Old values and the New Deal: James L. Wick, Jr.'s business and civic careers in Youngstown

Abstract

James L. Wick, Jr., a product of the industrializing and progressive eras of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, ascended to a leadership position in the business and civic affairs of Youngstown, Ohio, on the eve of the stock market crash of 1929 and resulting Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration to the Presidency of the United States in 1933 and the formulation of his New Deal administration marked the beginning of a transformation of values and conventional wisdom in American society. The old ideals of private enterprise, individual initiative and upper-class responsibility for ensuring opportunities for less fortunate citizens to stabilize and improve themselves were replaced by a comprehensive social welfare system, numerous public works programs and a network of regulating agencies which moved government into the forefront of determining social and economic policy for the nation. While functioning in the prime of his business and civic careers between 1930 and 1960, Wick viewed the changes in America as an affront to individual liberty, and responded by holding fast to the values and philosophies that he had embraced in his formative years earlier in the twentieth century. His defiance of the new priorities and power structure in American business led to an abrupt and dramatic end to his career at Youngstown's Falcon Bronze Company in 1953. In working as a civic leader and public servant in organizations such as Youngstown College and Mill Creek Park in the same period, he found an environment which was less encumbered by the social and political upheaval of the era. Wick made important contributions to the development of these institutions, some of which became vital economic, social and cultural assets of the community as it encountered the post-industrial era in the late-1970's and early-1980's.