Newark a Study of an Industrious Cycle

Newark, NJ- A Study of an Industrious Cycle
CaMilo Hernández II
Everglades University

Author Note This paper was prepared for Principles of Business, GEB 1011, taught by Professor Juan Perez.
Newark, NJ- A Study of an Industrious Cycle
The City of Newark, New Jersey, founded in 1666 by Robert Treat and a group of Conneticut Puritans fleeing New Haven due to political presecution, has gone through a series of ups and downs that was equivalent to an industrial or business cycle of an organization. This research paper will point out a summation of the Boom times this once elite metropolis went thru at it’s zenith of evolution, the problems it encountered that lead to a major Recession, the economic turmoil and civil conflict that resulted in two Depression periods and the Recovery process this city is currently immerging from.
The Boom- Newark 's rapid growth began in the early 1800s, much of it due to Seth Boyden a Massachusetts transplant who introduced the process manufacturing leather culminating in a unique method for producing patent leather; a major industrial development. Boyden 's genius led to Newark 's production of 90% of the nation 's leather by 1870. Other inovations that sprouted out of this metropolis included malleable iron[1], plastic, celluloid[2], zinc electroplating and a superior arc lamp. With the railroads finally tying into New Jersey from New York and Pennsylvania, the sea and rail shipping business flourished making Newark the industrial center of the east. Entertaiment also blossomed so much that by 1922, Newark had 63 live theaters, 46 movie theaters, several dancing halls, a bevy of fine restaurants and an active nightlife rivaled only New York City. In 1929, Newark began constrcution of City Subway making Newark one of the very few cities in the country to have an underground system. The population of the city went from 246,070 counted in 1900 to 442,337[3] in 1930, a 79.8% jump in just 30 years. This prosperity grew so imensely that by the early to mid-20th century Newark’s intersection of Market and Broad Streets were known in the nation’s world of commerce as busiest intersection in the United States.
The Recession- While most of the country was in the midst of the Great Depression of 1929, the despair finally hit Newark harshly in 1930. The only thing that kept this metropolitan from falling under as quickly as major cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, was the building industry that had just broken ground in late 1928 to construct the Bell Tower and the National Newark Building providing jobs for many of the newly unemployed from within the city and outside of the region. Laborers worked for litterally pennies a day and hundreds were employed earning just enough money to provide food and shelter to survive another day.
The Depression- Newark was among the first New Jersey cities to issue begging licenses to the poor people mainly because the state government funds were practically exhausted by the beginning 1933. Camping and sleeping in city parks and court yards, though illegal, was permitted to keep the poor and destitute from squatting[4] in public buildings, lobbies and sidewalks. By the middle of the same year one-sixth of the city’s the population was completely jobless or homeless and dependent upon Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal projects of reform that included the Social Security System and the Works Progress Administration. This megalopolis that once ruled the industries of the most of the United States was now the home of poverty. The shroud of destitution now covered this once famous center of commerce.
The Recovery- Spawned by the widespread hostilities of World War II in 1939, the building industry was once again revived in Newark along with most of the eastern seaboard as the shipyards of Port Newark and Brooklyn were responsible for the construction of many naval ships including battleships, aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers and destroyers. Newark alone was awarded over 9% of all allied war-related contracts throughout the conflict. Over 80,000 residents and an additional 20,000 from the surrounding region were now off the unemployment line and earning a fair wage. Even though the United States entered the war two years later, shipyard production skyrocketed and businesses that had shutdown and failed during the depression, opened again to cater to the new residents that moved into the city’s suburb and the surrounding towns to be closer to their new found jobs. Hundreds of factories reopened to provide goods for both the domestic and the war effort. As the Unemployment Rate dropped, the Gross Domestic Product started a radical upswing and the recovery process was well underway. A steady growth continued well into the mid 20th century and Newark was once again a manufacturing giant.
According to Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana (1905), “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (p. 284), and so Newark, which had struggled enormously to recuperate from the Great Depression and was experiencing a new period of prosperity between 1939 and 1959, tumbled into another form of depression caused by social unrest. Racial tensions that had been brewing since the late 50s early 60s finally broke out into a full fledge rebellion in an act of civil defiance disgracefully marked in history as the Riots of ‘67. This uprising plunged Newark into a kind of compressed economic and social depression that, even though it lasted just six days, the recovery is still evident today.
While there are many who theorize that the riots were a major contributor in the decline of Newark, this writer concurs with American social and political activist Tom Hayden (1967) who stated that the actual factors include decades of racial, economic, and political forces which generated inner city poverty; true factors that sparked “race riots” across America in the 1960s.
As a native Newarker, I was a witness of the bleak period of civil unrest and also a recent witness of how the so called Newark Renaissance is progressing while asking myself if it’s real or a lot of hype by the current administration. The once bustling intersection of Broad and Market Streets is today a very quiet and deserted area at night.

References

1. History of Newark, A Walk Through Newark (Documentary). WNET/Thirteen. http://www.thirteen.org/newark/history2.html 2. Kukla, B. (1991). Swing City: Newark Nightlife, 1925-50. Temple University Press. 3. Santayana, G. (1905). Friendship Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense. Volume I, Page 284 4. Hayden, T. (1967). Rebellion in Newark: Official Violence and Ghetto Response. Random House. 5. Porambo, R. (1971). No Cause for Indictment, An Autopsy of Newark. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Publishing.
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[1] Used for small castings for such things as electrical fittings, hand tools, pipe fittings, washers, brackets, fence fittings, farm equipment, mining hardware, and machine parts.
[2] Celluloid found its way into Newark-made carriages, billiard balls, dentures and photographic film.
[3] Census for 2010 is estimated to be 278,150 making the 1930 population the bench mark of the city in its 344 year history.
[4] A person who settles on land or occupies property without title, right, or payment of rent.

References: 1. History of Newark, A Walk Through Newark (Documentary). WNET/Thirteen. http://www.thirteen.org/newark/history2.html 2. Kukla, B. (1991). Swing City: Newark Nightlife, 1925-50. Temple University Press. 3. Santayana, G. (1905). Friendship Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense. Volume I, Page 284 4. Hayden, T. (1967). Rebellion in Newark: Official Violence and Ghetto Response. Random House. 5. Porambo, R. (1971). No Cause for Indictment, An Autopsy of Newark. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Publishing. ----------------------- [1] Used for small castings for such things as electrical fittings, hand tools, pipe fittings, washers, brackets, fence fittings, farm equipment, mining hardware, and machine parts. [2] Celluloid found its way into Newark-made carriages, billiard balls, dentures and photographic film. [3] Census for 2010 is estimated to be 278,150 making the 1930 population the bench mark of the city in its 344 year history. [4] A person who settles on land or occupies property without title, right, or payment of rent.