Bauhaus
Architectural style characterized by simple unornamented design. This was the style used for the houses at Jersey Homesteads.
Brown, Ben
Jersey Homesteads was founded based on Benjamin Brown's dream of a triple cooperative combining farming, garment work and retail marketing.
Cooperative
An enterprise owned and operated jointly by those who use its facilities and services.
Dubinsky, David
President the the I.L.G.W.U. He was initially opposed to Jersey Homesteads, because he felt that it would undermine efforts to unionize the garment industry. He later withdrew his opposition.
Einstein, Albert
Noted physicist and father of the theory of relativity. He was a Jewish refugee from Germany, who actively supported the Jersey Homestead project.
Ellis Island
Immigrant screening center established in New York Harbor in 1890.
F.A.P. (Federal Art Project)
A New Deal agency which provided federal funds for art projects.
F.S.A.
(Farm Securities Administration)Ben Shahn's work in photography was funded by this New Deal Program.
Fresco
The art of painting on fresh plaster with colors mixed in water.
Great Depression
This was a period of economic collapse between 1929 and 1941. It was the result of many factors, most notably the stock market crash of 1929.
I.L.G.W.U. (International Ladies Garments Workers Union)
A union for women working in the garment industry (formed in 1900). This union won the right to collective bargaining in 1909. ( See David Dubinsky)
Mural
A painting applied directly to a wall or ceiling.
New Deal
F.D.R.'s economic programs designed to combat the Great Depression in the 1930's.
Pogrom
Anti-semitic riots, often backed by the Czarist government of Russia. It used the Jewish people as a convenient scapegoat group. Many of the residents of Jersey Homesteads were survivors, or second generation survivors of Pogroms.
Resettlement Administration
Established in 1935 as part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, this agency administered a program which resettled displaced farmers. I the case of Jersey Homesteads, it also resettled displaced garment workers.
Shahn, Ben
Social Realist painter and photographer who was commissioned to produce a mural which chronicled the founding of Jersey Homsteads(later named Roosevelt), N.J.
Tenements
Low rent and often rundown and crowded housing inhabited by poor industrial workers in the early twentieth century.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
Fire in a N.Y.C. garment factory. Failure to enforce safety regulations contributed to 146 deaths. This tragedy led to reforms and regulations governing working conditions.
Tugwell, Rex
Member of F.D.R.'s "Brains Trust" (chief advisors). He was director of the Resettlement Administration.
Utopia
Term coined by Sir Thomas More of England; he used it to describe a mythological community where life was perfect. In more recent times attempts at establishing utopias have taken the form of organized cooperative communities. The philosophy of the movement grew out of the belief that mankind is basically good and men will voluntarily give up their worldly wealth and live cooperatively with others.
W.P.A.
(Works Progress Administration) The largest New Deal program, employing over 6 million Americans. The unique aspect of the W.P.A. is that it sought to create jobs for people which utilized their specific skills and talents.