The Unforgiving Economy During the Great Depression, the federally-sponsored W.P.A. hired thousands of unemployed artists to beautify public buildings across America, including the High School of Needle Ernest Fiene: “Harmony Trades in New York. Above, backed by the words of the poet Walt Whitman, artists Ernest Fiene celebrated garment industry workers, unions, and business and government leaders. and Achievement,” 1940. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives 2012 Calendar www.cuny.edu/unforgivingeconomy Dear Friends and Colleagues, including the history of the New York City Council and the origins of public housing. For the past seven of those years, the archives has produced the I am very pleased to introduce the CUNY/New York Times in College 2012 CUNY/New York Times in College calendar projects, consisting of printed calendar, “The Unforgiving Economy.” Published in the aftermath of the calendars, websites and curricula focused on the following topics: voting worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, it is a timely look at the rights and citizenship, women’s leadership, immigrants, city life, freedom, economic history of the United States, helping readers to understand the public higher education, and health. patterns of economic growth and crises in our nation’s history. The commitment of the calendar’s sponsors has been particularly The calendar describes not only past periods—such as the Great important. CUNY offers special thanks to JPMorgan Chase Chairman and Migration, when many African-Americans left the “Jim Crow” South for C.E.O. Jamie Dimon, President Kimberly Davis of the JPMorgan Chase job opportunities in northern cities, only to find new and different forms Foundation, Senior Vice Presidents Leonard Colica, Michael Nevins and of racism—but looks to the future, toward a global economy that will be Timothy G. Noble, and Vice President Kim Jasmin. increasingly driven by innovation, new ways of delivering services, and a We are deeply appreciative of our ongoing partnership with our more highly educated citizenry. esteemed colleagues at The New York Times in College for making the The City University of New York is committed to helping students calendar widely accessible, facilitating the curricular elements and providing Chancellor Matthew Goldstein meet new economic challenges. We are working creatively and diligently access and publication rights to The New York Times archival photos. to encourage programs and practices that support students’ efforts With the help of The New York Times in College, accessible online at to graduate in a timely way and prepare them to compete in the world www.nytimes.com/edu, CUNY is collaborating with faculty, administrators economy. and students in states nationwide. In particular, we want to acknowledge The concept and development of the 2012 “Unforgiving Economy” and thank these Times colleagues: Felice Nudelman, executive director, calendar, Web site and smart phone app have been guided by CUNY education; A. Craig Dunn, partnership director, education; Stephanie Doba, Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Board Secretary Jay Newspaper in Education manager; and Diane McNulty, executive director, Hershenson and LaGuardia Community College President Gail O. Mellow. corporate communications. Their vision has been realized by Richard K. Lieberman, director of the Thanks are also due to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New LaGuardia and Wagner Archives and professor of history at LaGuardia York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Queens Borough President Community College, and his colleagues at the archives, Associate Project Helen Marshall. Their historic support and funding of the LaGuardia and Directors Steven A. Levine and Stephen Weinstein, and Assistant Project Wagner Archives and its calendars and curricula have helped the archives Director Tara Jean Hickman. The project has received valuable input from to preserve history and make it available and accessible to the public. some of the University’s finest scholars, whose participation underscores “The Unforgiving Economy” is a work of scholarship, enabling us to the integrity of the content. The calendar’s one-of-a-kind images were understand the history of the U.S. economy and the struggles for justice. sourced from both the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives and The New York The University takes great pride in the partnerships that allow the calendar Times photo archives. to bring this history of the economy to life. For more than 30 years, the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives has produced exemplary calendars and lesson plans on a variety of subjects, Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor In 1940 Ernest Fiene completed work on the majestic Police confront protesters in Haymarket Riot, Chicago, 1886. Southern fish vendor, Augusta, GA, c. 1903. Foreclosure in Iowa requires military police to ensure Railroad arrives in Ann “History of the Needlecraft Industry” at the High School of order, c. 1932. Arbor, MI, 1878. Needle Trades in New York. The painting consists of two panels, each measuring 17 ft. high by 65 ft. wide. Above, Fiene is at work on the panel titled “Harmony and Achieve- ment,” a utopian view of the future in which government, industry, and organized labor work together to promote democracy. Milestones for The American Economy March 22, 1765 Stamp Act taxes all printed material in colonies; repealed 1803 Cotton surpasses tobacco as the leading export of the U.S. March 17, 1766 following violent outbursts in the colonies. 1600s August 17, 1807 Robert Fulton takes the steamboat Clermont up the May 10, 1773 Tea Act grants the near-bankrupt British East India Company Hudson River from New York to Albany; reliable upriver steam travel 1612 John Rolfe plants first tobacco in Virginia with seeds from West Indies. the right to sell tea to colonies, directly hurting local merchants; in protest colo- revolutionizes intercity trade and transportation. nists disguised as Mohawk Indians dump 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor. August 1619 The British raider, the Treasurer, and the Dutch pirate ship, April 6, 1808 John Jacob Astor founds the American Fur Trading the Trier, raid a Portuguese slave ship, the San Juan Batista, off the coast of January 7, 1782 The Bank of North America, the first commercial bank in Company and amasses a multimillion-dollar fortune in fur trading in Oregon, Campeche, Mexico, and sail to Jamestown, VA, where they trade 40-60 the U.S., opens in Philadelphia, with the support of Alexander Hamilton and opium trading, and New York City real estate. captured West Africans to settlers for provisions. Robert Morris. April 17, 1817 The New York State Legislature passes legislation ensuring January 1, 1673 Regular overland mail service is started between February 22, 1784 The Empress of China, a ship financed by Robert sales of all goods put up for auction at the port of New York; as a result, buyers New York and Boston by order of New York governor Lovelace. Morris and partners, carries ginseng root to China and returns with tea, earning find bargains. On this day, the legislature also approves the construction of the Morris a 30% profit. Erie Canal. June 9, 1784 William Duer and Alexander Hamilton start the Bank of New January 4, 1818 The Black Ball Line begins monthly trips between 1700s York, the first state-chartered bank in the U.S. Liverpool and New York; increased demand soon leads to weekly departures. By 1836, New York receives 62% of the nation’s imports. March 19, 1705 Virginia formulates “slave code,” defining slaves as property. May 17, 1792 New York Stock Exchange opens as 24 stockbrokers meet under a buttonwood tree at 68 Wall Street and sign an agreement to trade March 26, 1819 New York’s first savings bank, the Bank for Savings, is August 17, 1730 Nicolas Bayard builds New York’s first large sugar refinery securities on a commission basis. chartered; deposits made by working people help finance construction of the on Liberty Street. Erie Canal. 1734 First colonial women’s labor organization is formed by New York maids March 2, 1824 The U.S. Supreme Court, in Gibbons vs. Ogden, to protect against abuses from husbands. 1800s establishes the federal government’s power over interstate commerce. November 15, 1755 The British government inaugurates monthly January 21, 1801 The Philadelphia Water Works opens, making Philadel- fast-sailing postal packets from Falmouth to New York. phia the first major city in the U.S. to provide clean drinking water citywide. Roadside stand near Birmingham, AL, 1936. Boarded-up homes in an abandoned mining town in Mexican-American migrant laborers picking grapes Empire Sewing Machine Company advertisement, Gloria Arcana of local 1199, S.E.I.U., in Mount Sinai West Virginia; the Ford Motor Company closed it in a vineyard in the San Joaquin Valley, CA, 1973. late 19th century. Hospital laundry with co- workers, 1978. rather than have it unionized, 1938. page 1 Aircraft construction class in Volusia County, FL, World War I poster promoting Civil War ruins of Richmond paper mill with African-American men under banner labeled “Waiters Union” in ”Only Negro store of its kind in the U.S., at 2933 State St., during World War II, 1942. cooperation between American water-wheel, 1865. Georgia, c. 1900. Chicago,” c. 1899. industry and the war effort, 1917. March 4, 1837 Chicago incorporates, spurred by completion of the Illinois April 24, 1857 The “Panic of 1857” starts with the failure of the New York and Michigan Canal that links the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. branch of the Ohio Life Insurance Company. 1800s Chicago becomes the leading transshipment point in the Midwest. April 12, 1861 The Civil War begins and New York’s economy is so closely November 4, 1825 The Erie Canal connects the port of New York to the May 10, 1837 Panic of 1837 begins as New York banks suspend specie tied with that of the slave-holding South that leading Southern publisher James Great Lakes via the Hudson River.