One of the luckiest things could happen, I came across a Baltimore Sun news paper clipping about two weeks old on the stock market crash of 1929. It's a little by shear luck because my brother had held it for me remembering, I was researching the depression era and Baltimore's role in it. It was written by columnist Fred N. Rasmussen who did a great job in telling the cause and effects that it had on Baltimore. Also, giving the credit for Baltimore being able to succeed during that crazy time.
It was a time of turmoil in which the President of the United States was Herbert Hoover during this crash that brought businesses to there knees. Stocks being at half the price that they were worth. It was on October the 23, that the stock exchange it self felt like falling apart. That day was a unknown of shares in liquidation unheard to businessman. When Winston Churchill him self who at the time was visting New York see's a collapsed of 12,894,650 shares go down to record low not good. The very next day in the Baltimore Sun called it "Money Kings Halt Stocks Wildest Plunge In Worst Selling Scare In 15 Years" (Rasmussen 10). During the depression that was a day to never forget for Wall Street known to most as Black Tuesday. The economy was really in bad shape and didn't look good for most cities.
Baltimore city had a advantage over most cities was its diverse economy. With other cities relying on one industry they didn't fared as well during the crash. Baltimore felt the effects of this crash afterwards in 1930 when Chesapeake Bank and Baltimore Trust Company went under. Governor of Maryland at the time Albert C. Ritchie had no choice to closed all banks in Maryland. Baltimore's managers of most the city's banks didn't go under because they saved consertatively. Any one who was home owner in the city some how avoided foreclosure mostly. Not to leave out how unemployment in Baltimore was growing and African Ameicans were among the highest. Baltimoreans in 1931 accounted for forty two thousand with out work. Company's such as the Electric Company and Unit Railways because of this chaotic time went under to become Baltimore's Transit Company. The situation was desperate especially when in 1932 the B&0 Railroad had to be brought back from receivership by a eighty eight million dollars loan from federal reconstruction Finance Corp. Baltimore took some bumps in the road at this period of trnasition.
It wan't until 1932 when Rosevelt was elected that things started to look up. He brought forth a new funds deal to put alot of people back to work with city projects. For example, new schools, play grounds leading to Howard Street, and the Baltimore city very first public housing development. It sure looked like Baltimore was starting to get passed this chaotic time of the Depression. According to Rasmussen "However it was the coming of World War II and the need to produce war material thatn finally pulled Baltimore and the nation out of the Depression" (Rasmussen 10). Baltimore by many probably wasn't looked at as other many cities to pop out of the Depression with historic credentials but it was changed from this overwhelming period.
As luck it was for me to get that important piece to my research. It gave me even more a curiousity to how much of a role did Baltimore play during the Depression era. Baltimore might not by alot of historians as monumental in history but with out a doubt needs to be looked at more.
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