Mowrer

October 11 - 12, 2010

1930's timeline

Using the WGBH American Experience's [|Photo Gallery: The 1930's], identify people and events from the 1930's.

Joe Kennedy(1888-1969): Joseph Patrick Kennedy was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 6, 1888.He attended the Boston Latin School, and later attended Harvard College. After graduating from Harvard in 1912, he took his first job as a state-employed bank examiner. This allowed him to learn a great deal about the banking industry. In 1913, the Columbia Trust Bank, in which his father held a significant share, was under threat of takeover. Kennedy, borrowing $45,000 ($987,273 today) from family and friends, bought back control and at age 25 was rewarded by being elected the bank's president, "the youngest in America."

In 1919 he joined a stock brokerage where he became an expert in dealing with the stock market.In 1923 he left and set up his own investment company becoming a multi-millionaire. Kennedy later claimed he knew the rampant stock speculation of the late 1920s would lead to a crash. It is said that he knew it was time to get out of the market when he received stock tips from a shoe-shine boy.During the depression Kennedy increased his fortune by investing most of it in real estate. In 1929, Kennedy's fortune was estimated to be $4 million (equivalent to $50.8 million today). By 1935, his wealth had increased to $180 million (equivalent to $2.85 billion today).