Roosevelt, New Jersey
Encyclopedia
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
as part of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. The town was home to a cooperative farming and manufacturing project. The project fell under the discretion of the Resettlement Administration
Resettlement Administration
The Resettlement Administration was a U.S. federal agency that, between April 1935 and December 1936, relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government....
, but was conceived and largely planned out by Benjamin Brown
Benjamin Brown (developer)
Benjamin Brown was a Ukrainian-Jewish immigrant to the United States who came to develop rural communities in New Jersey, including Roosevelt, New Jersey. Brown attained wealth through a poultry exchange he established between Western states and New York.-External links:*...
and Hyman Alef.
Farmland in Central Jersey
Central Jersey
Central Jersey is a common designation for a region of the state of New Jersey in the United States of America. Trenton is considered the boundary between designated "North Jersey" and "South Jersey"...
was purchased by Brown. Construction started around 1936. Soon after there were 150 homes and various public facilities in place. The plan was to construct 50 more homes eventually. The economy of the town consisted of a garment factory and a farm.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
gave the town his political and moral support. Artist Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn was a Lithuanian-born American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as The Shape of Content.-Biography:...
lived in the town and painted a fresco mural viewable in the current Roosevelt Public School
Roosevelt Public School District
The Roosevelt Public School District is a community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through sixth grade from Roosevelt, New Jersey, United States....
. The three panels show the history of the Jersey Homesteads, starting with the eastern European origins of its Jewish residents, their passage through Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
and making plans for the community in Roosevelt.
Objectives of the community were to help residents escape poverty, to show that cooperative management can work, and as an experiment in government intervention.
David Dubinsky
David Dubinsky
David Dubinsky was an American labor leader...
and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s...
opposed the project, arguing that the factory town would cause unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
to lose their power over wages. Political opposition came from those who thought too much money was being spent on the project, as well as those opposed to the New Deal in general.
The Jersey Homesteads cooperative didn't last through World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It failed for a number of reasons.
Roosevelt is a historic landmark and is the subject of the 198 documentary, Roosevelt, New Jersey: Visions of Utopia
Roosevelt, New Jersey: Visions of Utopia
Roosevelt, New Jersey: Visions of Utopia is a 1983 documentary. Richard Kroehling served as director and producer. The film explores the story of an independent, farming community of Jews, which was developed on socialist principles and the belief that rural fresh air would benefit the working...
. The Jersey Homesteads Historic District was added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1983.
Geography
Roosevelt is located at 40.218296°N 74.470786°W (40.218296, -74.470786).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the borough has a total area of 2 square miles (5.2 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 933 people, 337 households, and 258 families residing in the borough. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 477.0 people per square mile (183.8/km2). There were 351 housing units at an average density of 179.4 per square mile (69.1/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 88.96% White, 2.57% African American, 2.04% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 2.25% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 4.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.50% of the population.
There were 337 households out of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.4% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the borough the population was spread out with 27.8% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $61,979, and the median income for a family was $67,019. Males had a median income of $50,417 versus $38,229 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the borough was $24,892. About 3.9% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 18.4% of those age 65 or over.
Local government
Roosevelt is governed under the BoroughBorough (New Jersey)
A borough in the context of New Jersey local government refers to one of five types and one of eleven forms of municipal government....
form of New Jersey municipal government by a mayor and a six-member Borough Council. The mayor is directly elected by the voters to a four-year term of office. The six members of the Borough Council are elected in partisan elections to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.
The Mayor of Roosevelt is Beth Battel.
Federal, state and county representation
Roosevelt is in the 4th Congressional district.Roosevelt is in the
Education
Students in Kindergarten through 6th grade attend the Roosevelt Public School DistrictRoosevelt Public School District
The Roosevelt Public School District is a community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through sixth grade from Roosevelt, New Jersey, United States....
. The school had an enrollment of 74 students as of the 2005-06 school year.
For grades 7 - 12, public school students attend the East Windsor Regional School District
East Windsor Regional School District
The East Windsor Regional School District is a comprehensive public school district in Mercer County, New Jersey, which serves students in Kindergarten through 12th grade from East Windsor Township and Hightstown Borough....
, a comprehensive public school district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
serving students from East Windsor Township
East Windsor Township, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 24,919 people, 9,448 households, and 6,556 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,592.8 people per square mile . There were 9,880 housing units at an average density of 631.5 per square mile...
and Hightstown Borough
Hightstown, New Jersey
Hightstown is a Borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,494.Hightstown was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 5, 1853, within portions of East Windsor Township. The borough became...
, along with students in grades 7 - 12 from Roosevelt Borough as part of a sending/receiving relationship
Sending/receiving relationship
A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts have grown as part of a historical relationship...
. The schools in the East Windsor Regional School District attended by students from Roosevelt Borough are Melvin H. Kreps School which covers grades 6 - 8 and has a total of 1,139 students and Hightstown High School
Hightstown High School
Hightstown High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from three communities in Mercer County and Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the East Windsor Regional School District. Students come from East...
with 1,370 students in grades 9 - 12.
Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Roosevelt include:- Benjamin AppelBenjamin AppelBenjamin Appel , was an American novelist specializing in detective and crime fiction, sometimes from a radical perspective....
(1907–77), crime novelist. - Benjamin BrownBenjamin Brown (developer)Benjamin Brown was a Ukrainian-Jewish immigrant to the United States who came to develop rural communities in New Jersey, including Roosevelt, New Jersey. Brown attained wealth through a poultry exchange he established between Western states and New York.-External links:*...
(1885–1939), poultry trader who developed Roosevelt. - John Stanley GrauelJohn Stanley GrauelJohn Stanley Grauel was a Methodist Minister and American Christian Zionist leader...
(1917–86), Methodist minister and Zionist leader. - Lois HuntLois HuntLois Hunt was an American lyric soprano who had spent some of her earlier career performing at New York City's Metropolitan Opera and later spent four decades performing and recording classical music and musical theater numbers nationwide together with baritone Earl Wrightson.-Early life and...
(1925–2009), soprano opera singer who toured for decades with baritone Earl WrightsonEarl WrightsonEarl Wrightson was an American singer and actor best known for musical theatre, concerts and television performances. His regular singing partner was the soprano Lois Hunt.-Early life and career:...
. - Irwin LachmanIrwin Lachman- Biography :Lachman was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1930 and grew up in Jersey Homesteads, New Jersey, and attended Upper Freehold Township High School .- Work :...
(born 1930), one of the inventors of the catalytic converterCatalytic converterA catalytic converter is a device used to convert toxic exhaust emissions from an internal combustion engine into non-toxic substances. Inside a catalytic converter, a catalyst stimulates a chemical reaction in which noxious byproducts of combustion are converted to less toxic substances by dint...
. - Jacob LandauJacob LandauJacob Charles "Jack" Landau was an American journalist, attorney, government official, and free-speech activist. He was the founding first Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press....
(1917–2001), printmaker, painter, and humanist. - David Stone MartinDavid Stone MartinDavid Stone Martin , born David Livingstone Martin, was an influential American artist best known for his illustrations on jazz record albums....
(1913–92), artist best known for his designs for jazz album covers. - Gregorio PrestopinoGregorio PrestopinoGregorio Prestopino, was an American artist, according to the art historian Irma B. Jaffe:one of the major American painters who refused to reject the image, has devoted his career to depicting the human condition with a warmth tempered only by honesty.-Biography:Prestopino was born in New York...
(1907–84), Social realist painter of the New Deal era. - Louise RosskamLouise RosskamLouise Rosskam was a photographer for the Farm Security Administration and the Standard Oil Company during the mid-20th century. Together with her husband, Edwin Rosskam , the pair documented American life during the Great Depression...
(1910–2003), documentary photographer. - Ben ShahnBen ShahnBen Shahn was a Lithuanian-born American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as The Shape of Content.-Biography:...
(1898–1969), Social realist painter. - Bernarda Bryson ShahnBernarda Bryson ShahnBernarda Bryson Shahn was an American painter, lithographer and widow of renowned artist Ben Shahn, who wrote and illustrated children's books including "The Zoo of Zeus" and "Gilgamesh."...
(1903–2004), painter and wife of Ben Shahn. - Jonathan Shahn (born 1938), noted sculptor and son of Ben and Bernarda Shahn.
- Silent lotusSilent lotussilent lotus is a spiritual advisor with an additional gift of sharing through poetry and art.Descending from grandparents who traveled from homes in Hungary and Russia, silent lotus was born in America...
, spiritual adviser.
External links
- Borough of Roosevelt official website
- Roosevelt Public School
- Data for the Roosevelt Public School, National Center for Education StatisticsNational Center for Education StatisticsThe National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...
- East Windsor Regional School District
- Electronic New Jersey, with historical material on Homesteads
- Notes on the History of Jersey Homesteads Historic District and the Jersey Homesteads Historic District Advisory Council, by Arthur Shapiro, Ed.D.
- Notes for an Intellectual History of Jersey Homesteads (Roosevelt, New Jersey) -- a Successful Experiment in Democracy and Creation of Community, by Pearl Seligman
- Monmouth County Historical Association Coll. 70 Sol Axelrod Collection
- Bibliographic References Cited In Nomination Form for National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Jersey Homesteads National and State Historic District