New Jersey in the 20th century
In 1911, the United States Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, viewing it as violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.
African Americans migrated north for the growing numbers of industrial jobs and to get the right to vote, a better education for their children, and improved living conditions.
The roles of these sites were generally to provide a location for soldiers to stock up on supplies, receive medical treatment, or become discharged.
Entry into the war include German sabotage of both Black Tom in Jersey City, and the Kingsland Explosion in what is now Lyndhurst.
The Holland Tunnel, under the Hudson River, was completed in 1927 providing a means of easy transportation between New Jersey and New York City.
[7] Under the Works Progress Administration, part of the Second New Deal by FDR, many new jobs were provided in order to support the poor and unemployed.
These projects included the expansion of Fort Dix, Roosevelt Park in Edison, and Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway.
In Jersey City political boss Frank Hague secured the construction the Medical Center, the Armory, and Roosevelt Stadium.
[citation needed] In 1938 Orson Welles' produced his infamous The War of the Worlds radio broadcast from New Jersey.
Listeners were told that a "huge, flaming object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm in the neighborhood of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, twenty-two miles from Trenton."
It went on to describe extraterrestrial monsters that destroyed massive stretches of lands in New Jersey as well as massacring many people.
Although it was announced in advance and at conclusion as a radio play, the broadcast resulted in widespread panic into New Jersey and the surrounding areas.
[8] Many people had believed the bulletin to be real, and that New Jersey truthfully was being torn up by giant and immensely powerful Martians.
People fled the New Jersey area, while others worked hard to blockade their homes and ensure safety from the reported monsters.
Welles and the other broadcasters were not punished by law, but were held under a brief informal "house arrest" for a short period of time while being bombarded by questions by news reporters.
The police proceeded to seal off many roads in order to prevent the kidnapper's escape, and interrogated the members of the Lindbergh household.
Contrary to popular belief, the Hindenburg had flown an entire year of successful voyages before it caught on fire.
Questions and controversy surround the accident to this day: theories for the sudden burst of flames include sabotage against the German Nazis, static buildup, and flammable fabric.
[citation needed] New Jersey shipyards were responsible for the construction of many naval ships, including battleships, aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers and destroyers.
New Jersey received 9% of all allied war-related contracts throughout the World War II at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, and New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden [10][11] During the war, Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County was opened for naval production, which provided ships with a safe port to take on ammunition.
[citation needed] An internment camp housing people of Japanese, German, and Italian descent was located in Gloucester City, New Jersey.
In addition, Seabrook Farms, New Jersey took advantage of Japanese labor to increase productivity when the government allowed small groups of people from the internment camps to work there.
Six African American defendants were convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death for the murder of an elderly white shopkeeper based on coerced confessions.
The newly opened port quickly made the docks of Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan and Hoboken obsolete.
[citation needed] Also in the summer of 1967, urban residents, primarily African Americans, rioted for 5 days in Newark and the neighboring city of Plainfield.
Race related violence would continue to plague the state with smaller riots occurring in Trenton in 1968, Camden in 1969, and Asbury Park in 1970.
[citation needed] Because of its strategic location on the East Coast, New Jersey played an important role in the United States' Cold War defense.
14 Nike anti-aircraft missile batteries in two groups were constructed in New Jersey to protect the metropolitan areas around Philadelphia and New York City.
In addition to these, air defense radar sites, bases for interceptor aircraft, anti-aircraft gun batteries, surface-to-air missile sites, and command and control facilities were constructed to defend against an attack by long range, nuclear-armed aircraft of the Soviet Air Force.
