Daniel Joseph Winge
Attended Yale Law School 1926-1927
Biography
Daniel Joseph Winge was born on March 8th, 1905, in Darien, Georgia to Daniel H. and Georgia J. Winge.1 He enrolled at Rutgers University, majoring in Liberal Arts and was part of the college’s YMCA and debate team.2 He was also part of Alpha Phi Alpha. He graduated from Rutgers in 1926, and in the same year, enrolled at Yale Law School. However, he left after only a year. In 1930, he enlisted in the New York National Guard and served in the 369th Infantry Regiment.3 He soon moved to New Jersey where he was elected to the vestry of the Church of Epiphany in Orange, New Jersey in 1933.4 By 1938, he was an assistant manager of the Douglas-Harrison Apartments, the largest Black housing project at the time, and served as president of the Newark Student Camp.
He was set to marry Helen L. Hearnes, associate director of the Crispus Attucks Community Center when, in June of 1938, Winge embezzled $2,000 from the apartment office and went on the run. Winge went on the run for seven weeks where he travelled across the country on what he called a “See America Tour”.5 He evaded police under a false pseudonym and stayed with acquaintances and friends he made when working at the YMCA and the army. The heist was elevated to the national spotlight as a manhunt for Winge ensued with handbills of him were sent to police departments across the country.[^6]
The case also gained attention as the previous manager of the housing project was Roscoe C. Bruce who shared a similar background as a Harvard graduate and a member of Omega Psi Phi.[^7] He contacted his sister and surrendered himself to detectives where he explained a loophole he found in the accounting to supplement his low wage. In July, he was sentenced to two years of hard labor at Trenton State Prison but later reduced to 18 months at Essex County Penitentiary.6
He moved to Philadelphia in the 1940s and married Inetta M. West. He was employed at the Pennsylvania Forge Company and served as a lay reader at St. Simon’s Church.7 He died on June 20th, 1966, and is buried at Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Pennsylvania.
Image citation: Rutgers College. Scarlet Letter, 1926. New Brunswick, NJ: Graduating Class of 1926. Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. __
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Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, PA, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death Certificates, 1906-1968; Box Number: 2483; Certificate Number: 63338; "United States, Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4LQ-V83 : Sat Jul 13 17:55:45 UTC 2024), Entry for Daniel H Winge and Georgia J Winge, 1930. ↩
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“Daniel J. Winge, senior photo from the Scarlet Letter yearbook,” Scarlet and Black Digital Archive, Rutgers University, accessed October 15, 2025, https://scarletandblack.rutgers.edu/archive/items/show/578. ↩
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"New York, Records of the State National Guard, 1906-1954", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJY-LN93 : Mon Jan 20 10:17:12 UTC 2025), Entry for Daniel J Winge, 10 Feb 1930. ↩
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“Orange, N. J.,” The New York Age, January 28, 1933, 8. ↩
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“Winge Confesses: Yale Man Arrested in $2,000 Shortage,” Afro-American, July 23, 1938, 1. [^6]“Find Missing Auto of Newark Fugitive,” The Pittsburgh Courier, July 16, 1938, 2. [^7]“Yale Man May Join Harvarder in N. J. Pen,” Afro-American, July 23, 1938, 12. ↩
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“Two Years Hard Labor for Winge,” Afro-American, July 30, 1938, 2. ↩
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“Died,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 24, 1966, 30. ↩
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Daniel Joseph Winge -