The Gold Coast along Long Island’s north shore is most often celebrated as a showcase for the rich and famous in the early 20th Century. A decidedly different aspect of that reputation comes into view when you consider the years leading up to America’s entry into World War I. The Morgan Bank, headed by J.P. Morgan, Jr. with his estate in Glen Cove, played a pivotal role in financing and finding supplies for Britain in the early years of the war. Other famous North Shore families, notably former president Theodore Roosevelt of Oyster Bay, pushed for the United States to prepare to enter the war.

Richard Welch presents this story in his book Long Island’s Gold Coast Elite and World War I (History Press). He details the world of the Gold Coast and its prominent families, along with their important industry connections and political leanings. From financial dealings to political activism, large scale rallies, and even pushing their own children to serve, these families helped bring America into the war.

Further Research

• Long Island’s Gold Coast Elite and World War I (find in a library via WorldCat)
• The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917. (Find in a Library via Worldcat)
• “The Harvard Professor Who Shot a Financial Titan and Fomented Anti-German Sentiment in a Pre-WWI America.” (Smithsonian Magazine)
• The Preparedness Movement
• Long Island Forum 1950-2004 (Internet Archive)
• Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
• Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0