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Jersey Homesteads, New Jersey
Title
Jersey Homesteads, New Jersey
Subject
subsistence homesteads
Excerpt
Jersey Homesteads is a subsistence homestead community located near Hightstown, New Jersey. The following is a summary statement of its development up to March 1940.
In the fall of 1933 the newly-formed Division of Subsistence Homesteads of the Department of the Interior received a formal application from the Provisional Commission for the Establishment of Jewish Farm Settlements in the United States, for help in the development of a subsistence homestead community which would provide adequate homes, gardens, and a means of livelihood for the families of 200 needle workers. These families were to be selected from the needle work trades of New York and Philadelphia; and the community was to be located in the farming area of New Jersey.
The development of a new community with employment opportunities for needle trade workers was urgently needed, because unemployment in this industry was acute. Moreover, the housing conditions of many of the low-income needle workers living in metropolitan New York and Philadelphia, were far below standard. The Provisional Commission urged that a chance for fresh air, sunshine and other benefits of rural life, together with an opportunity for employment in some small industry and the cultivation of a small tract of garden land, would be a great aid to these families.
The plan submitted to the Government suggested that a garment factory be developed in the community. The construction of small factories in such communities was in line with the idea of "decentralization of industry" advocated by many leading industrialists who felt that the concentration of industrial development in huge cities was unwise.
It was pointed out, too, that the summer months constitute the slack period in the needle trade industry, and that this would give, the families on the new development a chance for gardening. It was also brought out that the families were skilled in this type of work, and that it is Quite possible in many lines of the needle trades for employees to continue working up to sixty or sixty-five years of age. In addition to the garment factory, a dairy and a chicken enterprise wore suggested.
To finance the development of the community, the sponsors proposed that each family invest ^500 toward the operating expenses of the corporation which would operate the various enterprises. The rest of the necessary funds were to be borrowed from the Division of Subsistence Homesteads.
In the fall of 1933 the newly-formed Division of Subsistence Homesteads of the Department of the Interior received a formal application from the Provisional Commission for the Establishment of Jewish Farm Settlements in the United States, for help in the development of a subsistence homestead community which would provide adequate homes, gardens, and a means of livelihood for the families of 200 needle workers. These families were to be selected from the needle work trades of New York and Philadelphia; and the community was to be located in the farming area of New Jersey.
The development of a new community with employment opportunities for needle trade workers was urgently needed, because unemployment in this industry was acute. Moreover, the housing conditions of many of the low-income needle workers living in metropolitan New York and Philadelphia, were far below standard. The Provisional Commission urged that a chance for fresh air, sunshine and other benefits of rural life, together with an opportunity for employment in some small industry and the cultivation of a small tract of garden land, would be a great aid to these families.
The plan submitted to the Government suggested that a garment factory be developed in the community. The construction of small factories in such communities was in line with the idea of "decentralization of industry" advocated by many leading industrialists who felt that the concentration of industrial development in huge cities was unwise.
It was pointed out, too, that the summer months constitute the slack period in the needle trade industry, and that this would give, the families on the new development a chance for gardening. It was also brought out that the families were skilled in this type of work, and that it is Quite possible in many lines of the needle trades for employees to continue working up to sixty or sixty-five years of age. In addition to the garment factory, a dairy and a chicken enterprise wore suggested.
To finance the development of the community, the sponsors proposed that each family invest ^500 toward the operating expenses of the corporation which would operate the various enterprises. The rest of the necessary funds were to be borrowed from the Division of Subsistence Homesteads.
Creator
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Farm Security Administration
Date
1940
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