twenty-five cent beer
And the jukebox playing real loud,
"Ninety-six tears"
We're wild girls walkin' down the street
Wild girls and boys going out for a big time
Let's go crash that party down
In Normaltown tonight
Then we'll go skinny-dippin'
In the moonlight
We're wild girls walkin' down the street
Wild girls and boys going out for a big time
Anyway we can
We're gonna find something
We'll dance in the garden
In torn sheets in the rain
Chorus
Oh no! Here they come
The members of the deadbeat club

 

Song 5: “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang, 1979

This group was formed in Englewood, New Jersey, and they are known for recording the first rap single that became a top-40 hit, showing that mainstream America was “ready” for this style of music. Michael "Wonder Mike" Wright, Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, and Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien were assembled by producer Sylvia Robinson. This song is one of their only hits, but it gave credibility to the hip-hop genre.

now what you hear is not a test
i'm rappin to the beat
and me, the groove, and my friends
are gonna try to move your feet
see i am wonder mike and i like to say hello
to the black, to the white,
the red, and the brown, the purple and yellow
but first i gotta bang bang the boogie to the boogie
say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie
let's rock, you dont stop
rock the riddle that will make your body rock
well so far youve heard my voice
but i brought two friends along
and next on the mike is my man hank
come on, hank, sing that song
check it out, i'm the c-a-s-an-the-o-v-a
and the rest is f-l-y
ya see i go by the code of the doctor of the mix
and these reasons i'll tell ya why
ya see i'm six foot one and i'm tons of fun
and i dress to a t
ya see i got more clothes than muhammad ali
and i dress so viciously
i got bodyguards, i got two big cars
that definitely aint the wack
i got a lincoln continental and a sunroof cadillac
so after school, i take a dip in the pool
which really is on the wall
i got a color tv so i can see
the knicks play basketball
hear me talkin bout checkbooks, credit cards
more money than a sucker could ever spend
but i wouldnt give a sucker or a bum from the rucker
not a dime til i made it again
ya go hotel motel whatcha gonna do today (say what)
ya say im gonna get a fly girl gonna get some spankin
drive off in a def oj
everybody go, hotel motel holiday inn
say if your girl starts actin up,
then you take her friend
master gee, am I mellow
its on you so what you gonna do
well it's on n on n on on n on
the beat dont stop until the break of dawn
i said m-a-s, t-e-r, a g with a double e
i said i go by the unforgettable name
of the man they call the master gee
well, my name is known all over the world
by all the foxy ladies and the pretty girls
i'm goin down in history
as the baddest rapper there could ever be
now i'm feelin the highs and ya feelin the lows
the beat starts gettin into your toes
ya start poppin ya fingers and stompin your feet
and movin your body while youre sittin in your seat
and the damn ya start doin the freak
i said damn, right outta your seat
then ya throw your hands high in the air
ya rockin to the rhythm, shake your derriere
ya rockin to the beat without a care
with the sureshot m.c.s for the affair
now, im not as tall as the rest of the gang
but i rap to the beat just the same
i dot a little face and a pair of brown eyes
all im here to do ladies is hypnotize
singin on n n on n on n on
the beat dont stop until the break of dawn
singin on n n on n on on n on
like a hot buttered a
pop da pop da pop dibbie dibbie
pop da pop pop ya dont dare stop
come alive yall gimme what ya got
i guess by now you can take a hunch
and find that i am the baby of the bunch
'but that's okay i still keep in stride
cause all i'm here to do is just wiggle your behind
singin on n n on n on n on
the beat dont stop until the break of dawn
singin on n n on n on on n on
rock rock yall throw it on the floor
im gonna freak ya here im gonna feak ya there
im gonna move you outta this atmosphere
cause im one of a kind and ill shock your mind
ill put t-t-tickets in your behind
i said 1-2-3-4, come on girls get on the floor
a-come alive, yall a-gimme what ya got
cause im guaranteed to make you rock
i said 1-2-3-4
tell me wonder mike what are you waitin for?
i said a hip hop the hippie to the hippie
the hip hip hop, a you dont stop
the rock it to the bang bang boogie
say up jumped the boogie
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat
skiddlee beebop a we rock a scoobie doo
and guess what america we love you
cause ya rock and ya roll with so much soul
you could rock till you're a hundred and one years old
i dont mean to brag i dont mean to boast
but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast
rock it up baby bubbah
baby bubbah to the boogie da bang bang da boogie
to the beat beat, its so unique
come on everybody and dance to the beat
i said a hip hop the hippie the hippie
to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop
rock it out baby bubbah to the boogie da bang bang
the boogie to the boogie da beat
i said i cant wait til the end of the week
when im rappin to the rhythm of a groovy beat
and attempt to raise your body heat
just blow your mind so that you cant speak
and do a thing but a rock and shuffle your feet
and let it change up to a dance called the freak
and when ya finally do come in to your rhythmic beat
rest a little while so ya dont get weak
i know a man named hank
he has more rhymes than a serious bank
so come on hank sing that song
to the rhythm of the boogie da bang bang da bong
well, im imp the dimp the ladies pimp
the women fight for my delight
but im the grandmaster with the three mcs
that shock the house for the young ladies
and when you come inside, into the front
you do the freak, spank, and do the bump
and when the sucker mcs try to prove a point
we're treacherous trio, we're the serious joint
a from sun to sun and from day to day
i sit down and write a brand new rhyme
because they say that miracles never cease
i've created a devastating masterpiece
i'm gonna rock the mike til you cant resist
everybody, i say it goes like this
well i was comin home late one dark afternoon
a reporter stopped me for a interview
she said she's heard stories and she's heard fables
that i'm vicious on the mike and the turntables
this young reporter i did adore
so i rocked a vicious rhyme like i never did before
she said damn fly guy im in love with you
the casanova legend must have been true
i said by the way baby what's your name
said i go by the name of lois lane
and you could be my boyfiend you surely can
just let me quit my boyfriend called superman
i said he's a fairy i do suppoose
flyin through the air in pantyhose
he may be very sexy or even cute
but he looks like a sucker in a blue and red suit
i said you need a man who's got finesse
and his whole name across his chest
he may be able to fly all through the night
but can he rock a party til the early light
he cant satisfy you with his little worm
but i can bust you out with my super sperm
i go do it, i go do it, i go do it, do it , do it
an i'm here an i'm there
i'm big bang hank, im everywhere
just throw your hands up in the air
and party hardy like you just dont care
let's do it dont stop
yall a tick a tock yall you dont stop
go hotel motel what you gonna do today (say what)
i'm gonna get a fly girl
gonna get some spank drive off in a def oj
everybody go hotel motel holiday inn
you say if your girl starts actin up
then you take her friend
i say skip, dive, what can i say
i cant fit em all inside my oj
so i just take half and bust them out
i give the rest to master gee
so he could shock the house
it was twelve o'clock one friday night
i was rockin to the beat and feelin all right
everybody was dancin on the floor
doin all the things they never did before
and then this fly fly girl with a sexy lean
she came into the bar, she came into the scene
as she traveled deeper inside the room
all the fellas checked out her white sasoons
she came up to the table, looked into my eyes
then she turned around and shook her behind
so i said to myself, its time for me to release
my vicious rhyme i call my masterpiece
and now people in the house this is just for you
a little rap to make you boogaloo
now the group ya hear is called phase two
and let me tell ya somethin we're a helluva crew
once a week we're on the street
just a-cuttin' the jams and making it free
for you to party ya got to have the movies
so we'll get right down and give you the groove
for you to dance you gotta get hype
so we'll get right down for you tonight
now the system's on and the girls are there
ya definitely have a rockin affair
but let me tell ya somethin there's still one fact
that to have a party ya got to have a rap
so when the party's over you're makin it home
and tryin to sleep before the break of dawn
and while ya sleepin ya start to dream
and thinkin how ya danced on the disco scene
my name appears in your mind
yeah, a name you know that was right on time
it was phase two just a doin a do
rockin ya down cause ya know we could
to the rhythm of the beat that makes ya freak
come alive girls get on your feet
to the rhythm of the beat to the beat the beat
to the double beat beat that it makes ya freak
to the rhythm of the beat that says ya go on
on n on into the break of dawn
now i got a man comin on right now
he's guaranteed to throw down
he goes by the name of wonder mike
come on wonder mike do what ya like
like a can of beer that's sweeter than honey
like a millionaire that has no money
like a rainy day that is not wet
like a gamblin fiend that does not bet
like dracula with out his fangs
like the boogie to the boogie without the boogie bang
like collard greens that dont taste good
like a tree that's not made out of wood
like goin up and not comin down
is just like the beat without the sound no sound
to the beat beat, ya do the freak
everybody just rock and dance to the beat
have you ever went over a friends house to eat
and the food just aint no good
i mean the macaroni's soggy the peas are mushed
and the chicken tastes like wood
so you try to play it off like you think you can
by sayin that youre full and then
your friend says momma he's just being polite
he aint finished uh uh that's bull
so your heart starts pumpin and you think of a lie
and you say that you already ate
and your friend says man there's plenty of food
so you pile some more on your plate
while the stinky foods steamin
your mind starts to dreamin
of the moment that it's time to leave
and then you look at your plate
and your chickens slowly rottin
into something that looks like cheese
oh so you say that's it i got to leave this place
i dont care what these people think
im just sittin here makin myself nauseous
with this ugly food that stinks
so you bust out the door while its still closed
still sick from the food you ate
and then you run to the store for quick relief
from a bottle of kaopectate
and then you call your friend two weeks later
to see how he has been
and he says i understand about the food
baby bubbah but we're still friends
with a hip hop the hippie to the hippie
the hip hip a hop a you dont stop the rockin
to the bang bang boogie
say up jump the boogie
to the rhythm of the boogie the beat
i say hank can ya rock
can ya rock to the rhythm that just dont stop
can ya hip me to the shoobie doo
i said come on make the make the people move
i go to the halls and then ring the bell
because i am the man with the clientele
and if ya ask me why i rock so well
a big bang, i got clientele
and from the time i was only six years old
i never forgot what i was told
it was the best advice that i ever had
it came from my wise dear old dad
he said sit down punk i wanna talk to you
and dont say a word until i'm through
now there's a time to laugh a time to cry
a time to live and a time to die
a time to break and a time to chill
to act civilized or act real ill
but whatever ya do in your lifetime
ya never let a mc steal your rhyme
so from sixty six til this very day
ill always remember what he had to say
so when the sucker mcs try to chump my style
i let them know that i'm versatile
i got style finesse and a little black book
that's filled with rhymes and i know you wanna look
but there's a thing that separates you from me
and that's called originality
because my rhymes are on from what you heard
i didnt even bite and not a god d--m word
and i say a little more later on tonight
so the sucker mc's can bite all night
a tick a tock yall a beat beat yall
a lets rock yall ya dont stop
ya go hotel motel whatcha gonna do today (say what)
ya say im gonna get a fly girl gonna get some spankin
drive off in a def oj
everybody go hotel motel holiday inn
ya say if your girl starts
actin up then you take her friends
a like that yall to the beat yall
beat beat yall ya dont stop
a master gee am I mellow?
its on you so whatcha gonna do
well like johnny carson on the late show
a like frankie croker in stereo
well like the barkay's singin holy ghost
the sounds to throw down they're played the most
its like my man captain sky
whose name he earned with his super sperm
we rock and we dont stop
get off yall im here to give you whatcha got
to the beat that it makes you freak
and come alive girl get on your feet
a like a perry mason without a case
like farrah fawcett without her face
like the barkays on the mike
like gettin right down for you tonight
like movin your body so ya dont know how
right to the rhythm and throw down
like comin alive to the master gee
the brother who rocks so viciously
i said the age of one my life begun
at the age of two i was doin the do
at the age of three it was you and me
rockin to the sounds of the master gee
at the age of four i was on the floor
givin all the freaks what they bargained for
at the age of five i didnt take no jive
with the master gee its all the way live
at the age of six i was a pickin up sticks
rappin to the beat my stick was fixed
at the age of seven i was rockin
in heaven dontcha know i went off
i got right on down to the beat you see
gettin right on down makin all the girls
just take of their clothes to the beat the beat
to the double beat beat that makes you freak
at the age of eight i was really great
cause every night you see i had a date
at the age of nine i was right on time
cause every night i had a party rhyme
goin on n n on n on on n on
the beat dont stop until the break of dawn
a sayin on n n on n on on n on...
like a hot buttered de pop de pop de pop
a saying on n n on n on on n on
cause i'm a helluva man when i'm on the mike
i am the definate feast delight
cause i'm a helluva man when i'm on the mike
i am the definate feast delight
come to the master gee you see
the brother who rocks so viciously

 

Song 6: “This is You, This is Me” by Kool and the Gang

This band was formed in Jersey City, NJ, and it took its influences from rap, soul, and funk. This song was not a huge hit for the band, hinting that people might have been uncomfortable with the idea of racial or socioeconomic inequality. It does, however, mirror styles that were popular in dance halls in the 70s.

Cryin' baby's on the doorstep
Helpless as can be
Lady of the evenin', set your mind free
Growin' up in a ghetto, never seen a tree, oh
If you don't understand the words to the song
It's all you, it's all me
If you don't understand the words to the song
It's all you, it's all me, yeah
If you try to make it better, try to fold 'em in
You'll take it from your pocket, you take it from within, yeah
You take it from your bride y'all, you're right back where you've been
It's sort of like a see saw, up and down again
Your key is indication, yeah
If you don't understand the words to the song
It's all you, it's all me
If you don't understand, don't get me wrong
It's all you, it's all me, yeah
Get down y'all, oh yeah
If you don't understand the words to the song
It's all me, it's all you
If you don't understand, don't get me wrong
It's all me, it's all you
Get down y'all
While you made it on the doorstep
Growin' up in a ghetto, never seen a tree
Don't understand the words to the song
It's all me, it's all you
Don't understand, don't get me wrong
It's all me, it's all you

 

Historical Background, Song Lyrics & Artist Information:
The 1990s – Present

What’s Happening in U.S. Society?

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States was an unchallenged superpower. Increased globalization brought increased conflict, however, particularly with Middle Eastern countries. These decades saw a rise in terrorism and long-lasting military engagements. Domestic social policy grew more liberal in many ways: some states legalized gay marriage, increased access to healthcare, and reformed the public education systems. America continues to be a nation of immigrants, many of whom are refugees from war-torn nations. The United States government dealt with national disasters, like Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with varying degrees of success.

The rise of the Internet created a huge economic boom, but the dot-com bubble burst, kicking the economy into a recession, so the early 2000s became synonymous with unemployment. More Americans than ever before pursue higher education, despite rising costs. “Urban decay” that plagued previous decades has been replaced in many areas with “gentrification” (i.e. rebuilding downtrodden neighborhoods to make them appeal to high-income renters, leaving the poor with nowhere affordable to go). As pointed out by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement that made their name criticizing the “one percent” that profit at the expense of the “ninety-nine percent”, there’s still a large, noticeable gap between rich and poor.

Popular culture has grown more risqué, with sex scandals featured in tabloid headlines, revealing clothing dominating runways, and reality television devaluing the idea of privacy. Entertainment “pushes the envelope” a bit more, but also seems more reflective of America’s diversity (with blended families like those on Modern Family, and upper-middle-class African-Americans, like on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air).

How Does it Relate to the Garden State?

With its geographic proximity to New York City, New Jerseyans were deeply affected by the attacks of September 11^th, 2001, and many Americans became more fearful of “outsiders”, a dangerous notion in place that has so much religious and cultural diversity. The economic recession did not seem to hurt local tourism: rather than take vacations abroad, many families flock to popular Jersey Shore points. Towns like Hoboken and Jersey City recently earned their “hipster” reputation by catering to an upscale clientele.

What Do I Need to Know About the Music Scene During This Time?

“Alternative rock” dominates the 1990s, meaning that it gets harder and harder to classify and categorize rock & roll, except to say that it’s more of a gritty lifestyle and a powerful avenue for sending one’s message to the world. Lyrics become deeper and more complex across all styles of music, and Internet outlets like MySpace and iTunes allow small local bands to start up and build a following.

 

Song 1: “Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts” by Gaslight Anthem, 2008

Gaslight Anthem is a current punk rock band formed in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The lead singer and songwriter, Brian Fallon, grew up in Red Bank. This song makes numerous references to Jersey Shore hot spot Asbury Park, including Cookman Avenue, the main street full of live music venues.

We are the boys from Little Eden
We are the heart of Saturday night
We drink from the fountains off the fireworks
Sweat and bone for a better life
We like our choruses sung together
We like our arms in our brothers' arms
Call every girl we ever met Maria
But I only love Virginia's heart
Still we sing with our heroes, 33 rounds per minute
We're never going home until the sun says we're finished
I'll love you forever if I ever love at all
Wild hearts, blue jeans, & white t-shirts
Some things baby never told you
Some things papa done ain't right
Spent a lifetime just to get over
You always said my mama tried
Still we sing with our heroes, 33 rounds per minute
We're never going home until the sun says we're finished
I'll love you forever if I ever love at all
With wild hearts, blue jeans, & white t-shirts
So tonight I'll call you from a Fourth Street payphone
We'll sleep on the beach if we ain't got a ride
Someday I'll buy you that house on Cookman
We could sleep on the beach all night
Sleep on the beach if we ain't got a ride
Sleep on the beach all night
Sleep on the beach all night
Sleep on the beach if we ain't got a ride

 

Song 2: “Every Ghetto, Every City” by Lauryn Hill, 1998

Lauryn Hill is from East Orange, and she recorded this song in New Jersey as part of her most famous album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, having recently had a child out of wedlock with Rohan Marley (Bob Marley’s son). This song makes numerous references to her childhood experiences in urban NJ.

I was just a little girl
Skinny legs, a press and curl
My mother always thought I'd be a star
But way before my record deal,
The streets that nurtured Lauryn Hill
Made sure that I'd never go too far
Every ghetto, every city and suburban place I've been
Make me recall my days in the New Jerusalem
Story starts at Hootaville grew up next to Ivy Hill
When kids were stealing quartervilles for fun
"Kill the guy" in Carter park
Rode a Mongoose 'til it's dark
Watching kids show off the stolen ones
Every ghetto, every city and suburban place I've been
Make me recall my days in New Jerusalem
You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got
Looking back,
Looking back, looking back, looking back
You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got
Looking back
Thinking back, thinking back, thinking back
A bag of Bontons, twenty cents and a nickel
Springfield Ave. had the best popsicles
Saturday morning cartoons and Kung-Fu
Main street roots tonic with the dreds
A beef patty and some coco bread
Move the patch from my Lees to the tongue of my shoe
'Member Frelng-Huysen used to have the bomb leather
Back when Doug Fresh and Slick Rick were together
Looking at the crew, we thought we'd all live forever
You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got
Looking back
Thinking back, thinking back, thinking back
You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got
Looking back
Thinking back, thinking back, thinking back
Drill teams on Munn street
Remember when Hawthorne and Chancellor had beef
Moving Records was on Central Ave.
I was there at dancing school
South Orange Ave. at Borlin pool
Unaware of what we didn't have
Writing your friends' names on your jeans with a marker
July 4th races off of Parker
Fireworks at Martin stadium
The Untouchable P.S.P., where all them crazy niggers be
And car thieves got away through Irvington
Hillside brings beef with the cops
Self-Destruction record drops
And everybody's name was Muslim
Sensations and '88 attracted kids from out-of-state
And everybody used to do the wop
Jack, Jack, Jack ya body
Nah, the Biz Mark used to amp up the party
I wish those days, they didn't stop
Every ghetto, every city and suburban place I've been
Make me recall my days in New Jerusalem
You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got
Looking back
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back
You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got
Looking back
Thinking back, thinking back, thinking back

 

Song 3: “Suburban Dogs” by Real Estate, 2009

Real Estate is an indie rock band from Ridgewood, NJ. All of the members come from relatively privileged backgrounds, and many of their songs reference life in the suburbs.

Suburban dogs get afraid when it rains
Suburban dogs bark at slow moving trains
They'll run from your house and come back the same day
Suburban dogs are in love with their chains
Carry me back to sweet Jersey, back where I long to be
By the fumes of the yellow and green, next to my darling lady
Under the spell of a buzzing street light
I walked alone through the humid black night
The water was cold from the sprinkler down the road
So I walked on through, I was feeling alright
Suburban dogs get afraid when it rains
Suburban dogs bark at slow moving trains
They'll run from your house and come back the same day
Suburban dogs are in love with their chains
Carry me back to sweet Jersey, back where I long to be
By the fields of the yellow and green, next to my darling lady
Back home
Back home
Back home

 

Song 4: “Jersey Shore” by Promise Ring, 1999

Not all of the members of this emo band with a strong cult following are from New Jersey, but a large segment of their fan base is, and they have spent time touring and recording here. They wrote this song just as certain Jersey Shore towns were beginning to become “trendy” summer party spots.

Bored walking on the boardwalk, New Jersey Shore.
If I come to New York, can I sleep on your floor?
I've been living out of a suitcase on the motel floor
And running up tabs at the corner store.
I'm barely walking on the boardwalk anymore.
When summer gets along,
Your hair gets too long.
I'm picking up the habit of drinking long before four,
When July is gone, I'll be twenty-four
And then not anymore.
New Jersey shore, New Jersey shore,
Then not anymore.

 

Song 5: “I’m From New Jersey” by John Gorka, 2006

John Gorka is a modern folk singer from Edison, New Jersey, with an old sound. Rolling Stone magazine has credited him with sparking the success of the “New Folk Movement”. Many of his songs tell his own stories about living in the Garden State, but his sound doesn’t have a stereotypical “hard rock” or “bar band” vibe.

I'm from New Jersey, I don't expect too much
If the world ended today, I would adjust.
I'm from New Jersey, no I don't talk that way
I watched too much TV when I was young
I'm from New Jersey, my mom's Italian
I've read those mafia books, we don't belong.
Girls from New Jersey who have that great big hair
They're found in shopping malls, I will take you there
I'm from New Jersey, it's not like Texas
There is no mystery, I can't pretend
I'm from New Jersey, it's like Ohio,
But even more so, imagine that
I know which exit, and where I'm bound,
Tolls on the parkway they will slow you down.
New Jersey people, they will surprise you
'Cause they're not expected to do too much
They will try harder, they may go further,
'Cause they never think that they are good enough
I'm from New Jersey, I don't expect too much
If the world ended today I would adjust

 

Song 6: “So Jersey” by Bouncing Souls, 2006

Bouncing Souls were a punk band founded in New Brunswick in 1988, where a local hardcore music scene was really beginning to take off. They were quite popular in the 90s, and they have recently enjoyed a comeback. Most of the members grew up in Basking Ridge (an affluent suburb) and went to college at Rutgers. They are characterized by a fast-paced sound and a strong beat accompanying lighthearted lyrics.

The sun shines brightly on a Jersey afternoon
He walked in his parents footsteps on his way home from school
Those ties that were so sweet also burned under his feet
Now he is ready to walk a path that is new
Yet he can't turn back
He can't turn back
Running through the crowds
He made it out alive.
Betting everything on himself tonight
She's driving down the shore on a Jersey afternoon
She's driving down the same old roads her parents took her through
Hypnotized by those broken lines, broken records lost in time
She's turning down the road that is new
She can't turn back.
She can't turn back
Stepping through the darkness
It's a new day light
Betting everything on herself tonight
Stepping out of the Asbury Lanes in a midnight snow
Skeletons of this old town, feels like it's coming alive
Riots and corruption, New Jersey roots
This songs for the keys to the engines of our growing up
And we wanna say thanks to the music in our lives
Forgive ourselves for all those lies.
Send some notes to all the lonely
Don't forget we're all one family
Thanks to the music in our lives
For helping us to survive
Lost in one lonely dream
Born to run and live free
The sun shines brightly on us this afternoon
Walking in our own footsteps
A search for something new
We can't turn back
Stepping through the darkness into the light
We're betting everything, we're betting everything
We're betting everything on ourselves tonight

 

Women voting in New Jersey in 1797, depicted in Harper’s Weekly (1880)

This series of lessons may be taught as part of a week-long unit on women, or individual women or time periods might be selected, as a study of how the role of women have changed over time as part of United States and New Jersey History.

Lesson Creator: New Jersey Center for Civic Education, Rutgers University, Piscataway

Grade level:  Secondary

Overview: The lessons are developed chronologically so that students might understand the limitations and opportunities available to women in New Jersey during specific time periods. Teachers may want to select specific women as examples or compare them across time periods.

Objectives: Students will be able to

• Explain changes in societal attitudes towards the role of women
• Analyze and evaluate how New Jersey women have contributed to the improvement of society

New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Studies Standards (2020):

6.1.8.HistoryUP.3.b: Examine the roles and perspectives of various socioeconomic groups (e.g., rural farmers, urban craftsmen, northern merchants, and southern planters), African Americans, Native Americans, and women during the American Revolution, and determine how these groups were impacted by the war.

6.1.8.HistorySE.3.b: Analyze a variety of sources to make evidence-based inferences about how prominent individuals and other nations contributed to the causes, execution, and outcomes of the American Revolution.

6.1.8.CivicsHR.4.a: Examine sources from a variety of perspectives to describe efforts to reform education, women’s rights, slavery, and other issues during the Antebellum period.

6.1.8.HistoryUP.5.b: Examine the roles of women, African Americans, Native Americans in the Civil War.

6.1.12.HistoryUP.2.a: Using primary sources, describe the perspectives of African Americans, Native Americans, and women during the American Revolution and assess the contributions of each group on the outcome of the war.

6.1.12.HistorySE.2.a: Construct responses to arguments in support of new rights and roles for women and for arguments explaining the reasons against them.

6.1.12.CivicsDP.3.a: Compare and contrast the successes and failures of political and social reform movements in New Jersey and the nation during the Antebellum period (i.e., the 1844 State Constitution, abolition, women’s rights, and temperance).

6.1.12.EconNE.3.a: Evaluate the impact of education in improving economic opportunities and in the development of responsible citizens.

6.1.12.CivicsDP.4.b: Analyze how ideas found in key documents contributed to demanding equality for all (i.e., the Declaration of Independence, the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address).

6.1.12.HistoryUP.5.a: Using primary sources, relate varying immigrants’ experiences to gender, race, ethnicity, or occupation.

6.1.12.CivicsDP.6.a: Use a variety of sources from multiple perspectives to document the ways in which women organized to promote government policies designed to address injustice, inequality, and workplace safety (i.e., abolition, women’s suffrage, and the temperance movement).

6.1.12.EconNM.7.a: Assess the immediate and long-term impact of women and African Americans entering the work force in large numbers during World War I.

6.1.12.EconET.8.a: Relate social, cultural, and technological changes in the interwar period to the rise of a consumer economy and the changing role and status of women.

6.1.12.HistoryCC.11.c: Explain why women, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and other minority groups often expressed a strong sense of nationalism despite the discrimination they experienced in the military and workforce.

 6.1.12.CivicsDP.13.a: Analyze the effectiveness of national legislation, policies, and Supreme Court decisions in promoting civil liberties and equal opportunities (i.e., the Civil Rights Act,the Voting Rights Act, the Equal Rights Amendment, Title VII, Title IX, Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education).

6.1.12.HistoryCC.13.b: Explore the reasons for the changing role of women in the labor force in post- WWII America and determine its impact on society, politics, and the economy.

6.1.12.HistorySE.13.a: Use a variety of sources to explain the relationship between the changing role of women in the labor force and changes in family structure.

Essential Questions:

• How have attitudes about women changed?
• How have New Jersey women contributed to the improvement of society?
• How have individuals or groups taken actions to promote the dignity and rights of people?
• How does understanding multiple perspectives help us to make more informed decisions?
• How have events of the past shaped the present?

Procedures/Activities:

Brainstorming Activity.  Have students brainstorm women’s responsibilities at various times in history (e.g., the colonial period, during the American Revolution, after the Civil War, during the period of industrial development, during World War II, in the 1960s and 70s, and today).  Responses may include cooking, cleaning, shopping, taking care of children, nursing, educating children, etc. During the colonial period, the country was primarily agricultural and women worked on the farms alongside men, feeding animals, growing food, making clothing (weaving and sewing) in addition to taking care of the house and children.  During the American Revolution, women maintained the farm and the home and children as well as protecting their family, supporting the troops and nursing injured soldiers. As the market economy grew and women no longer made everything for themselves at home, opportunities to work outside the home expanded and many more women, especially young women and even young girls, supported their family’s income by working in factories, particularly textile factories, weaving and sewing with machines, as well as teaching in schools and working in offices.  Now that we have an “information” society and instant communication, how has the role of women changed?

Create a graphic organizer.  Use Handout 1: Timeline of New Jersey Women, and place NJ women on the timelines.  Add more boxes as necessary.  Ask:  What trend do you see on the chart? (There were more women doing exceptional things born around the turn of the 20^th century.)  Why do you think that happened? ( More opportunities became open to women.)

Critical thinking activity:  Have students form groups to study one or more New Jersey women in detail. Use the information provided in this lesson or have students do their own research. Jigsaw the groups and have students share what they learned.  Have the class analyze the contributions of the New Jersey women and their time periods using Handout 2. Then discuss:

• How have New Jersey women contributed to the improvement of society?
• Why would you consider these women courageous? Can you picture yourself doing what they did? To what cause do you feel it is worth devoting your time?
• How has the role of women changed over time?

1. New Jersey Women in Colonial America

Background:  Although women were a critical part of the development of the country in the colonial period, women in the English colonies in North America were considered dependents, much like children. Beginning with the First Great Awakening, a revitalization of religious piety that swept through the American colonies between the 1730s and 1770s, women started to form female voluntary associations within their churches, giving them a separate but influential role.

Sarah Kiersted: Sarah Kiersted had settled in New Netherland prior to its takeover by the British in 1664. At a time when many women were illiterate, Kiersted learned the language of the Leni-Lenape and became a trusted interpreter for the Lenape chief, Orafam, as he negotiated peace between natives and the colonists. Although it remains unclear how Kiersted acquired the native language skills, one source speculates that she learned as a child from her father, a fur trapper.  Kiersted was the wife of a surgeon for the Dutch West India Co. and a mother of 10.  The Indian chief so valued her friendship and service through the years that before his death near the age of 90, he gifted Kiersted a deed for about 2,250 acres, stretching from the Hackensack River to Overpeck Creek. The first non-native land owner in the region, Kiersted was able to retain rights to the property even after the British seized control of the region. She never lived on the land. Today, the land makes up Ridgefield Park, as well as parts of Teaneck and Bogota.  For additional information on Sarah Kiersted, see Sarah Kiersted - New Jersey Women's History

Annis Boudinot Stockton:  Born in 1736, Annis Boudinot married Richard Stockton, an attorney from an elite Princeton, New Jersey family.  Annis was one of the first women to be published in the Thirteen Colonies. She wrote and published her poems in leading newspapers and magazines of the day and was part of a Mid-Atlantic writing circle. She was the author of more than 120 works, but it was not until 1985, when a manuscript copybook long held privately was given to the New Jersey Historical Society, that most of her works became known. Before that, she was known to have written 40 poems. Annis became known as the "Duchess of Morven", the name of the Stockton estate in Princeton, New Jersey. They entertained prominent guests, including George Washington, with whom she had a correspondence, including numerous poems. She died in 1801.

Portrait of Annis Boudinot Stockton

For additional information see, Annis Boudinot Stockton | George Washington's Mount Vernon); or read My Story: Annis Boudinot Stockton, November 1776 – njcssjournal

2. New Jersey Women During the American Revolution

Background:  The effort to rely on domestic rather than imported products leading up to and during the American Revolutionary War turned domestic actions such as spinning and weaving American cloth into patriotic acts.  Women made critical contributions not only by providing clothing, bandages and food for the army; but also by raising funds, storing ammunition and other war materials; caring for the sick and wounded; serving as spies and couriers; managing farms, businesses and families in the absence of husbands and fathers; and defending their families and homes. The mobilization of women in such public roles challenged traditional ideas of female dependence on men. The contradiction was resolved by the concept of “republican motherhood,” which gave women a domestic, patriotic duty to educate their sons to be virtuous citizens, rather than for them to be direct, active participants in the body politic.

Patience Lowell Wright: Born on Long Island in 1725, Patience Lowell and her family moved to Bordentown, New Jersey when she was four years old. Her father, John Lovell, was a devout Quaker. She became passionate about sculpting, and moved to Philadelphia. She married fellow Quaker Joseph Wright and we moved back to Bordentown. Her husband died unexpectedly in 1769. Together with her sister Rachel, also a widow, she started a business making wax sculptures. They moved to London where Benjamin Franklin introduced them to important people who wanted to be sculpted.  When war broke out. Patience used her wax statues to smuggle out letters to the Continental Congress, passing on military and political news from business and social conversations. Patience died in London in 1786.  For additional information on Patience Lowell Wright, see Patience L. Wright | American Battlefield Trust

Ann Cooper Whitall: Born into the Cooper family in Woodbury in 1716 and married fellow Quaker James Whitall, Ann kept a diary between 1760 and 1762 and recorded how to live a Christian life. On October 22, 1777, around 1200 Hessians attacked Fort Mercer, an earthen fort on the New Jersey side of the Delaware in Gloucester County that had been constructed by the Continental Army, Ann calmly sat down to do some spinning. When a stray shot entered the house she simply moved to the cellar to continue. After the battle, she turned her home into a hospital and nursed wounded soldiers. A few weeks later the American army was forced to abandon Fort Mercer and the British army ransacked their house. Her actions when war came to our doorstep led future generations to hail her as the “Heroine of Red Bank.” Ann Cooper Whitall died in 1797 at the age 82 during a yellow fever epidemic that also took five of her children.   For additional information on Anne Cooper Whithall, see Ann Cooper Whitall - New Jersey Women's History.

Theodosia Ford: Born in 1741 in Connecticut, Theodosia’s family moved to Morristown, NJ, when Theodosia was less than a year old because her father was assigned as pastor to the Morristown First Presbyterian Church.  In 1762, Theodosia married Jacob Ford, a land, mill and mine owner in Morristown. He built a large Georgian mansion house on 200 acres. Theodosia had five children. After 1776, her husband, a militia colonel, was largely away from home.  He had been trying to complete the house in Morristown while also running the gunpowder mill he owned, supplying gunpowder to the Patriot forces, and serving as colonel of the local militia regiment.  Men from the shrinking and dilapidated Continental Army had arrived in Morristown after winning the battles of Trenton and Princeton.  Jacob Ford had returned home because he was not well. He died of pneumonia on January 10, 1777 and Theodosia was left alone to deal with his affairs, take care of the children, and deal with the 35 soldiers assigned to spend the winter in their house. Less than two years later, colonial Quartermaster Nathanial Greene requested the use of the spacious Ford house as a winter headquarters for General Washington. Theodosia agreed to the rental of several rooms, reducing the family space to two rooms. General Washington and his staff moved into her home on Dec. 1, 1779 and remained until June 1780 during one of the harshest winters ever recorded. Theodosia Ford died in 1824.  For additional information on Theodosia Ford, see My Story: Theodosia Ford, Morris County, NJ, January 1777 – njcssjournal

Molly Pitcher: “Molly Pitcher” was a nickname given to a woman said to have fought in the American Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth. The name itself may have originated as a nickname given to women who carried pitchers and buckets of water to men on the battlefield during the war.  It is generally believed that the woman at the Battle of Monmouth was Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley.

Mary Ludwig was born in 1754, on a farm near Trenton, New Jersey. In 1768, she moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she met William (also known as John) Hays, a local barber. They married the following year. At the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778, Mary Hays spent much of the early day carrying water to soldiers and artillerymen, often under heavy fire from British troops. The weather was hot, over 100 degrees.  Sometime during the battle, William Hays collapsed, either wounded or suffering from heat exhaustion.  As her husband was carried off the battlefield, Mary Hays took his place at the cannon. For the rest of the day, in the heat of battle, Mary continued to "swab and load" the cannon using her husband's ramrod. At one point, a British musket ball or cannonball flew between her legs and tore off the bottom of her skirt. Mary supposedly said something to the effect of, "Well, that could have been worse," and went back to loading the cannon. Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley died in 1832.

Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth, Currier and Ives lithograph, Library of Congress

For additional information, watch the 90-second video about Molly Pitcher at Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth; or read,  Molly Pitcher | American Battlefield Trust)

Revolutionary Women Activity: Invite students to go to Meet Your Revolutionary Neighbors - Crossroads of the American Revolution.  Then have them address the following questions in a class discussion or short essay:

• How did these women defy the acceptable role for their gender during this time period?
• How does war open possibilities that otherwise might not exist?
• What other roles did New Jersey women play during the American Revolution? For more information, go to Meet Your Revolutionary Neighbors at Meet Your Revolutionary Neighbors - Crossroads of the American Revolution

3. New Jersey women in the antebellum period: Abolition and the Underground Railroad in New Jersey

Background:  In spite of their enormous contributions during the war and the ringing Revolutionary War rhetoric about “freedom” and “equality,” women still had few legal rights afterwards.  Alone among the 13 states, New Jersey’s first state constitution allowed women (but only unmarried women who owned property), as well as free African Americans, to vote. Although these women formed a tiny percentage of New Jersey’s electorate, in 1807 the New Jersey legislature limited the vote to white, male citizens who paid taxes.  See “The Petticoat Politicians of 1776: New Jersey’s First Female Voters” at  The Petticoat Politicians of 1776: New Jersey’s First Female Voters.

The Second Great Awakening, a religious revival that reached its peak in the 1820s, brought together religious beliefs and a sense of civic mission with female voluntary organizations formed to improve the community. Women carved out a public space—a ”women’s sphere”—between the home and the formal organizations of government.  To a large extent, the women’s sphere reflected a change in the work force:  the movement from an agrarian culture where the whole family worked on the farm to a wage labor economy where men went to work outside the farm while middle class wives remained at home with domestic chores to do.

Although women in the early 1800s had few legal rights, they exercised those few rights they did have—most notably their First Amendment rights to associate and to petition the government—to promote change. Women who never imagined demanding rights for themselves, signed petition opposing the removal of Cherokee Indians from their tribal lands and the expansion of slavery into new western territories.  It is estimated that petitions from women made up approximately 70 percent of the petitions sent to Congress seeking the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, until Congress enacted a “gag rule” in 1836 which continued until 1844.

As northern states ended slavery, slaves from southern states fled north where they could be free. In 1804, New Jersey had passed a law gradually eliminating slavery (when a female became 21 and a male 25).  New Jersey became a crossroad for fugitive slaves, often helped by Quaker women and one remarkable escaped slave, Harriet Tubman.   New Jersey was close to the two most active Underground Railroad cities--New York and Philadelphia--and to Maryland and Delaware.  Also there were a large number of all-black communities in NJ that served as sanctuaries for fugitive slaves.  For example, in the mid 1800's Salem County, NJ had a population of 2,075 free blacks and a large number of Quakers, all who aided them in their escape.  No other northern state exceeded New Jersey in the number of all-black communities that served as Underground Railroad sanctuaries for southern fugitive slaves. Fugitive slaves crossed the Delaware Bay to New Jersey, travelled across at various safe houses to Jersey City and at the Morris Canal basin fled by boat across the Hudson River (called the “River Jordan”) to go to Canada, New England or New York City

Following increased pressure from Southern politicians, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850, a group of bills designed to quiet calls for Southern secession. The 1850 Act made it easier to retake fugitive slaves. It also denied slaves the right to a jury trial and increased the penalty for helping fugitives to escape to $1000 (a lot of money in the 1850s!) and six months in jail. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was met with even more impassioned criticism and resistance than the earlier measure. The Underground Railroad reached its peak in the 1850s. It is estimated that more than 100,000 slaves escaped to freedom.

Harriet Tubman: Harriet Tubman was the most famous “conductor” of the Underground Railroad. Born into slavery around 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman escaped and fled to Pennsylvania in 1849. She worked summers in Cape May, NJ and returned to Maryland and rescued members of her family and others.  She made 19 trips into the South and, over a period of ten years, conducted approximately 300 people to freedom in the North across New Jersey to New York City or to Canada, without ever losing any of her charges.

Harriet Tubman, Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-7816

Her formula for success was quite simple: although she frequently changed her routes leading to the North, Ms. Tubman always began the escapes on Saturday nights. This was significant for two reasons. First, slaves were often not required to work on Sunday. Therefore, their owners might not notice their absence until Monday morning. Secondly, newspapers would not be able to report runaway slaves until the beginning of the week. These two facts often gave Tubman and the escapees enough time to get a head start to their destination in the free states.  During the Civil War Tubman worked for the Union as a cook, a nurse, and even a spy. After the war she settled in Auburn, New York, where she would spend the rest of her long life.  She died in 1913.

Numerous books have been written about Harriet Tubman, as well as videos, televisions shows, and websites:

• Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: An American Hero (Larson)
• Harriet Tubman: the Road to Freedom (Clinton)
• Harriet Tubman: The Moses of her People (Bradford)

For additional information about Harriest Tubman, see:

• Harriet Tubman: Biography, Abolitionist, Underground Railroad
• Harriet Tubman: Facts, Underground Railroad & Legacy | HISTORY
• The Life of Harriet Tubman for Kids | Learn facts about Harriet Tubman | Black History Month
• Harriet Tubman

Abigail Goodwin: Less well-known than Harriet Tubman, Abigail Goodwin was responsible for helping hundreds if not thousands of slaves find freedom in the north through the Underground Railroad in New Jersey. Abigail Goodwin (1793-1867) was the daughter of a Quaker farmer in Salem, New Jersey, who had freed his slaves during the American Revolution.  She and her sister, Elizabeth, were fervent abolitionists.  Abigail was thrown out of the Orthodox Quaker Meeting in Salem for joining a group of radical Quakers fighting for the total abolition of slavery.

Abigail Goodwin, From William Still, The Underground Railroad, 1872

When Amy Reckless, a slave for one of Salem County’s wealthiest families, who set herself free  returned to Salem, she partnered with the Goodwin sisters in collecting goods and financial contributions to help fugitive slaves escape.  By the 1830s, Abigail had emerged as an active figure in the Underground Railroad movement and the Goodwin home became a key station on the Underground Railroad.  She often raised money and sent it to abolitionists to purchase slaves in the Carolinas and free them. She provided lodging, food, clothing and money to the fugitives who came to her home to continue their journey. 

Due in part to her efforts many slaves living in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia were aware of this region as a safe haven for runaways. Abigail Goodwin devoted her life to helping runaway slaves and encouraging the end of slavery and she has been noted as one of the most important Underground Railroad agents. 

For more information about Abigail Goodwin go to Abigail Goodwin, Quaker Abolitionist | Salem County Cultural & Heritage Commission.  Also see the “Slavery and the Underground Railroad in New Jersey”  lesson at https://civiced.rutgers.edu/nj-lessons/new-jersey-history-lessons

4.New Jersey women after the Civil War

Background: For a small group of women the fight against slavery offered a model for analyzing their own oppression and for mobilizing to change the status quo.  In the 1840s, women’s rights advocates and their supporters worked in a number of states to obtain legal and economic rights for women—rights to property, custody of their children in a divorce and to their own earnings and inheritances.  Meeting at the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in1848, and at women’s rights conventions throughout the northeast and midwest  that followed in the 1850s, women began to publicly articulate their demands for equal rights. The Seneca Falls Convention unanimously supported advocacy for a woman’s right to property, custody of their children, right to earnings and inheritance.  Female suffrage was not a primary issue.  A resolution supporting women’s right to vote passed only by a bare majority.

By 1865, 29 states, including New Jersey, had enacted some form of women’s property reform, such as sole control over property they brought into the marriage or received afterwards.  Yet, when the Fifteenth Amendment was passed by Congress in 1869, it only extended the vote to African American males, not women.  The battle for women’s suffrage moved to the states. In 1869, Wyoming granted women the right to vote, followed by Colorado, Utah and Idaho.  In 1915, the New Jersey Legislature voted down a measure to grant women the right to vote. Women in New Jersey, as in most of the country, did not gain the right to vote until passage of the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.

During this time period after the Civil War, a larger number of women were getting a decent education and colleges for women were opening. More women were becoming teachers and nurses, as well as earning a living by making textiles, shoes and hats, doing laundry, taking in boarders or domestic service.  Yet, proscriptions against married women working outside the home placed limits even on the career aspirations of affluent, educated women who might want to marry. The prevailing idea was that men were the breadwinners and should bring home wages sufficient to sustain the family and protect women from the harsh realities of the working world. 

After the Civil War, women’s efforts  to improve society expanded to include the Temperance Movement, efforts to help the poor and disabled, to gain rights as workers, and to eliminate corruption in government and in the economy.

Clara Barton: Clarissa "Clara" Barton was born in 1821 in Massachusetts. She became an educator in 1838. Barton became interested in providing a good education for all children in the community while visiting a friend in Bordentown, NJ. Although laws existed in New Jersey for free public education, they were never implemented. There were private schools for the wealthy and pauper schools for others. Barton started the nation’s first free public school in Bordentown in 1852 with six children in a one-room school house. By the following year, there were over 600 children in the program, receiving lessons from teachers housed in locations all over the city.

Clara Barton, c. 1866 U.S. National Park Service

In 1855, Barton moved to Washington D.C. and began work as a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office. This was the first time a woman had received a substantial clerkship in the federal government and at a salary equal to a man's salary. Subsequently, under political opposition to women working in government offices, her position was reduced to that of copyist, and then eliminated entirely.  At a time when relatively few women worked outside the home, Barton never married and built a career helping others. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Barton set up a system of procurement getting food and comfort to both sides of the conflict. In 1864 she was appointed by the Union as “lady in charge" of the hospitals at the front along the James River in Virginia. She became known as the "Angel of the Battlefield."

After the war, Barton ran the Office of Missing Soldiers and created a network that helped families find and reunite with their loved ones. As the war ended, she helped locate thousands of missing soldiers, including identifying the dead at Andersonville prison in Georgia. Barton lobbied for U.S. recognition of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and became president of the American branch when it was founded in 1881. Barton continued her humanitarian work throughout several foreign wars and domestic crises before her death in 1912.  For additional information, visit Clara Barton: Biography, and American Red Cross Founder Nurse Clara Barton Biography;  or watch a short video at Clara Barton - Famous Nurse | Mini Bio | BIO

5. New Jersey women during the Progressive Era (1890-1920)

Background: The pace and intensity of industrialization accelerated dramatically after the Civil War. Especially after 1890, immigrants, seeking work or freedom from oppression, flooded to the United States and cities grew rapidly.  Railroads stretched across the continent moving people and goods.  Businesses were turning into large corporations with growing influence. The Progressive Era was a time of great flux and hope. Unions were being formed to protect workers and expand their rights, although few included women. The women’s suffrage movement was building towards victory.

In the 1890s, the majority of wage earning women had been single and between 15 and 25 years old. Between 1900 and 1940, the percentage of wage earning women over 25 grew from 18% to 31% of female workers.  Not only were more women working, but they were working at an expanded array of businesses and professions.  A few fearless women were challenging the status quo and entering professions to become doctors and lawyers.

Workers did not yet have the right to strike, although withholding their labor was often the only way to influence corporate decisions.  The country was wracked by strikes in the late 1800s and early twentieth century.  Immigrant textile workers, many of them women, won a stunning victory in 1912 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, for higher pay when they walked off their jobs in response to a pay reduction.  A strike by silk workers in Paterson, New Jersey, the following year hoped to replicate these efforts.  However, the right of employees to join labor unions and to bargain collectively through their representatives with their employers was not established until 1935.

Beginning at the turn of the 20^th century, some middle and working-class women obtained sales or clerical jobs in newly expanding retail stores or business offices. The poorest women—immigrants, African Americans and other minorities—continued to work after marriage often in the lowest paid and least desirable jobs because they needed to earn wages for their families. Without union protection, many women began to look to state regulation to address their low wages and harsh industrial working conditions.  A number of states pressed by (often female) reformers, enacted protective labor legislation for women and children to provide safe and clean working conditions, minimize health hazards, shorten hours and put a floor under wages.

Elizabeth White: Elizabeth Coleman White (1871-1954) grew up on her father's cranberry farm in Whitesbog, an agricultural community in the Pine Barrens in Pemberton Township, New Jersey.  Whitesbog was the largest cranberry farm in the state and its founder (her father) was a nationally recognized leader in the cranberry industry.  At the time, people did not believe that blueberries could be domesticated.  In 1911, Elizabeth White became interested in blueberry propagation and, using her father's farm, she collaborated with Dr. Frederick Coville, a U.S. Department of Agriculture botanist, to identify wild blueberry plants with the most desirable properties, crossbreed the bushes and create vibrant new blueberry varieties based on wild varieties. By 1916, they had developed blueberry plants that could be grown and sold commercially.  In 1927, she helped to start the New Jersey Cooperative Blueberry Association. Thanks to Elizabeth White, blueberries are now produced in 38 states, with Michigan producing the most but New Jersey not far behind! For additional information on Elizabeth White,  see Elizabeth Coleman White - New Jersey Women's History;  or read and view video at Elizabeth Coleman White – New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Elizabeth Coleman White

Mary Philbrook: Mary Philbrook was born in Washington, D.C. in 1872, but her family moved to Jersey City by the time she was six. She attended Public School #11 (now the Martin Luther King, Jr. School) and then Jersey City High School (now William L. Dickinson High School).  Philbrook left school before graduating to become a stenographer in a law office, and she applied to be admitted to the New Jersey Bar in February 1894. The fact that Mary had not attended college, law school, or even finished high school was no barrier to her admission as a lawyer.  At the time, candidates to be lawyers did not need to go to law school or even college to apply to take the bar exam. Some three hundred female lawyers were practicing in thirty other states, but the New Jersey Court decided that "[a] woman is not, by virtue of her citizenship, vested by the Constitution . . . with any absolute right. . . to practice as an attorney."

New Jersey suffragists  lobbied the New Jersey legislature to pass a law in 1895 allowing women to become lawyers in the state, and Mary Philbrook was the first to be admitted on June 6, 1895.  In 1906 she was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the first woman from New Jersey to be so appointed. Philbrook volunteered to be counsel for the Legal Aid Society in Jersey City.  She supported the militant activism of Alice Paul and her National Woman's Party in Washington, D.C.  After the passage of the 19th amendment, Philbrook worked with Alice Paul for the passage of an equal rights amendment. In 1947 Philbrook led a successful effort to change the wording of the New Jersey Constitution to insure equal rights for women. As a result the word "persons" is used to include both sexes, making sexual discrimination unconstitutional. Mary Philbrook died in 1958.

Mary Philbrook

Every year, the Rutgers School of Law - Camden confers the Mary Philbrook Public Interest Award to a distinguished individual who has honored the spirit of Mary Philbrook by serving the public interest in the legal field. The award is presented at a gala dinner that also honors law school students who have particularly distinguished themselves in public interest law.  For additional information on Mary Philbrook, see Mary Philbrook - New Jersey Women's History

Maria Boggio Botto: Maria Boggio (1870-1915) was born in Italy and married Pietro Botto at age 15 in 1885. They emigrated to the United States in 1892 and found work as silk weavers in West Hoboken. In 1908 they had saved enough money to build a house in Haledon, near the last trolley stop from Paterson, and moved there, continuing to work as silk weavers at the silk factories in Paterson.

The Botto House, Haledon, NJ, used during the Paterson Silk Strike in 1913

Their home, on a hill in the countryside but easily accessed from Paterson, became a popular meeting place for silk workers. During the long and unsuccessful labor protest against the Paterson silk mills in 1913, the striking workers had been prohibited from meeting and marching in Paterson by the mayor. But the socialist mayor of Haledon invited them there and the Botto house became the focus of meetings and rallies.  In addition, Maria Botto provided room and board for striking workers. She died at age 45 in 1915. The Botto home on Norwood Road is now a national historic landmark as the American Labor Museum.  For additional information see Marietta Boggio Botto - New Jersey Women's History

Hannah Silverman: Born in 1896, Hannah Silverman was a 17-year old picket-line captain during the Paterson Silk Strike, which began on February 25, 1913 when some 24,000 workers walked off their jobs shutting down 300 silk mills. Silverman fought for an eight-hour working day, minimum pay of $12 a week, better working conditions and the right to have a union.  Addressing a crowd of 20,000 striking workers one Sunday she said, “I’ve been to county jail three times already, but they can’t keep me away from the picket lines!” The Paterson Daily News called Silverman “one of the leading lights in the present strike,” and The New York Times found her “pretty and intelligent” and a “match” for prosecutors in courtroom savvy.

Hannah Silverman, 1913

Stretching over six long months, the silk-workers strike ended in defeat for the workers. It took until 1919 for silk mill employees to receive an eight-hour workday. Silverman’s labor activism ended with the close of the strike. She died in 1960 at the age of sixty-four.  For additional information see Hannah Silverman and the 1913 Paterson Silk Strike 

Alice Paul: Alice Paul was born in 1885 to a Quaker family. Her father was a successful businessman and the family lived at Paulsdale, a 173-acre farm in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. Her Quaker family supported gender equality and the need to work for the betterment of society. Alice Paul graduated from Swarthmore College and was the commencement speaker. She worked in the settlement movement in New York and went to study social work in England, where she met radical suffragettes, who were taking public action such as protests to bring attention to the secondary status of women. Paul joined the movement and was arrested several times.

She returned to the U.S. and, while other suffragists continued to focus on state campaigns to gain the right to vote, Paul joined with Lucy Burns to work for the passage of a constitutional amendment ensuring women’s right to vote in the United States. They organized a publicity event—a parade of several thousand women in Washington, D.C., in March 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Although planned as an elegant progression of symbolically dressed, accomplished, and professional women, the parade quickly devolved into a riot. Paul used this event to rally public opinion to the women's cause. In 1916, Paul stood with other radical suffragists outside the White House holding banners demanding the right to vote and criticizing President Wilson.

After the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, the picketers began to be arrested and sent to a Workhouse in Virginia. They staged hunger strikes and were beaten and forced fed. The growing public support for the women led President Wilson to endorse a Constitutional Amendment to grant women the right to vote in 1917 and the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave the right to vote to women in the United States, was passed in 1919 and became law the following year, thanks to Alice Paul and her fearless colleagues. Paul died in 1977.

For additional information about Alice Paul, see the 90-second video about Alice Paul at Alice Paul, Women's Rights Activist;  or read at Dr. Alice Paul (U.S. National Park Service); or read a detailed lesson on “Alice Paul and the Suffragist Movement” at https://civiced.rutgers.edu/nj-lessons/new-jersey-history-lessons

Caroline Bamberger:  Caroline Bamberger Fuld (1864–1944) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist most noted for co-founding (with her brother Louis Bamberger) the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.  She grew up in Baltimore, the fifth of six children to immigrants from Bavaria, Germany, who had dry goods stores.  Caroline married Louis Meyer Frank and moved to Philadelphia in 1883. A decade later, Caroline, her brother, her husband and her brother’s friend Felix Fuld, founded L. Bamberger and Co. in Newark, NJ. The historic Bamberger's flagship store in downtown Newark was a massive 14-story building that covered an entire city block.  Bamberger’s developed new methods of retail advertising and selling, including a phone exchange that was devoted solely to Bamberger's, with local direct-dial numbers for most of New Jersey's suburbs for telephone orders, known as "Tele-Service."

Louis Frank died in 1910 and Caroline married Felix Fuld three years later. Neither marriage produced children.  Louis Bamberger lived with Caroline and Felix Fuld on a jointly owned thirty-three-acre estate that straddled Newark and its suburbs, South Orange and East Orange, where they had gardens and asold L. Bamberger and Co. to R. H. Macy and Co., fortuitously before the stock market crash. Subsequently, Carolyn devoted her energies to philanthropy.  She contributed to Jewish charities,  small working farm. After Felix Fuld’s death in 1929, Louis Bamberger and Carolyn Bamberger Fuld sold L. Bamberger and Co. to R. H. Macy and Co., fortuitously before the stock market crash. Subsequently, Carolyn devoted her energies to philanthropy.  She contributed to Jewish charities, including Newark's Beth Israel Hospital, the Jewish Relief Committee, and Hadassah. In 1931, she was elected national director of the National Council of Jewish Women.  Most remembered, however, is the decision in 1929 by Caroline and her brother to support and endow financially what became the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.  Caroline Bamberger Fuld and Louis Bamberger contributed $5 million in 1930 for its initial endowment, and approximately $18 million altogether.  Caroline was vice-president of the nascent Institute until 1933, and thereafter was a life trustee.  The Institute became an important center for scholarship and counted among its first professor Albert Einstein and other refugees from Hitler’s Germany. For additional information see Carrie Bamberger Frank Fuld | Jewish Women's Archive

Caroline Bamberger Fuld, 1920

Effa Manley Born in 1900 in Philadelphia, the daughter of a white woman married to a black man, Effa continually walked the line between black and white. Following high school, Effa moved to New York City where she worked, as a white woman, in a department store in New York City, though she lived in predominantly black neighborhoods and married black men.  Often found at Yankee Stadium watching Babe Ruth, Manley dedicated her time to local social organizations and causes. For example, in 1935 she walked the picket line in a successful campaign to get local businesses to hire black employees, a “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” campaign.

Effa Manley, Baseball Hall of Fame Library, BL 757-86

She met her second husband, Abraham Manley, at the 1932 World Series. In 1935, the Manleys co-owned a Negro League baseball team, called the Eagles, in Brooklyn, New York. The team relocated to Newark, New Jersey the following year.  Effa handled the bulk of the team’s off-the-field activities, from scheduling games to arranging transportation to negotiating contracts with players. She was easily the most-powerful woman in baseball in the 1940s. “She was unique and effervescent and knowledgeable,” said Monte Irvin, the Hall of Famer who played shortstop and outfield for the Newark Eagles. “She ran the whole business end of the team.” Under her stewardship, the Eagles won the Negro League World Series in 1946.

Manley also helped to improve the conditions for the players in the Negro Leagues. She spoke out in favor of better scheduling, improved pay, and upgraded accommodations and assisting players with jobs. She also used her position with the club to promote a variety of causes and benefits. As treasurer for the New Jersey chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Effa used Eagles games as opportunities for fundraisers, including an anti-lynching day. The team invited soldiers during World War II to Eagles games for free. The club hosted benefits for causes such as the Harlem Fight for Freedom Committee and the Newark Community Hospital.

The Negro Leagues faded as a result of the integration of Major League Baseball in 1947. The Manleys sold the Eagles in 1948, but not before trading Larry Doby, from Paterson, NJ, the second player to integrate to the Cleveland Indians.  Effa required that the Indians pay her for Doby’s contract, setting a precedent for Negro League players going into the majors.  In the 1950s, Manley turned her energies to the Civil Rights Movement.  In 1976, she co-authored Negro Baseball ... before Integration, about notable Negro League players, and wrote letters lobbying for Negro leaguers to be admitted into the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame.  She died in 1981. In 2006, Manley was elected as an executive/pioneer to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Of the nearly 300 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Effa is the only woman.

For additional information, see Effa Manley: Pioneering Woman in Baseball & Champion of Civil Rights, Effa Manley - Behind The Plaques, and  Manley, Effa | Baseball Hall of Fame

6. New Jersey women during World War II

Background: As late as 1930, 57% of all wage-earning women were African-Americans or foreign-born. They worked as domestic servants or as machine operatives in the apparel and textile industries. Even industries that employed both men and women discriminated in wages: industrial wages for women were traditionally 50-65% of the level of wages for men. The idea of a man’s “family wage” remained predominant.

After U.S. entry into World War II, America began full-scale mobilization which required a larger industrial workforce at a time when one-sixth of the American adult population (16 million men and 300,000 women) entered the military.  Immigration had been largely cut off by the National Origins Act of 1924. For the first time, employers sought out women in large numbers for jobs that were traditionally held by men. To entice women into war work, the government mounted a massive propaganda campaign. “Rosie the Riveter” became a national heroine, portrayed in magazines, advertisements and posters emphasizing women’s patriotic duty.  By 1944, there were more women employed in factories than there had been in the entire labor force in 1940. Women read blueprints, worked machine tools, maintained airplanes, oiled and ran trains. They worked as stevedores, blacksmiths, drill press operators, bus and taxi drivers.  New Jersey had many of its own “Rosie the Riveters” and interviews with several of them are available online.

“Rosie the Riveter”; American women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers during World War II, as widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force. Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home.  During the war, women replaced male workers in ordnance plants, shipyards, aircraft factories, and steel mills. But they also seized newly opened opportunities as musicians, scientists, doctors, attorneys, university professors, governmental officials, athletes, and teachers. The federal government itself hired a huge number of women. For their labor, women received high wartime wages, regulated hours, decent working conditions, and such support services as canteens and the day care provided through the Lanham Act. Moreover, the Women's Bureau, the War Production Board and the War Manpower Commission all endorsed the principle of equal pay.

Norman Rockwell’s cover of the Saturday Evening Post, May 29, 1943

 “Rosie the Riveter,” star of a government campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for the munitions industry, became perhaps the most iconic image of working women during the war.  See the video at Rosie the Riveter: Helping to Win WWII

Additional activity:  The New Jersey Digital Highway has a variety of lessons about New Jersey women during World War II.  For interviews with three such New Jersey women (Jean C. Comeforo, Mary Robinson and Alice Jennings Archibald) and two Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP’s), go to Interviews and Stories | New Jersey Digital Highway.  Have students compare and contrast the different experiences of each woman.  How did each woman view her contribution to the war effort?

7. New Jersey  women in the 1950s and 60s

Background: By the end of World War II the female portion of the U.S. labor force had grown from 11 to 23%. The number of women in unions had also grown dramatically from 9% in 1940 to 22% in 1944. During the war, pressures for wives and children to stay at home were removed or at least eased and child care for working mothers became available. The most important impact of the war on working women was an increase in pay, although not anywhere near what men earned for the same jobs.  Although a bill to require equal pay for women was introduced and debated in 1945, it failed to pass.

Until the early 1960s, newspapers published separate job listings for men and women. Jobs were categorized according to sex, with the higher level jobs listed almost exclusively under "Help Wanted—Male." In some cases the ads ran identical jobs under male and female listings—but with separate pay scales. Separate, of course, meant unequal: between 1950 and 1960, women with full time jobs earned on average between 59–64 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned in the same job.

Separate Help Wanted Sections for Men and Women in the Elizabeth Daily Journal, Sept. 2, 1958

It wasn't until the passage of the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963 (effective June 11, 1964) that it became illegal to pay women lower rates for the same job strictly on the basis of their sex. Demonstrable differences in seniority, merit, the quality or quantity of work, or other considerations might merit different pay, but gender could no longer be viewed as a drawback on one's resumé. 

Two landmark decisions in the 1970s helped to narrow the pay gap. In 1970, the Third Circuit ruled in Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co.  that jobs need to be "substantially equal" but not "identical" to fall under the protection of the Equal Pay Act. An employer cannot, for example, change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them less than men. In Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, the U.S. Supreme Court held in 1974 that employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because that is what they traditionally received under the "going market rate." A wage differential occurring "simply because men would not work at the low rates paid women" was unacceptable.

The blatant discrimination apparent in these court cases seems archaic today, as does the practice of sex-segregated job listings. The workplace has changed dramatically in the decades since the passage of the Equal Pay Act.  But what has not changed, however, is women's pay. The wage gap has narrowed, but it is still significant. Women earned 59% of the wages men earned in 1963; in 2012 they earned 80.9% of men's wages—an improvement of about half a penny per dollar earned every year. .

Why do you think that there is still such a disparity? Are women not “leaning in” sufficiently and demanding their due? Do men not provide their share of domestic chores at home, requiring more time and energy to be spent by their wives? Does the absence of high quality day care for children impede the ability of women to seek and engage in more demanding positions?

Marie Katzenbach:  Marie Louise Hilson was born in 1882 in Trenton, New Jersey. She attended the Trenton Model School and at 18 went to work at an orphanage, the Union Industrial Home. She pushed for the children at the home to be educated in public schools, and when she joined the Board of Managers in 1913, she advocated for psychiatric treatment and special education.  She also worked as a librarian at the Trenton Free Library for 10 years, serving as chief of the cataloguing department.

Image courtesy of Nicholas DeB.Katzenbach

In 1911 Hilson married Edward L. Katzenbach, who would go on to serve as Attorney General of New Jersey from 1924 to 1929. They had two sons: Edward Lawrence Katzenbach, Jr. (February 24, 1919 – April 23, 1974), who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Education and Manpower Resources under John F. Kennedy, and Nicholas Katzenbach (January 17, 1922 – May 8, 2012), United States Attorney General and Under Secretary of State under Lyndon B. Johnson.

Marie Katzenbach was appointed to the State Board of Education in 1921. She served for decades and in 1956, became the first woman to head the State Board of Education. During her tenure she was instrumental in transforming the two-year “normal” schools into four-year colleges. She also pushed for the designation of Rutgers as the State University in 1955, taking particular interest in developing Douglass College for women.  Katzenbach Hall, a residential hall on the Douglass Campus built in 1963, is named for her.

 In 1923 Katzenbach was named to the board for the New Jersey School for the Deaf and was involved in the planning of the school's Trenton campus. She remained associated with the school for the rest of her life, and in 1965 it was renamed the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf in her honor. (See Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf)

Katzenbach was elected as vice-president of the State Constitutional Convention in 1947, and was responsible for altering the language of the New Jersey Constitution to ensure that women were considered “persons” under state law.  Katzenbach died at age 81, when she was seriously injured when her car ran into the education building. She died in 1970 at the age of 87 at her home in Princeton, New Jersey. For additional information, see Marie Hilson Katzenbach - New Jersey Women's History

Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Writer and aviation pioneer Anne Morrow was born in 1906 in Englewood, NJ.  Her father, Dwight W. Morrow, was a partner at J.P. Morgan & Co. who became American ambassador to Mexico and a Republican senator from New Jersey in the early 1930s. Her mother, Elizabeth Reeve Cutter Morrow, was a poet and teacher who later served as acting president of Smith College 1939-40. Anne Morrow was a 21-year old senior at Smith College in 1927 when she met Charles Lindbergh, arguably the most famous man in the world after completing the first-ever nonstop solo transatlantic flight earlier that year.  In 1929 she married Lindbergh and much of the early years of their marriage was spent flying.  In 1931 they journeyed in a single-engine plane over Canada and Alaska, and on to Japan and China. The flight was the inspiration for Anne Morrow Lindbergh's first book, "North to the Orient."

Anne Morrow Lindbergh on the cover of LIFE magazine, May 15, 1939

The Lindberghs’ first child, Charles Jr., was 20 months old in 1932 when he was stolen from his crib in his bedroom in the family’s sprawling but isolated home in Hopewell, New Jersey.  After weeks of negotiation with the kidnapper and an abortive delivery of $50,000 in ransom money, the body of the "Lindbergh baby" was found in the woods near the Lindbergh home on May 12; he had been killed shortly after the kidnapping. "The Crime of the Century," including the subsequent arrest, trial and conviction of the carpenter Bruno Richard Hauptmann, captivated the attention of the international media for the next several years. Hauptmann was executed for the crime in 1936, still protesting his innocence. (See the lesson, “New Jersey in the 1930s: The Depression and the Media” at https://civiced.rutgers.edu/)

In 1934, the National Geographic Society awarded Anne Morrow Lindbergh its Hubbard Gold Medal for her accomplishment of 40,000 miles of exploratory flying over five continents with her husband.  In addition, she was awarded the Cross of Honor of the U.S. Flag Association in recognition of her successes in surveying transatlantic air routes. She was also the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was an acclaimed author whose books and articles spanned the genres of poetry to non-fiction, touching upon topics as diverse as youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment, as well as the role of women in the 20th century.  Her 1956 book, Gifts from the Sea, presented eight inspirational essays concerning the meaning of a woman's life and was on the best seller list for months. She died in 2001. For additional information see and view video at Anne Morrow Lindbergh – New Jersey Hall of Fame;  or read at Anne Morrow Lindbergh | American Experience | Official Site | PBS

Virginia Apgar: Virginia Apgar was born in 1909 in Westfield, NJ, where she was raised.  She graduated from Mount Holyoke College, where she studied zoology with minors in physiology and chemistry, and from the Columbia University College of Physicians in 1933. In 1949, Apgar became the first woman to become a full professor at the Columbia University’s medical college, where she did clinical and research work.  In 1953, she introduced the first test, called the Apgar score, to assess the health of newborn babies. The Apgar score is calculated based on an infant's condition at one minute and five minutes after birth.

As part of the March of Dimes campaign to prevent birth defects, Dr. Apgar advises mother to “Be Good to Your Baby before It is Born;” c. 1968

In 1959, Apgar left Columbia and earned a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University. Also starting in 1959 until her death in 1974, Apgar worked for the March of Dimes Foundation, serving as vice president for Medical Affairs and directing its research program to prevent and treat birth defects.  Because gestational age is directly related to an infant’s Apgar score, Apgar was one of the first at the March of Dimes to bring attention to the problem of premature birth, now one of the March of Dimes top priorities. During this time, she wrote and lectured extensively, authoring articles in popular magazines as well as research work.

For additional information about Virginia Apgar, see Virginia Apgar | National Women's History Museum

Mary Roebling: Mary Gindhart was born in West Collingswood, New Jersey on July 29, 1905. In 1921, at the age of sixteen, Mary married a young soldier and musician named Arthur Herbert. They had a daughter but their marriage was cut short when Arthur died of blood poisoning in 1924. After the death of her husband, Mary became a secretary in a Philadelphia brokerage house while taking night classes in business administration and merchandising at the University of Pennsylvania. At the brokerage house, she met Siegfried Roebling, grandson of Colonel Washington Roebling, the builder of the Brooklyn Bridge. Siegfried ran one of the family's businesses, the Trenton Trust Company. He and Mary married in 1931 and had a son. Another tragedy befell Mary, however, when her second husband died in 1936.

Mary Roebling inherited Trenton Trust stock from her husband and took his seat on the Trenton Trust Company board. She was elected president of the board on January 21, 1937 and became the first woman to serve as president of a major American bank. Roebling established innovative practices of public relations and merchandising, as well as drive-in banking and a railroad station branch for Trenton commuters. Under her leadership, Trenton Trust's assets increased from 17 to 137 million in a twenty-eight year period. She served as either president or chair of the board until 1972 when the bank merged with National State. She then chaired the combined banks until 1984. From 1958 to 1962, Roebling served as governor of the American Stock Exchange--its first female governor.

Through several administrations, Roebling served as a civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army. She was made president of the new Army War College Foundation in 1978. Throughout her life, Mary Roebling was a strong supporter of equal rights for women. Her goal was "equal pay for equal work with equal opportunity for advancement." The promotion of women in business was extremely important to her. She felt that companies were not using women to their fullest advantage, and that women were concentrated in lower-echelon jobs and paid accordingly. She died on October 25, 1994 at her home in Trenton, NJ.

For additional information on Mary Roebling, see mary-roebling; or read mary-herbert-roebling.

Additional activity for New Jersey women in the 1950’s and ‘60’s: Consider the following questions for discussion:

• Evaluate the progress that women have made since 1945 in obtaining equal pay for equal work
• Identify the impediments that limit women’s progress towards full pay equity today.

8. New Jersey Women in Politics

Background: In 1940, women were still rarely speaking in public, held very few public offices, and had barely begun voting.  By 2015, 84 members of the U.S. House of Representatives or just under 20% were female, as well as 20 in the U.S.  Senate.  By 2020, 27.4% of the House members were women. 

Mary Norton: Mary Teresa Hopkins was born in Jersey City in 1875, the eldest daughter of staunch Roman Catholic, working-class, Irish parents. She attended a local parochial school, but did not complete her elementary education in consideration of her family's financial situation, a fact not revealed during her lifetime. She pursued an informal education at home with the assistance of her brother James. The family resources instead were reserved for James to be educated for the priesthood--not an uncommon sacrifice for daughters in Roman Catholic families of the times. Instead of becoming a priest, however, James Hopkins became the principal of Dickinson High School (then the High School of Jersey City) and later Superintendent of Schools in Jersey City. Norton's mother died when she was seventeen. When her father remarried, Norton and her two sisters moved to an apartment in New York City, attended Packard Business College for secretarial training, and worked in clerical positions to support themselves.

In 1909, Mary Teresa Hopkins married Robert Francis Norton, a widower with two children (raised by his mother) who managed a firm that made copper products in Jersey City. Their only son, Robert, died in infancy the following year.  Norton turned to public service and volunteer work. In 1912, she helped launch a nonsectarian day-care center that operated out of the basement of the St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. During the World War I years, she also organized a Red Cross workroom for women in the parish hall basement.  Based on her experience helping working women, Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague asked for Norton’s help in encouraging the newly enfranchised women to vote as Democrats.  Norton became a county freeholder in 1923, and then ran for and won a seat in congress in 1925, the first woman elected as a Democrat from an eastern state.  She chaired the State Democratic Committee from 1932 to 1935 and again from 1940 to 1944. In 1937, Norton became the senior Democrat on the House Labor Committee, a position which enabled her to shape the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which set a floor for wages and a ceiling for hours.  Working with Labor Secretary Frances Perkins and President Franklin Roosevelt, Norton played a strong role in creating a labor force that brought women and minorities to vital jobs in defense plants during World War II.

Norton refused to support the Equal Rights Amendment, as did the majority of women in the 1930s and 40s because it would nullify state laws that protected women in industry.  Instead, Norton worked for an equal pay law.  In 1944-45, she introduced the “Women’s Equal Pay Bill” and the “Fair Employment Practices Bill.”  After the defeat of these bills, she resigned from the Labor Committee in 1946. After serving a quarter-century, she retired at age seventy-five. Norton died in 1959.  For additional information about Mary T. Norton, see Mary Teresa Norton - New Jersey Women's History

Florence Price "Flo" Dwyer: Florence "Flo" Louise Price was born in 1902, in Reading, Pennsylvania. She left college to marry M. Joseph Dwyer, the Toledo football coach and, later, an industrial relations executive. The couple moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey. Florence Dwyer's role as a member of the local Parent Teacher Association initiated her interest in politics. She joined the Republican Club in Elizabeth in the 1930s, was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1944, and subsequently worked as a lobbyist in Trenton for the New Jersey Business and Professional Women's Clubs. She served in the New Jersey State Assembly 1949-57 eventually rising to the assistant majority leader post. In 1956, at the urging of New Jersey Senator Clifford Case, Dwyer entered the Republican primary for a U.S. House district encompassing Union County.  With support from President Eisenhower, she won. In her next four campaigns, she won increasingly by larger margins.  Redistricting in 1966 cost Dwyer her traditional Elizabeth base, so she sought re–election in another newly realigned district, which included part of Union County and eastern Essex County where she crushed her opponents.

Congresswoman Florence P. Dwyer, 1956, LC-USZ62-135423

The Congresswoman was not afraid to stand apart from other Republicans.  She was an early supporter of civil rights reform. Just a month into her first term in 1957, she introduced a version of the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration's Civil Rights Bill. In 1960, Dwyer introduced a bill to create a "Commission on Equal Job Opportunity Under Government Contracts," which aimed at providing for fair contract award processes for minority businesses and individuals. In March 1957, Representative Dwyer and colleague Cecil Harden of Indiana introduced "Equal Pay for Equal Work" legislation. " Dwyer also was a firm and early supporter of the ERA. In the 1972 elections she campaigned actively for Republican candidate and State Senator Matthew J. Rinaldo, who won the seat to succeed her. Dwyer retired to Elizabeth, New Jersey, where she resided until her death in 1976. For additional information on Florence Dwyer, see Florence Dwyer,73,Dies; Representative in Jersey - The New York Times and Jersey Honors Representative Dwyer - The New York Times

Millicent Fenwick: Millicent Hammond was born in New York City in 1910. Her father, Ogden Haggerty Hammond, was a wealthy financier and New Jersey state legislator; her mother, Mary Picton Stevens Hammond, died aboard the U.S.S. Lusitania in 1915 after a German U–boat torpedoed the ship. Millicent accompanied her father to Madrid when President Calvin Coolidge appointed him U.S. Ambassador to Spain. She attended Columbia University and later studied at the New School for Social Research. In 1934, she married businessman Hugh Fenwick, and they raised two children. The Fenwicks divorced in 1945 and Millicent Fenwick went to work to support her children. She modeled briefly for Harper’s Bazaar and then took a job as associate editor on the staff of Condé Nast’s Vogue magazine. In 1948, she wrote Vogue’s Book of Etiquette, a 600–page “treatise on proper behavior.” It sold more than a million copies. Fenwick left Vogue in 1952 and inherited a fortune when her father passed away a few years later.

Congresswoman Millicent Fenwick, 1976, LC-USZ62-122204

Fenwick joined the National Conference of Christians and Jews in an attempt to counter anti–Semitic propaganda in the United States after Hitler came to power in Germany in the 1930s and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1946. She served on the Bernardsville, New Jersey, board of education; and then as a member of the Bernardsville borough council. She won a seat in the New Jersey State Assembly at the age of 59 and served several years until New Jersey Governor William Cahill appointed her the state’s first director of consumer affairs.

Elected to Congress in 1974, Millicent Fenwick was an outspoken patrician who served four terms; earned the epithet “Conscience of Congress” with her fiscal conservatism, human rights advocacy, and dedication to campaign finance reform. Fenwick’s blueblood mannerisms belied her lifelong commitment to liberal activism on behalf of consumers, racial minorities, and women’s rights.  Although she was a fiscal conservative, Fenwick supported liberal social issues, such as equal rights, food stamps, abortion, and human rights. After leaving the House of Representatives following the 1982 election, Fenwick was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as United States Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy.  She held this position until 1987, when she retired from public life at the age of 77. Fenwick died at age 82 in 1992.

Congresswoman Fenwick is said to be the inspiration behind Lacey Davenport, a fictional character in Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury. Find some old Doonesbury cartoons with Lacey Davenport and compare them with what you know about Congresswoman Millicent Fenwick.

For additional information, see the 90-second video about Millicent Fenwick, or read and view video at millicent-fenwick-2

Helen Meyner: Helen Day Stevenson was born in 1929, to parents who worked for the American Red Cross, establishing units in Europe and Africa during World War I. William Stevenson later served as the president of Oberlin College in Ohio and also as U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines. Helen earned her bachelor’s degree in 1950 and immediately began to serve as a field worker for the Red Cross in Korea from 1950 to 1952 and then as a tour guide at the United Nations. From 1953 to 1956 she was hired by a major airline to travel around the globe on a promotional tour.  In 1956, she volunteered for the presidential campaign for her mother’s distant cousin, Adlai Stevenson. During the campaign, she met New Jersey Governor Robert Meyner, and they married in 1957. After Robert Meyner left office in 1962, Helen began writing a twice–weekly column for the Newark Star–Ledger, which she continued until 1969. She also hosted a New York–New Jersey television interview program from 1965 to 1968. In 1972, the state Democratic committee convinced Meyner to enter the race as the new Democratic nominee in the heavily Republican district, which she lost. Two years later in 1974, her GOP opponent was compromised by revelations that he kept a woman who did not work in his office on his congressional payroll. This, coupled with the backlash resulting from the Watergate investigation, gave Meyner the edge and she won.

Congresswoman Helen Meyner, https://meynercenter.lafayette.edu

During her two terms in the House, Meyner served on the Foreign Affairs Committee, criticizing the nuclear arms race and opposing attempts by nonaligned nations to suspend or expel Israel from the United Nations. She condemned the 1975 U.N. resolution that equated Zionism with racism; however, she argued against using the incident as a pretext for U.S. withdrawal from the world organization. She also worked with her Garden State colleagues to save her district’s Picatinny Arsenal from closure; soon after, it was designated as the headquarters for the Army’s Armament Research and Development Command. Meyner actively promoted women’s rights and their increased involvement in politics. She developed a reputation as an even–tempered, thoughtful, and effective legislator, somewhat overshadowed by her New Jersey colleague, Millicent Fenwick. Meyner lost her seat in the 1978 election to James Courter by fewer than 6,000 votes, After leaving Congress, Meyner returned to Princeton, New Jersey, where she again worked for the state rehabilitation commission. She also served on the boards of several major corporations, where she developed a reputation for pushing women’s equality in corporate management. After her husband’s death in 1990, she moved to Captiva Island, Florida. She died in 1997.

For additional information about Helen Meyner, see Helen Stevenson Meyner - New Jersey Women's History

Margaret "Marge" Roukema: Margaret Scafati was born in 1929 in Newark to a first generation Italian-American family. Her father was an auto mechanic. A graduate of Montclair State College, she was a teacher in the Ridgewood Public Schools. She began her political career on the Ridgewood Board of Education in 1970 after the death of her 17-year-old son to leukemia. After working for former Gov. Tom Kean's campaign, she won  a seat in the House in 1980. After redistricting, Roukema's district was renumbered as the 5th District and became significantly more Republican than its predecessor. She was handily reelected in 1982 and nine more times after that with almost no opposition.

Congresswoman Marge Roukema, Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

She focused on family issues and welfare reform.  She deviated from her party on issues such as gun control and abortion. Roukema helped push through the Family and Medical Leave Act, which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Roukema’s committee assignments led her into legislative work on behalf of job training in the private sector, child support, welfare reform, and family leave policy. Her biggest legislative achievement was the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. It required large companies to extend unpaid leave time to new parents, disabled workers, and those caring for chronically ill relatives. Roukema secured the key compromise which helped pass the bill, an exemption for small businesses. She rose to be the longest-serving woman in the House, dean of the New Jersey congressional delegation and the most senior Republican on what would become the House Financial Services Committee, though was passed over for the panel chairmanship by House leadership. Roukema died in 2014.

For additional Information on Marge Roukema, see Margaret Roukema - New Jersey Women's History

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman: Bonnie Watson Coleman was born in 1945 in Trenton. She received a BA from Edison College. In 1974, she established the first Office of Civil Rights, Contract Compliance and Affirmative Action, in the New Jersey Department of Transportation and remained the Director of that office for six years. In 1980, Watson Coleman joined the Department of Community Affairs, where she held a number of positions including, Assistant Commissioner, responsible for Aging, Community Resources, Public Guardian and and as its chair from 1991 to 1993. Watson Coleman was a member of the Ewing Township Planning Board from 1996 to 1997. She was a member of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1998 and was its chair from 1990 to 1991. She served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1998 to 2015 for the 15th Legislative District.^[2] She is the first black woman in Congress from New Jersey.  In 2016, Coleman joined two other female members of Congress to found the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls.

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

For additional information on Bonnis Watson Coleman, see, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman - YouTube

Governor Christie Todd Whitman: Christine Todd Whitman was born in New York in 1946 into a distinguished political family. She spent most of her childhood at the family farm in Oldwick, New Jersey. Graduating from Wheaton College in 1968, she worked on Nelson Rockefeller’s presidential campaign. Subsequently she worked for Donald Rumsfeld at the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity and for the Republican National Committee. In 1974, she married John Whitman, the scion of another prominent political family. They had two children.  In 1982 she was elected freeholder in Somerset County where she served for two terms, the last as freeholder director.  She resigned in 1988 to accept an appointment to Governor Kean’s cabinet as Chair of the Board of Public Utilities. She left in 1990 to run for the U.S. Senate challenging popular Democratic incumbent Bill Bradley and came within 3 points of defeating him. 

Christine Todd Whitman was elected in November 1993 as the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, and its first woman governor, defeating incumbent Governor James J. Florio by a 1% margin. During her campaign, Whitman pledged to cut the state income tax by 30% over three years. She accomplished this by reducing the size of state government, refinancing the state’s pension fund and reducing the state’s scheduled pension payments. She was able to balance the state budget without deep spending cuts, but this led to future shortfalls in the state’s pension payments.

Environmental protection and preservation of open space were high priorities including a constitutional amendment, approved by the voters in 1998, which preserved open space, farmland and historic sites. The Garden State Preservation Trust was created to approve and finance the acquisition of 300,000 acres out of the 1 million acres deemed worthy of preservation.  Her other environmental initiatives included the clean-up and development of contaminated areas, stricter auto emission policies and environmentally sensitive transportation efforts.

Whitman was a moderate with regard to social issues. She vetoed a ban on “partial birth” abortions in 1997, but signed legislation in 1999 requiring parental notification for teens seeking abortions. She also supported reform of the juvenile justice system and created a welfare reform plan which included a work requirement.  Governor Whitman resigned in 2001 to become Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in President George W. Bush’s administration until 2003. After leaving office, she established a consulting firm that specializes in energy and environmental issues and serves on a number of non-profit organizations.

Christie Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey, as EPA Administrator

For additional information on Christie Todd Whitman, see Governor Christine Todd Whitman Biography

Kim Guadagno: Kim McFadden was born in Iowa in 1959. She moved to Monmouth Beach in New Jersey in 1991 after she married Michael Guadagno. Her husband is a judge of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division. He was appointed to the bench in 2005 and elevated to the Appellate Division in 2012. The Guadagnos have three sons. Kim Guadagno is a former Assistant United States Attorney and also served as Assistant New Jersey Attorney General 1994-2001. In 2007 she was elected sheriff of Monmouth County, the first woman to serve in that post.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, 2009-2017

On July 20, 2009, Republican gubernatorial nominee Christopher J. "Chris" Christie announced that Guadagno was his choice as running mate, in the first New Jersey election to include voting for a lieutenant governor. The Christie-Guadagno team won elections in 2009 and 2013. As the Lieutenant Governor, Guadagno is technically the second most powerful person in New Jersey’s state government after Governor Chris Christie. While Governor Christie was campaigning to be president in 2016, Guadagno found herself as acting governor more and more often.  She won the Republican nomination for governor in 2017, but lost her bid to Phil Murphy, with Sheila Oliver as Lt. Governor.

Sheila Oliver: Sheila Oliver was born in 1952 in Newark, where she graduated from Weequahic High School in 1970. She graduated from Lincoln University in 1974 in Sociology and was awarded an M.S. from Columbia University in Planning and Administration in 1976.

Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, 2018-2023

Oliver served on the Board of Education of the East Orange School District from 1994 to 2000, and was chosen by her peers to serve as its Vice President 1998-99 and President 1999-2000. She served on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders  for one term from 1996 to 1999, but was defeated for a second term on the board in the June 1999 Democratic primary election. Oliver was one of the founders of the Newark Coalition for Low Income Housing, an organization that successfully sued the Newark Housing Authority and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in federal court to block the demolition of all publicly subsidized low income housing in Newark, as there was no plan in place for the construction of replacement housing for low-income Newark residents.

Oliver was a member of the New Jersey State Assembly from 2004 until she ran for lieutenant governor in 2018.  She was elected unanimously by Assembly Democrats in 2009 to become the Speaker of the Assembly, the second woman to serve as Speaker in New Jersey history, the first being Marion West Higgins, who served in 1965, and the second African American to hold this post, the first being S. Howard Woodson, who first held the post in 1974. Nationwide, she became the second African American woman to lead a state legislature after Karen Bass of California.

In July 2017, Phil Murphy, the Democratic Party nominee for governor, selected Oliver as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey in the November 2017 election. The Murphy/Oliver ticket won the general election. Oliver was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor on January 16, 2018.

Critical thinking activity for New Jersey Women in Politics: What similarities do you see in the histories of those New Jersey who have won office?

9. New Jersey Women and the Courts

Marie Garibaldi: Marie L. Garibaldi was born in Jersey City in 1934. An only child, she lived most of her life in Hudson County, N.J. The Garibaldis raised their daughter with a strong belief in equal opportunity for women and encouraged her to pursue a nontraditional career path. She graduated from Connecticut College in 1956 and intended to follow in her grandfather's footsteps and attend business school, but learned first-hand that women weren't accepted. Instead, she enrolled in Columbia Law School, graduating in 1959, and earning a master of laws degree in tax law from New York University School of Law in 1963. She was a member of the New Jersey, New York, and District of Columbia Bars and the first woman to serve as president of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Marie Garibaldi

Justice Garibaldi began her legal career with the New York Regional Counsel in the Internal Revenue Service.  She briefly worked at the Riker, Danzig law firm, and within three years was made a partner. While at Riker, Danzig, Garibaldi also served as a municipal court judge in Weehawken from 1973 to 1975, writing the majority opinion in several cases affecting women. Justice Garibaldi was introduced to Republican Thomas H. Kean by a Riker, Danzig partner, and served as co-chair of his gubernatorial campaign. Once elected, Governor Kean nominated Justice Garibaldi to the New Jersey Supreme Court. In 1982, she became the first woman appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court, and served as associate justice of New Jersey's highest court until she retired in 2000. Justice Garibaldi authored more than 225 opinions while on the Supreme Court, and was known for her advocacy of complementary dispute resolution or mediation. Garibaldi died in 2016.

For additional information, see Honorable Marie L. Garibaldi - New Jersey Women's History

Deborah Poritz: Deborah Tobias was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1936, and raised there. She received her B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1958 and, as a Woodrow Wilson fellow, studied English and American literature at Columbia University, and then pursued graduate studies at Brandeis University from 1959 to 1962. For three years, she taught composition and literature at Ursinus College outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. But when her husband, Alan Poritz, a mathematician, got a job in Princeton, New Jersey, she decided to go to law school. She received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977, shortly after turning forty.

Poritz initially joined the office of the New Jersey Attorney General as a deputy attorney general in the Division of Law in the Environmental Protection Section. From 1986 to 1989 she served as assistant attorney general and director of the Division of Law, supervising more than three hundred state attorneys. From 1989 to the beginning of 1990, she served as the principal advisor to Governor Thomas

H. Kean on legal and policy matters. When Governor Kean left office in 1990, she joined the Princeton law firm of Jamieson, Moore, Peskin & Spicer, where she was a partner. She left in 1994 to become the first woman to serve as New Jersey Attorney General.  In July 1996 she was sworn in as the first woman chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. She served in that position until she reached the compulsory retirement age of seventy in 2006.

Deborah T. Poritz, form NJ Courts

For additional information, see Deborah T. Poritz | Jewish Women's Archive

Assessment

• Have students analyze all of the New Jersey women and explain how women have contributed to the improvement of society.
• Have each student select the one woman who he or she believes has contributed most to the improvement of society and write a short essay and/or provide a short oral presentation.
• Have students write or orally report on how the role of women has changed over time.
• Teachers may want to use Handout 3—Closing Activity.

Extension

The homes of many of New Jersey’s celebrated women have been maintained as historic sites and may be visited for additional understanding. Take a field trip to one or more of the following:

• The New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail will lead you to the historic places that tell the collective story of a few of these famous women, and many of the more private women, who contributed to the agricultural, industrial, labor and domestic history of the state. Although women have always comprised over half of the state’s population, the tales of women’s contributions to New Jersey history often have been omitted from our telling of history. The Heritage Trail brings to life the vital role of women in New Jersey’s past and present. Go to nj women's heritage trail - Historic Sites
• The Goodwin Sisters House at 47 Market Street in Salem, NJ, was the first site in New Jersey accepted into the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. It is privately owned by a direct descendent of the Goodwin family and not regularly open to the public. However, the house is a site on the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail. For additional information see, Abigail Goodwin, Quaker Abolitionist | Salem County Cultural & Heritage Commission
• Whitesbog includes the village and the surrounding 3,000 acres of cranberry bogs, blueberry fields, reservoirs, sugar sand roads and Pine Barren’s forests. It is listed on both the National and State Registers of Historic Sites. Whitesbog Village’s grounds are open from dawn to dusk, 365 days a year, as part of the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest. The Village buildings are only opened for scheduled events, pre-arranged tours and by special request. For additional information, see Whitesbog Preservation Trust
• Paulsdale, located at 128 Hooton Rd., Mt. Laurel, NJ, is the home of Alice Paul. The house has been restored to the condition when Paul lived there and serves as a historic house museum and a home for the Alice Paul Institute. Paulsdale is open every second Saturday of each month for a tour. For additional information, see Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice
• The Botto House is now the American Labor Museum, located at 83 Norwood St, Haledon, NJ. Its mission is to advance public understanding of the history of work, workers and the labor movement throughout the world, with special attention to the ethnicity and immigrant experience of American workers. For additional information, see American Labor Museum

 

Handout 1: TIMELINE OF NEW JERSEY WOMEN

 

Handout 2:

Name:_______________________________________Period:_______

NJ Woman name:

Years lived:

NJ location:

Family:

Career:

Contributions to the improvement of society:

 

 

 

What did you find the most interesting, unusual, or amazing about this woman?

 

 

 

Why would you consider this woman courageous?

 

 

 

 

Handout 3:  Closing activity on NJ Women

Name__________________________________________________ Period_____________

Write a paragraph about each of the following questions:

How have New Jersey women contributed to the improvement of society?

 

 

 

How have individual women or groups taken actions to promote the dignity and rights of people?

 

 

 

How have attitudes about women changed?

 

 

 

Explain ways in which war had changed the roles of women.