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233 The task of doing research has been vastly improved by digital age tools such as ProQuest, Google Archives, and WorldCat. But people still make the difference, and I want to thank the library and agency staff members who assisted me: at the Library of Congress, Kristi L. Finefield; National Archives, Richard W. Peuser , Gregory J. Plunges, Maryellen Trautman, Rodney Ross, and William H. Davis; Atlantic City Free Public Library, Heather Halpin Pérez; Walter P. Reuther Library, Elizabeth Murray Clemens; Newark Public Library, James Lewis; Boston Public Library, Linda B. MacIver; New York City Municipal Archives, Michael Lorenzini and the legendary Leonora A. Gidlund; New Jersey State Library, Deborah Mercer: Rutgers University Libraries, Linda Langschied, James Hartstein, Tom Glynn, Ron Becker, and Glenn Sandberg; New Jersey State Archives, Betty Epstein and Joseph Klett; New Jersey State Museum, Margaret O’Reilly; Robert Lesser Foundation, Robert Lesser and Bryan Lautz. I also offer a shoutout to the Microforms Reading Room of the majestic New York Public Library. Debra Burns, a masterly editor, kindly took the time to read the entire manuscript and provided invaluable suggestions, for which her compensation was an occasional biscotti at the local coffee shop. Other people who provided assistance and advice were Jon Blackwell, Harriet Bloom, Gordon Bond, David Critchley, Monica Devanas, Robert Frank, Alan Gottlieb, Mary Hartman, Ann and Carl Kessler , Vicki Gold Levy, Claire McInerney, Sandra Moss, and Helen Pike. Special thanks to Marlie Wasserman, the director of the Rutgers University Press and to her staff, as well as to Lisa Nowak Jerry, the wise copyeditor assigned to this project. Thanks also to my children Benjamin and Rebecca for their unwavering belief that their dad was not off his rocker. And finally, my beloved wife Ellen helped in Acknowledgments 234 Acknowledgments countless ways with her loving support and keen insights. I cannot express how much her encouragement has meant to me to me during our lives together. I know she is glad that those gangsters who have metaphorically been a part of our daily lives finally took their feet off the sofa and cigar butts off the floor and departed our house so that we can get some privacy. ...

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