High-School DBQ Objective Using the documents and knowledge of the American economy of the early 1900s, students will discuss the relationship between the development of New York City as a business center and the growth of the American economy in the era preceding the Great Depression. Documents The (6) documents featured here are from The Skyscraper Museum s Collection. Some of the images may be found in the Tower Tube, which holds a collection of 14 enlarged images from the Museum s collection, comprehensive information about each image and teaching strategies for object-based inquiry. This resource is sent to your classroom free of charge. Standards met by proposed DBQ at the Commencement Level: Standard 1.3: Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in NY and US history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups. Student evidence includes: Students draw upon literary selections, historical documents, and accounts to analyze the roles played by different individuals and groups during the major eras in NY and US history. Standard 1.2: Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from NY state and US history illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives. Standard 4.1: The study of economics requires an understanding of major economic concepts and systems, the principles of economic decision making, and the interdependence of economies and economic systems throughout the world. Student evidence includes: Students investigate the importance of New York City as a primary world financial center and how the City s financial role is enhanced by technology.
Wall Street Wall Street: Three Historic Views (1895, 1905, 1912) These postcards, dated 1895, 1905, and 1912 (left to right), each depict a westward perspective of Wall Street that culminates at Trinity Church. During the 1880s much of Wall Street was rebuilt, as banks and insurance companies consolidated wealth during the city s Gilded Age. Every structure pictured in the first postcard, save Trinity Church and Federal Hall, would be replaced again by 1930. The curved façade on the left is the Wilkes Building, at 2 Broad Street. At the end on the right, at 14 Wall Street, is the Union Building, erected in the 1840s. The 1905 postcard draws attention to 14 Wall Street, the Gillender Building, on the right side of the street, though you can also see Federal Hall just before it at 28 Wall Street. The 1912 postcard shows, at the end of the street on the left, One Wall Street (1906-1907), an 18-story structure on a small 30 by 40 foot plot of land that was reputedly the most valuable in the world. The right side of the street is dominated by the new Bankers Trust building, 14 Wall Street, which was a dominant 41 stories high. 1. How do the buildings on Wall Street change between the three pictures, and what might be reasons for that change? 2. What do these changes suggest about the economic climate of the area, and how might this affect the cost of an office on Wall Street?
Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building is unusual among skyscrapers for having been financed in cash. Its owner was Frank W. Woolworth, a man who owned a chain of stores that might be equivalent to today s Wal-Mart. In 1910, he commissioned architect Cass Gilbert to design a Gothic-style skyscraper to soar above City Hall Park on a full-block site on Broadway between Park Place and Barclay Street. The height and cost escalated from an estimated 625 feet and $5 million to the final of 792 feet for $13.5 million. The extensive foundations and wind-bracing necessary for a tall and slender tower and the elaborate terracotta exterior and sumptuous lobby desired by Woolworth helped to inflate the costs. The Woolworth Building was the tallest skyscraper in the world from the time of its construction until that of the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street in 1930. Woolworth Building (Postcard, c. 1915) 1. What possible motivation might Frank Woolworth have had for developing such a luxurious and costly building? 2. What conclusions can you draw about the Woolworth Company based on the fact that the building was paid for in cash?
Building Occupancy Office Building Occupancy of the Central Business Area There was pent-up demand for office space in New York City after World War I driven by many factors, including an expansion of white-collar workers and an increased per-person average for office space. Skyscraper developers responded to this demand with a massive increase in office building construction, and between 1925 and 1929 over 17 million square feet of new office space was built in New York. Even with so much new construction there was enough demand to ensure low vacancy rates and encourage further construction. 1. Describe the trend in occupancy as illustrated in this chart. Be sure to include any knowledge you have about important dates during that period 2. Drawing on your prior knowledge of this time period, what made the occupancy rates so high during some years, and so low during others?
Land Values Most skyscraper construction around the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th was focused on a small area around Broadway and Wall Street. The most expensive land was at the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets the site off the New York Stock Exchange and the next highest values lined Broadway north of Trinity Church. The concentration of powerful financial institutions such as the New York Stock Exchange, major banks and corporations made proximity for business much desired, and this helped drive up the price of land and the height of buildings. Land Values in Lower Manhattan, in dollars per square foot (1903) 1. What factors particularly economic would lead businesses to group together in a central area? 2. What do the prices suggest about the demand for office space, and about the state of the business economy?
Banker s Trust Building The Bankers Trust Building, at 14 Wall Street, was the tallest banking building in the world at the time of its construction (1912). It was built on the site of the Gillender Building, which was demolished as part of construction. The Gillender Building was purchased for the highest price recorded to that point, $800 per square foot. A pyramid would ultimately come to top the tower, a visual reminder of the building s owners: The logo of the Bankers Trust was a pyramid. Interestingly, however, Bankers Trust offices only occupied the first three floors of this building. The rest of the company s staff was housed in other, cheaper, quarters. The remaining 34 floors were leased out by the Bankers Trust to paying tenants. Among them was banking titan J. P. Morgan, who owned the 31st Floor penthouse. Newspaper clipping on construction of the Bankers Trust Building (The New York Times, April 10, 1910) 1. What made the Gillender Building worth so much money, and why was it demolished to make way for the Bankers Trust building? 2. What advantage might there be for the Bankers Trust to own such an expensive building?
Comparative Skylines These three images show the changing Manhattan Skyline during its explosion of skyscraper construction. The first image depicts some of the city s earliest skyscrapers, but the skyline is still defined to a great extent by church spires, which were still some of the tallest structures at the time. By 1915, the skyline of Lower Manhattan had been transformed during the first decades of the 20th century by an astonishing array of new, increasingly tall office buildings. This image records three tallest buildings in the world, built within thirteen years of each other (The Park Row, Singer and Woolworth Buildings), as well as three of the largest, built within seven (The City Investing Company, Hudson Terminal and Equitable Buildings). By the 1930s, the skyline of Lower Manhattan had attained the profile it would hold for much of the mid-twentieth century. 1. What do you notice about the changes in the skyline, and about the location of new buildings? Comparative Manhattan Skylines 1899, 1915, 1930s 2. Using your knowledge of this time period, why did construction slow dramatically by the 1930s?