PROSPERITY, DEPRESSION, AND NEW DEAL, 1919-1941
Population Growth and Education Expansion

The expansion of education was an important goal of early 20th century progressive reformers. By 1900, 31 states had laws requiring children to attend school until age 14. However, only about 8 percent of students graduated from high school by 1910. In an effort to keep adolescents in school after eighth grade, a new “junior high school” movement began in the United States, with the establishment of Indianola Jr. High in Columbus as the first such school in the nation.
By 1920, Columbus had a population of 237,000 people and the city (at that time only about 5 miles in diameter) was growing at a rate of 30 percent. To accommodate the growing number of students and emphasis on expanded educational opportunities, the Columbus Board of Education built five new high school buildings during the 1920s. The new East High School, on East Broad Street across from Franklin Park, replaced the Franklin Avenue building in 1923. In 1924, new buildings were constructed for North High School (Arcadia Avenue east of High Street), Central High School (on the west bank of the Scioto River just south of Broad Street), and South High School (Ann Street just north of Thurman Avenue). West High School was built in 1929 on South Powell Avenue.
Three of the old high school buildings became Jr. high schools: Franklin (old East building), Everett (old North building), and Starling (old West building). Today, the 1920s high school buildings are still used as high schools, with the exception of Central, the front part of which is retained at the current COSI.
By 1920, Columbus had a population of 237,000 people and the city (at that time only about 5 miles in diameter) was growing at a rate of 30 percent. To accommodate the growing number of students and emphasis on expanded educational opportunities, the Columbus Board of Education built five new high school buildings during the 1920s. The new East High School, on East Broad Street across from Franklin Park, replaced the Franklin Avenue building in 1923. In 1924, new buildings were constructed for North High School (Arcadia Avenue east of High Street), Central High School (on the west bank of the Scioto River just south of Broad Street), and South High School (Ann Street just north of Thurman Avenue). West High School was built in 1929 on South Powell Avenue.
Three of the old high school buildings became Jr. high schools: Franklin (old East building), Everett (old North building), and Starling (old West building). Today, the 1920s high school buildings are still used as high schools, with the exception of Central, the front part of which is retained at the current COSI.
Automobiles and Early Suburbanization in the Roaring Twenties

During the 1920s, most of America, including the city of Columbus, was growing rapidly. The nation experienced a period of economic boom in the “Roaring Twenties” that improved the standard of living for many Americans. Much of this economic growth was a result of the development of a consumer economy based on mass marketing of products to individuals.
Advances in technology, including radio, talking motion pictures, the Model A Ford and the airplane, brought changes that sometimes challenged traditional social conventions. The automobile became a major consumer product in the 1920s, as the number of registered cars in the U.S. rose by more than 15 million in the United States. Thousands of new businesses emerged to serve automobile travel, including dealerships, garages, gas stations, motels, and restaurants. The automobile also facilitated the growth of suburbs, as people could commute to work beyond the few miles of streetcar lines.
In Columbus, many wealthier residents of Olde Towne East moved to the new suburbs. In turn, the Olde Towne East neighborhood became more diverse as many middle class African Americans purchased their first homes in the neighborhood.
Advances in technology, including radio, talking motion pictures, the Model A Ford and the airplane, brought changes that sometimes challenged traditional social conventions. The automobile became a major consumer product in the 1920s, as the number of registered cars in the U.S. rose by more than 15 million in the United States. Thousands of new businesses emerged to serve automobile travel, including dealerships, garages, gas stations, motels, and restaurants. The automobile also facilitated the growth of suburbs, as people could commute to work beyond the few miles of streetcar lines.
In Columbus, many wealthier residents of Olde Towne East moved to the new suburbs. In turn, the Olde Towne East neighborhood became more diverse as many middle class African Americans purchased their first homes in the neighborhood.
Aviation Technology and Port Columbus

Although North Carolina was "first in flight," Ohio is the "birthplace of aviation." Flight inventors Wilbur and Orville Wright lived in Dayton and developed the airplane in their cycle shop in 1903.
The first airfield in Columbus, Norton Field, opened in 1923. Located south of Broad and east of Yearling Road (in Whitehall), it was named for Fred Norton, an OSU athlete killed in World War I.
Port Columbus Airport opened in 1929 along a rail line paralleling East Fifth Avenue. Port Columbus was selected as a transfer point on the fastest coast-to-coast means of travel. Two nights by train and two days by plane could get one from New York to Los Angeles in 48 hours. Passengers coming by train from New York transferred to a Transcontinental Air Transport Ford Trimotor aircraft, which could carry fourteen passengers. Columbus Real Estate broker Don Casto and Edgar Wolfe, son of Dispatch owner Robert Wolfe, are credited with making Port Columbus a reality. Both men saw the future in aviation but had to convince Columbus to support bond levies to finance the airport.
The first airfield in Columbus, Norton Field, opened in 1923. Located south of Broad and east of Yearling Road (in Whitehall), it was named for Fred Norton, an OSU athlete killed in World War I.
Port Columbus Airport opened in 1929 along a rail line paralleling East Fifth Avenue. Port Columbus was selected as a transfer point on the fastest coast-to-coast means of travel. Two nights by train and two days by plane could get one from New York to Los Angeles in 48 hours. Passengers coming by train from New York transferred to a Transcontinental Air Transport Ford Trimotor aircraft, which could carry fourteen passengers. Columbus Real Estate broker Don Casto and Edgar Wolfe, son of Dispatch owner Robert Wolfe, are credited with making Port Columbus a reality. Both men saw the future in aviation but had to convince Columbus to support bond levies to finance the airport.
King-Lincoln-Bronzeville, the Great Migration, and the Harlem Renaissance

As African Americans moved north seeking better working and living conditions, the racial make-up of American cities changed dramatically during and after World War I. Confined to segregated neighborhoods, African Americans created cities-within-cities in the 1920s. The largest was Harlem, in Manhattan, New York.
The Harlem Renaissance was a celebration of African-American culture. Jazz music flourished during the Harlem Renaissance. Much like the origins of the Harlem Renaissance or the flowering of rich Jazz centers of St. Louis and Chicago, the King-Lincoln neighborhood (also called Bronzeville) in Columbus was born of segregation.
Between 1900 and 1940, the African-American population of Columbus increased from 9,000 to 39,000. The East side grew substantially larger because it was practical to live close to work near the railroads and related industries. The King-Lincoln area was home to an African-American community of diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. By the 1920s, East Long Street was the center of black commercial, social, and entertainment life. Shops, theaters, restaurants, and jazz clubs proliferated. The Plaza Hotel hosted Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Fats Waller. Mt. Vernon Avenue was equally vibrant, and in the area, the golden age of music was in the popularity of the jazz clubs. Live jazz could be heard in twenty different clubs. There were also five hotels and two theaters, two of which still exist: the Lincoln and the Pythian (King Arts Complex).
The Harlem Renaissance was a celebration of African-American culture. Jazz music flourished during the Harlem Renaissance. Much like the origins of the Harlem Renaissance or the flowering of rich Jazz centers of St. Louis and Chicago, the King-Lincoln neighborhood (also called Bronzeville) in Columbus was born of segregation.
Between 1900 and 1940, the African-American population of Columbus increased from 9,000 to 39,000. The East side grew substantially larger because it was practical to live close to work near the railroads and related industries. The King-Lincoln area was home to an African-American community of diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. By the 1920s, East Long Street was the center of black commercial, social, and entertainment life. Shops, theaters, restaurants, and jazz clubs proliferated. The Plaza Hotel hosted Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Fats Waller. Mt. Vernon Avenue was equally vibrant, and in the area, the golden age of music was in the popularity of the jazz clubs. Live jazz could be heard in twenty different clubs. There were also five hotels and two theaters, two of which still exist: the Lincoln and the Pythian (King Arts Complex).
Racial Intolerance and the KKK in Columbus

The Great Migration of African Americans to northern cities intensified racial tensions and led to a series of urban race riots in 1919. Racial intolerance also appeared in the revival of a new version of the Ku Klux Klan during the early 1920s. At its peak in 1924, there were three million members of the Klan. Many members were business owners, independent professionals, clerical workers, and farmers.
In Ohio, instances of lynching and white mob violence were reported in Oxford, Adams County, Bellefontaine, New Richmond, Washington Court House, Lima, Cleveland, and Youngstown. Organized by a Franklin county dentist, Ohio's Ku Klux Klan used vandalism, violence, and threats of violence to intimidate African Americans. Several hundred KKK members marched through downtown Columbus in 1924 on their way to a cross burning at a public park. Cross burnings were also reported in the area west of Ohio State campus and in the Linden area of Columbus. Playing on fear and notions of white supremacy, the KKK membership roles in Ohio reached 300,000 by 1927.
Billy Ireland, an editorial cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch, lampooned the KKK in his weekly publication, "The Passing Show." Author James Thurber later commented that Ireland's “ridicule of the Ku Klux Klan, in the early twenties, was a significant force in the disintegration of the Klan’s local Klavern.”
In Ohio, instances of lynching and white mob violence were reported in Oxford, Adams County, Bellefontaine, New Richmond, Washington Court House, Lima, Cleveland, and Youngstown. Organized by a Franklin county dentist, Ohio's Ku Klux Klan used vandalism, violence, and threats of violence to intimidate African Americans. Several hundred KKK members marched through downtown Columbus in 1924 on their way to a cross burning at a public park. Cross burnings were also reported in the area west of Ohio State campus and in the Linden area of Columbus. Playing on fear and notions of white supremacy, the KKK membership roles in Ohio reached 300,000 by 1927.
Billy Ireland, an editorial cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch, lampooned the KKK in his weekly publication, "The Passing Show." Author James Thurber later commented that Ireland's “ridicule of the Ku Klux Klan, in the early twenties, was a significant force in the disintegration of the Klan’s local Klavern.”
Anne Norton Battelle and Women's Suffrage

The demand for the enfranchisement of women in the United States was first seriously formulated in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention. Two years later, the movement came to Ohio with the second Women Rights Convention held in the town of Salem.
In 1920, the 72-year movement to give women the right to vote achieved its goal with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Anne Norton Battelle, wife of Columbus industrialist John Gordon Battelle (founder of Columbus Iron and Steel Company) was a prominent woman's suffrage champion. A close friend of President Warren G. Harding, Anne Battelle even walked the picket line in Chicago at the Republican National Convention to show her support for women’s right to vote.
After the 19th Amendment was passed, she became president of the Republican Women’s Club, and was instrumental in getting a woman elected to the US House of Representatives from Franklin County. Anne was also a delegate to the National Conferences on Child Labor, and a delegate to the World League Congress Against Alcoholism.
In 1920, the 72-year movement to give women the right to vote achieved its goal with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Anne Norton Battelle, wife of Columbus industrialist John Gordon Battelle (founder of Columbus Iron and Steel Company) was a prominent woman's suffrage champion. A close friend of President Warren G. Harding, Anne Battelle even walked the picket line in Chicago at the Republican National Convention to show her support for women’s right to vote.
After the 19th Amendment was passed, she became president of the Republican Women’s Club, and was instrumental in getting a woman elected to the US House of Representatives from Franklin County. Anne was also a delegate to the National Conferences on Child Labor, and a delegate to the World League Congress Against Alcoholism.
Prohibition and the Anti-Saloon League

Prohibition was an effort to reduce drinking by eliminating the businesses that manufactured, distributed, and sold alcoholic beverages. On January 16, 1919, Prohibition was instituted with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Congress passed the Volstead Act on October 28, 1919, to enforce the amendment.
The Anti-Saloon League, headquartered in Westerville, Ohio beginning in 1909, was the organization most responsible for bringing about prohibition. The League was a single-issue, non-partisan lobbying group that worked with churches across the United States to lead the fight for prohibition. To carry out its mission, the League created the American Issue Publishing Company. The printing presses in Westerville operated 24 hours a day and employed 200 people. Within the first three years, the company was producing about 250,000,000 (one-quarter billion) book pages per month.
The leaders of the Anti-Saloon League, including Purley Baker, Howard Hyde Russell, Ernest Cherrington, and Wayne Wheeler established an enclave of homes known as Temperance Row immediately south of Otterbein College in Westerville. Wheeler was the primary lobbyist for the League, and in 1915 he moved to Washington, DC, where he could more easily wield political pressure and influence. In 1919, he became legislative superintendent for the League. Wheeler is largely responsible for helping to draft the 18th amendment and the Volstead Act.
The Anti-Saloon League, headquartered in Westerville, Ohio beginning in 1909, was the organization most responsible for bringing about prohibition. The League was a single-issue, non-partisan lobbying group that worked with churches across the United States to lead the fight for prohibition. To carry out its mission, the League created the American Issue Publishing Company. The printing presses in Westerville operated 24 hours a day and employed 200 people. Within the first three years, the company was producing about 250,000,000 (one-quarter billion) book pages per month.
The leaders of the Anti-Saloon League, including Purley Baker, Howard Hyde Russell, Ernest Cherrington, and Wayne Wheeler established an enclave of homes known as Temperance Row immediately south of Otterbein College in Westerville. Wheeler was the primary lobbyist for the League, and in 1915 he moved to Washington, DC, where he could more easily wield political pressure and influence. In 1919, he became legislative superintendent for the League. Wheeler is largely responsible for helping to draft the 18th amendment and the Volstead Act.
Columbus in the Great Depression

The stock market crash on October 29, 1929 signaled a symbolic end to the economic boom of the Roaring Twenties. When the stock market collapsed, many investors lost their wealth. By 1933, the unemployment rate was 25 percent, up from 3 percent just four years earlier. Industrial production declined by 50 percent.
As a leading industrial state, Ohio was especially susceptible to widespread unemployment. Ohio’s unemployment rate reached 37 percent by 1932. Columbus endured the Depression in better shape than most industrial cities in Ohio. This was largely due to the diversified economy of the city that included work in government, commercial, industrial and service-related jobs. With the loss of industrial jobs, many of Ohio’s major cities lost population during the Depression.
Although the population of Columbus increased, the growth rate dropped below 10 percent during the Depression Era. Industrial workers who remained employed often faced reduced hours and wages. With less disposable income, Columbus residents changed their lifestyles, having fewer children, driving their cars less often, and engaging in cheaper leisure activities. As a result, Columbus’s largest amusement park, Olentangy Park, could no longer afford to operate and closed in 1937.
As a leading industrial state, Ohio was especially susceptible to widespread unemployment. Ohio’s unemployment rate reached 37 percent by 1932. Columbus endured the Depression in better shape than most industrial cities in Ohio. This was largely due to the diversified economy of the city that included work in government, commercial, industrial and service-related jobs. With the loss of industrial jobs, many of Ohio’s major cities lost population during the Depression.
Although the population of Columbus increased, the growth rate dropped below 10 percent during the Depression Era. Industrial workers who remained employed often faced reduced hours and wages. With less disposable income, Columbus residents changed their lifestyles, having fewer children, driving their cars less often, and engaging in cheaper leisure activities. As a result, Columbus’s largest amusement park, Olentangy Park, could no longer afford to operate and closed in 1937.
New Deal Projects in Columbus

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented a series of programs to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief to Americans who were suffering. Over the next eight years, the federal government instituted a series of projects and programs, known collectively as the New Deal. Many New Deal programs focused on providing immediate relief for America's unemployed.
In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) employment and economic recovery program funded the construction of a new federal Courthouse and Post Office Building in Columbus. Launched with a congressional appropriation of $4.9 billion in 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the most extensive New Deal program. At its peak in 1938, the WPA provided paid jobs for three million Americans. The program created jobs for construction workers, writers, artists, musicians, and actors.
In Columbus, WPA construction projects included the Main Street bridge, the Relief, Sanitary and Storm Sewers project, the caretaker's cottage at Schiller Park, the Calumet Street bridge, the enclosure of the east side of City Hall, and the construction of dormitories in Ohio stadium. Another group of WPA workers assisted in occupational and recreational therapy for patients of the state hospital in Columbus.
In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) employment and economic recovery program funded the construction of a new federal Courthouse and Post Office Building in Columbus. Launched with a congressional appropriation of $4.9 billion in 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the most extensive New Deal program. At its peak in 1938, the WPA provided paid jobs for three million Americans. The program created jobs for construction workers, writers, artists, musicians, and actors.
In Columbus, WPA construction projects included the Main Street bridge, the Relief, Sanitary and Storm Sewers project, the caretaker's cottage at Schiller Park, the Calumet Street bridge, the enclosure of the east side of City Hall, and the construction of dormitories in Ohio stadium. Another group of WPA workers assisted in occupational and recreational therapy for patients of the state hospital in Columbus.
John W. Bricker, New Deal Critic

The Great Depression and New Deal had an enduring impact on the government and economy in the United States. New Deal programs greatly expanded the role of the federal government in the American economy, creating the modern welfare state. Many Americans came to believe that it was the federal government's responsibility to protect the health of the nation's economy and the welfare of its citizens.
However, the New Deal had plenty of critics as well. John W. Bricker, a Columbus attorney, was an outspoken critic of the New Deal. Arguing that many New Deal programs were federal intrusions into the state's domain, Bricker championed a position against centralized government. Bricker served as Ohio governor from 1939-1945. In 1944, he was the Vice Presidential running mate of Republican Presidential nominee Thomas Dewey. After Dewey lost the election of 1944 to President Franklin Roosevelt, Bricker founded the Columbus law firm now known as Bricker & Eckler, one of the ten largest in the United States. He served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1947 to 1959.
However, the New Deal had plenty of critics as well. John W. Bricker, a Columbus attorney, was an outspoken critic of the New Deal. Arguing that many New Deal programs were federal intrusions into the state's domain, Bricker championed a position against centralized government. Bricker served as Ohio governor from 1939-1945. In 1944, he was the Vice Presidential running mate of Republican Presidential nominee Thomas Dewey. After Dewey lost the election of 1944 to President Franklin Roosevelt, Bricker founded the Columbus law firm now known as Bricker & Eckler, one of the ten largest in the United States. He served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1947 to 1959.