200 Plus
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•June 27, 2017
Women, the Press and U.S. Government
As July 4, 1917 approached, American troops were preparing to take part in the bloody slaughter on the Western Front in Europe, while back home two women were waging their own battles against the…
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•June 21, 2017
War Abroad, Trouble at Home
In June 1917, the United States was raising, training and equipping an army to go to Europe “to make the world safe for democracy.” At the same time, at home it was facing one of the greatest…
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•June 12, 2017
Quaker Acres Turned Toward War
In June 1917, the United States had officially been at war for just over two months. President Woodrow Wilson had called for a 1-million-man army, and as men registered for the draft, New Jersey was…
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•June 7, 2017
Two Women Against the President
Two women, Emma Goldman and Alice Paul, were causing President Woodrow Wilson and the United States government major headaches, and in June 1917 it was decided to silence them. Goldman was a…
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•May 31, 2017
Response to Dissent Gets Vigorous
When progressive Democratic President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war “to make the world safe for democracy” in April 1917, he set in motion a chain of events that would change…
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•May 24, 2017
Registration Fighters Go to Jail
For almost a month the U.S. government-run Committee on Public Information had issued dozens of stories preparing American men for the great registration day, June 5, 1917. The idea put forth was…
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•May 17, 2017
NJ Fights for Military Training Camp
As May 1917 was coming to an end, the biggest questions raised by the declaration of war on Germany were about to be answered. Would Americans volunteer to be drafted into the Army to fight in the…
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•May 10, 2017
Draft Day Meets Some Resistance
Mid-May 1917 saw preparations for America’s participation in World War I rapidly progressing. June 5 had been set aside by President Woodrow Wilson for American males to step forward and register to…
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•May 3, 2017
Making World ‘Safe for Democracy’
Fighting a modern war with the slogan “Make the world safe for democracy” would prove to be a double-edged sword for President Woodrow Wilson and the U. S. government. On April 16, 1917, just 10 days…
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•April 26, 2017
April 1917: The Nation Prepares for War
Even before the declaration of war on Germany on April 6, 1917, preparations were being made that would affect the lives of most Americans. The first was the formation of a quasi-official band of…
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•April 19, 2017
The U.S. Declares War on Germany
Even before President Woodrow Wilson went before Congress on April 2, 1917, asking for a declaration of war against Germany, in Ocean County preparations were being made for the upcoming conflict.…
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•April 12, 2017
World War I Comes to America
It has been said by many that 1917 marked the end of innocence for America and its citizens. The year had begun optimistically; the vast majority of Americans who paid federal income taxes fell into…
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•April 5, 2017
Ending Mistake of Prohibition
Two of the greatest influences shaping American’s opinion on Prohibition, which took effect in 1920, were economic and moral. Before World War I, most of the federal government’s revenues came from…
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•March 29, 2017
Secret Hearings Brought to Light
Throughout the summer of 1926, the Coast Guard stations on LBI were the location of a series of secret federal trials. Members of the Coast Guard were accused of taking bribes to allow rum runners to…
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•March 21, 2017
Coast Guard Scandal Spreads on LBI
The LBI Coast Guard scandal of 1926 was quickly becoming a symbol of the failure of Prohibition and the Volstead Act that enforced it. As the investigations grew, those opposed to the law argued…
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•March 15, 2017
Coast Guardsmen Caught Red-Handed
The revelation that U.S. Coast Guard on Long Beach Island had organized to conspire with the rum runners shook the nation in much the same way that the news of the 1919 World Series having been fixed…
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•March 8, 2017
The Rum Running War Heats Up
The war between the Coast Guard and the rum runners was reaching new levels as 1925 began. The government had moved U.S. territorial waters outward from 3 to 12 miles, making it harder to operate…
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•March 1, 2017
Coast Guard Takes on Rum Runners
Prohibition, like many other attempts at social engineering, had a noble goal but created a much different reality. Instantly the country was divided into two camps, wets and dries, and the new law…
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•February 22, 2017
Case of Missing Whiskey Never Solved
During the mid-1920s, the citizens of Ocean County found themselves baffled by a mystery and a possible political scandal. The mystery began in 1924 when Joseph Holman, the Republican sheriff…
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•February 15, 2017
Case of the Disappearing Liquor
On Feb. 11, 1923, John Holman, the Republican sheriff of Ocean County, had overseen the raid on Clam Island that netted a huge cache of expensive imported liquor. The island, in the bay below…
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•February 8, 2017
The Secret of Clam Island
The story of the largest Prohibition raid to take place on Barnegat Bay began years before the 18th Amendment had been ratified, when on Dec. 18, 1898, The New York Times announced a millionaire…
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•February 1, 2017
Whiskey Impounded in New County Jail
On Saturday, Aug. 6, 1921, Ocean County officials made one of their first big raids of the Prohibition era when they uncovered over 1,000 bottles of high-quality imported alcohol buried on a farm in…
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•January 25, 2017
Prohibition ‘Pirates’ Hit the Shore
For the citizens of New Jersey, Prohibition would not only create a big thirst, but also shake their faith in government and the institutions that it created. As 1920 began, the state had refused to…
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•January 19, 2017
‘Wet’ NJ Governor Takes Over on Eve of Prohibition
The story of Prohibition in New Jersey is unique among the states. Before you get into the stories of Ocean County at this time period, some background is needed. During World War I Congress enacted…
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•January 11, 2017
Are You a True History Student?
We’re back! It’s 2017 and the dawn of the New Year. If you listen to some pundits, we are about to be “great again” while others are saying it’s the brink of the new “dark age.” But that’s the…
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•December 21, 2016
Can You Pass the Yearly Challenge?
It’s time to put a period on the year 2016 for The SandPaper as it goes silent for the next two weeks. The year will go down in history books as one of great interest, but that is too recent to be…
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•December 14, 2016
Historic Tales of Turtle Soup
The story of New Jersey and turtle soup goes back to the earliest colonists. Teagan Schweitzer of the Pennsylvania Museum explains, “Turtle soup in particular developed as a high-status dish, first…
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•December 7, 2016
Can You Believe Your Ears?
There are two major myths centering on the famed Hindenburg disaster broadcast of 1937. The first is especially popular in South Jersey. It states that a person heard Herb Morrison live on the radio…
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•November 30, 2016
New Age Comes to Lakehurst
The first great myth surrounding the airship Hindenburg was that, like the Titanic, it was on its maiden voyage when it crashed at Lakehurst, N.J., on May 6, 1937. The fact is that the dirigible made…
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•November 23, 2016
Was ‘War of the Worlds’ Panic Real?
Recently several articles have been published challenging the popular story surrounding the Oct. 30, 1938, radio broadcast adaptationof H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. The articles claim there wasn’t…