Princeton, New Jersey in the 1930s

Work

University town labor

The university dominated the local economy, and many Black residents found work tied to campus and town service jobs; the neighborhood history describes many later Witherspoon-Jackson residents as working as waiters, waitresses, and doormen at Princeton eating clubs^5,6. The 1930s also brought construction work as Palmer Square rose after 1936^2,3.

Who lived here

A divided small borough

This was a small place: 6,992 borough residents in 1930¹. Race shaped daily geography, with Witherspoon-Jackson as the African American neighborhood^5,6 and the central redevelopment pushing families farther from Nassau Street.

Home & table

Close houses, separate schools

In Witherspoon-Jackson, houses were small, vernacular, and close to the street⁵. Children grew up under school segregation: Black elementary pupils attended Witherspoon School^6,7, and white pupils went elsewhere until after the decade.

Law & power

Municipal power and redevelopment

Princeton borough and township were separate local governments, with the borough enclosed by the township. The strongest visible private power in the town center was Edgar Palmer’s redevelopment: Baker Street and Nassau Place were eliminated for Palmer Square^2,4.

In the air

Refugees and segregation

The decade brought world scholarship into town when the Institute for Advanced Study opened in 1933^8,9. At the same time, local equality was unresolved: elementary schools remained segregated^6,7, and the question would not be settled locally until after New Jersey’s 1947 constitution.

Roads & news

Papers and the Dinky

News arrived by print and rail: the Princeton Herald and Local Express were available local papers¹⁴, while the Dinky connected town to Princeton Junction^12,13. Town Topics, now familiar, was not part of this decade because it began in 1946¹⁵.

What people feared

Illness and hard times

The Depression delayed major building in Princeton, including Palmer Square construction until 1936^2,3. Earlier school history also shows public-health anxiety around children, with measles and diphtheria delaying the Witherspoon School’s 1908 opening, though no opened source gives a Princeton epidemic for the 1930s.

Money

Costs poorly recorded online

Local costs are a gap in the opened record: no online source here gave a 1930s Princeton price list for groceries, rents, or wages. The most visible money story is capital investment: the Institute was founded with Bamberger-Fuld philanthropy^8,9 and Palmer Square restarted once Depression delay eased^2,3.

Year by year

1. 1929Edgar Palmer announced the Palmer Square plan for a new commercial and municipal center. here^2,3
2. 1930The Institute for Advanced Study was founded by Louis Bamberger and Caroline Bamberger Fuld. here^8,9
3. 1930The School of Public and International Affairs was created at Princeton University. here¹⁷
4. 1933Albert Einstein and other scholars began work with the newly opened Institute for Advanced Study. here⁹
5. 1933Franklin D. Roosevelt began the New Deal, whose relief and public-works programs were discussed across New Jersey towns. the country
6. 1936Construction of Palmer Square began after Depression delay. here^2,3
7. 1938Witherspoon School received a Public Works Administration renovation after pressure from the local NAACP. here⁶
8. 1939Germany invaded Poland and war began in Europe, a matter made immediate in Princeton by refugee scholars already in town. the world⁹

What the sources say

• Princeton borough had 6,992 residents in 1930 and 7,719 in 1940. from the sources¹
• Princeton township, which surrounded the borough, had 2,738 residents in 1930 and 3,251 in 1940. from the sources¹
• In the 1930 census framework, Princeton borough and Princeton township were listed within the Trenton metropolitan district rather than as an isolated rural place. from the sources¹
• Princeton University faced Nassau Street at the town center and remained the dominant institution in the borough’s public life. inferred²
• Edgar Palmer announced plans for Palmer Square in February 1929, but Depression conditions delayed construction until 1936; the first phase, including the new Nassau Inn, was completed in 1937. from the sources^2,3
• The Palmer Square project removed Baker Street and Nassau Place and displaced many poor and minority families from the old center of town. inferred^2,4
• Palmer Square was designed by architect Thomas Stapleton in a Colonial Revival style and planned as a new municipal and commercial center. inferred²
• The Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, centered on Witherspoon Street and nearby streets, was Princeton’s long-established African American neighborhood. from the sources^5,6
• A municipal historic-district report describes Witherspoon-Jackson houses as generally simple, small, vernacular, and set close to one another and to the street. from the sources⁵
• Princeton’s elementary schools remained segregated in the 1930s: Black children attended the Witherspoon School for Colored Children on Quarry Street, while white children attended Nassau Street School. from the sources^6,7
• The Witherspoon School was intended for about 200 Black students from both Princeton borough and Princeton township. inferred⁶
• After a campaign by the local NAACP, Witherspoon School received a Public Works Administration renovation in 1938. inferred⁶
• The Institute for Advanced Study was founded in 1930 by Louis Bamberger and Caroline Bamberger Fuld and opened academically on October 2, 1933. from the sources^8,9
• When the Institute for Advanced Study opened in 1933, its first faculty included Albert Einstein, Oswald Veblen, Hermann Weyl, James Alexander, and John von Neumann. from the sources⁹
• Einstein was often associated with Princeton University in public memory, but contemporary university sources stressed that the Institute for Advanced Study was independent of the university. from the sources^10,11
• The Princeton Branch railroad, locally called the Dinky, connected Princeton with Princeton Junction on the Pennsylvania Railroad main line. from the sources^12,13
• The Dinky was changed from steam power to electric operation in the 1930s, removing the earlier soot problem around the campus station. from the sources¹³
• The Historical Society of Princeton lists the Princeton Herald as a local publication running from 1928 to 1966 and the Local Express as running from 1935 to 1939. from the sources¹⁴
• Town Topics did not exist in the 1930s; it was founded as a Princeton weekly in 1946. from the sources¹⁵
• Princeton’s local directories for 1901 through 1935 survive on microfilm, but they are not fully searchable in the open web sources used here. from the sources¹⁶
• Princeton University created the School of Public and International Affairs in 1930. from the sources¹⁷
• New Jersey women and men could both vote in the 1930s because the Nineteenth Amendment had been ratified in 1920. inferred
• No online source opened here gave a full 1930s price list for Princeton groceries, rents, or wages. not known
• No opened source gave a complete list of Princeton churches active in the 1930s, though Presbyterian and African American church life is repeatedly visible in local historical materials. not known

Sources

1. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, Population, Volume I, New Jersey tables. United States Census Bureau, 1940
2. Historic Sites. Historical Society of Princeton
3. Palmer Square: A Look Back. Princeton Magazine, 2019
4. Albert E. Hinds Memorial Walking Tour. Historical Society of Princeton
5. Witherspoon-Jackson Historic District, Appendix B Exhibit 3. Municipality of Princeton, 2026
6. Princeton's Public Schools: A History — Witherspoon School for Colored Children. Historical Society of Princeton
7. The Princeton Plan. Princeton & Slavery Project, Princeton University
8. Mission & History. Institute for Advanced Study
9. Institute for Advanced Study: Opening Day, October 2, 1933. Institute for Advanced Study, 2008
10. Albert Einstein; Only a Guest. Princeton Alumni Weekly, 1933
11. Dear Mr. Mudd: Is the Institute for Advanced Study Part of Princeton University?. Princeton University Archives, 2015
12. Princeton Junction, NJ (PJC). Great American Stations
13. Princeton Junction & Back: Our Dinky Archives. Princeton University Archives, 2015
14. Digital Database. Historical Society of Princeton
15. Town Topics Celebrates 75th Anniversary. Town Topics, 2021
16. Princeton and Local History: A Resource Guide. Princeton Public Library
17. History. Princeton University

Nearby, about the same time