Politics & Government

New Jersey Acting Governor Once Proposed To Sterilize 'Pineys' In Early 1900s, Report Says


In March 1913, Woodrow Wilson resigned as governor of New Jersey to become the 28th president of the United States.In accordance with the terms of the state Constitution, Senate President James F. Fielder, a Democrat from Jersey City, succeeded Wilson as acting governor, a job Fielder intended to convince voters he deserved in his own right at the next election in November. Like any good politician with ambition, Fielder needed an issue, a societal ill he could promise to fix, according to an article in the Asbury Park Press.

He found his issue in the wilderness of the Pine Barrens, where he had heard unflattering tales about a local population of half-wits known as “pineys.”

To read the entire story, click here: http://www.app.com/article/20140327/NJCOLUMNIST36/303270069/Jersey-Roots-Children-Pines-New-Jersey-s...


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