The suffering in the Great Depression, from 1929 to 1941, is hard for modern Americans to wrap their minds around. During the fall and winter of 1931 and 1932, unemployed workers established Seattle's "Hooverville," a shantytown named in sarcastic honor of U.S. President Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), on whose beat the Great Depression began. Roys 1934 census provides a breakdown of the population by ethnicity and nationality. What were the rickety shacks in Hoovervilles and Shantytowns built with? The term was coined by the publicity director of the Democratic National Committee in 1930. Exhibit B: Location and Number of Shacks (March 5, 1941) [1] There were hundreds of Hoovervilles across the country during the 1930s.[2]. Some Hoovervilles were dotted with vegetable gardens, and some individual shacks contained furniture a family had managed to carry away upon eviction from their former home. Additionally, although the 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, had been a decade of prosperity, income levels varied widely and numerous Americans lived beyond their means. Roy found the relaxed social atmosphere remarkable, describing "an ethnic rainbow" where men of many colors intermingled "in shabby comraderie. Shanty towns built during the Great Depression, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Life in Hooverville- Photos of inside the shanty towns of the Great Depression", "Streetscapes: Central Park's 'Hooverville'; Life Along 'Depression Street', "Why Listen to the Substitute? Though Hoover later agreed that MacArthur had used excessive force, irreparable damage to his presidency and legacy had been done. Most were white with the majority of them foreign-born, especially Scandinavians. Exhibit C: Physical Conditions and Occupancy of Shacks (March 5, 1941) The term was coined by Charles Michelson. Most large cities built municipal lodging houses for the homeless, but the Depression exponentially increased demand. As the Depression worsened in the 1930s many looked to the federal government for assistance. Whenever possible, Hoovervilles were built near rivers for the convenience of a water source. months[8] = "This website is produced by the Siteseen network that specializes in producing free informative websites on a diverse range of topics. The camp began when an unemployed lumberjack Spread over nine acres; it housed a population of up to 1,200. A 'Hooverville' on waterfront of Seattle, Washington, March 1933. Click to see google map of shack towns in Seattle area and more photos and descriptions.In Seattle shacks appeared in many locations in 1930 and 1931, but authorities usually destroyed them after neighbors complained. In his journal, he states that of the 639 residents of the town, only 7 of them were women. Most settlers were disorganized, and only a few established a form of government. The government refused to pay, citing Depression-era budgetary restrictions. Out of desperation, the homeless began building camps of makeshift shacks near cities across the nation. succeed. Most Hoovervilles operated in an informal, unorganized way, but the bigger ones would sometimes put forward spokespersons to serve as a liaison between the camp and the larger community. In 1929, unemployment was around 3%. Some have estimated that 500 Hoovervilles sprang up in 1929 and increased in number to over 6000 in the 1930s. Many felt that the government had to help those who lost work in the 1930s. Excerpt from "The Story of Hooverville, In Seattle" by Jesse Jackson, Mayor of Hooverville (1935) Hoovervilles were the nickname given to a Shanty Town during the Great Depression and consisted of camps of makeshift shacks or tents set up on unused or public lands. Because of the lack of government, it took a lot of work. For example, one of the eight Hoovervilles in Seattle, Washington, stood from 1931 to 1941. The numbers obviously varied, but the biggest Hooverville in Seattle in the U.S. state of Washington served as the home to 1200 people. Dwellings in the Hoovervilles were little more than shacks built of discarded bricks, wood, tin, and cardboard. until the land was needed for shipping facilities on the eve of World War II. "; The largest Hooverville, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was home to as many as 8,000 homeless people from 1930 to 1936. Black and white Americans and immigrants from all over the world shared the camp sites. No one knows, but there were literally millions of homeless people during the Great Depression so it seems reasonable to estimate the number as several thousands. Click the button below to get instant access to these worksheets for use in the classroom or at a home. Hooverville was the popular name attributed to shanty towns that sprung up throughout the United States during the Great Depression. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. The Great Depression rolled on, and people got caught in a vicious cycle. KidsKonnect is a growing library of high-quality, printable worksheets for teachers and homeschoolers. Did you know? The quality and livability of structures built in Hooverville camps varied widely. This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. WATCH VIDEO: Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. here to see more photographs of Hoovervilles and homeless encampments in Seattle and Tacoma. @media (min-width: 340px) { .adslot_1 { width: 336px; height: 280px; } } MacArthurs troops set fire to the Hooverville and drove the group from the city with bayonets and tear gas. [2] Among the white population, nationalities included English, Irish, Polish, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. There was no work, people were starving and the local police repeatedly burned down the camp. [2], However, not every Hooverville fits this description. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Desperate for shelter, homeless citizens built shantytowns in and around cities across the nation. An error occurred trying to load this video. The Seattle Hooverville covered nine acres of land on the tidal flats adjacent to the Port of Seattle. A shantytown, also known as a Hooverville (named for U.S. President Herbert Hoover), was located in Seattle, Washington, during the Great Depression. Farming in 1935 . https://www.thoughtco.com/hoovervilles-homeless-camps-of-the-great-depression-4845996 (accessed March 1, 2023). Click the image to see a larger version of the map and here to read excerpts from Roy's sociological survey.By 1934 nearly 500 self-built one-room domiciles were "scattered over the terrain in insane disorder," according to Donald Roy, a sociology graduate student who studied the community. With such a well-developed social order, the camp maintained itself as a functional separate community from 1930 to 1936, when President Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal sweeping economic recovery plan allocated federal funds for its removal. The Shanty Town was given the sarcastic nickname 'Hooverville' after President Herbert Hoover who Americans blamed for the Great Depression. No two Roy lived in the Hooverville in spring 1934 while conducting this survey which became his 1935 MA thesis. Men, women, and children living in Hooverville either relied on public charities or begged for food from those who had permanent housing during the era. Click here to see more photographs of Hoovervilles and homeless encampments in Seattle and Tacoma. Today the nine acre site is used to unload container ships. This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 00:48. Even before the Great Depression, there were homeless people, but most large cities were able to build municipal lodging houses for the homeless. He had first achieved fame during World War I when he ran the U.S. Food Administration, and his managerial skills, relentless work ethic, and ability to feed both the troops and the homefront simultaneously won him enormous praise. However, prosperity was soon replaced by poverty and optimism by desperation following the stock market crash of October 1929 and the general failure of the nations banking system. Report of Shack Elimination Committee (April 14, 1941) The Hoovervilles varied in size from just a few shacks clustered together to communities of over 1000 rickety shacks covering acres of unused or public lands. Included are photographs, city documents, a 1934 sociological survey of residents, a short memoir written by the former "mayor" of Hooverville, and more. Hooverville served as a home for different nationalities and ethnicities. Twelve million Americans, about 25% of the normal labor force, were out of work and many suffered poverty, deprivation and homelessness. Bootleggers were becoming rich on the profits of illegal alcohol sales and violence was on the rise. Hoovervilles were not fancy or well-constructed. In the summer of 1931 a group of Seattle residents organized to establish self-help enterprises and demand that government officials create jobs and increase relief assistance to unemployed. READ MORE:Life for the Average Family During the Great Depression, In addition to the term Hooverville, President Hoovers name was used derisively in other ways during the Great Depression. By 1932, Herbert Hoovers last full year in office, the U.S. unemployment rate had soared to 25%, with more than 15 million people without jobs or homes. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you Who Were the Democratic Presidents of the United States? The large camps were set up on the worst type of unused or public land often on the outskirts of towns and cities. Herbert Hoover was president during the start of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover was a rising star of American politics when he won the presidential election of 1928. Although people would often use castoff lumber and building materials, more often than not Hooverville structures were built with cardboard, tar paper, and other comparatively flimsy elements. Here are ten key facts to know about Herbert Hoover, who he was as a person and his tenure as president. When most of the veterans refused to leave their shacks, Hoover ordered his Chief of Staff Gen. Douglas MacArthur to drive them out. As America's housing and economic crisis worsened through 2009, homelessness was on the rise. Over the next several read more, Disenchantment with Prohibition had been building almost from the moment it first took effect in 1920. Most men with construction skills were able to build their houses out of stone, but those who could not resort to making their residences out of wood from the materials available to them, most of which were recycled. Anyone who has seen the famous old Civil War movie ' Gone with the Wind' might remember the Shanty Town on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia that was occupied by freed slaves and poor whites. months[9] = "Get fast, free facts and information on a whole host of subjects in the Siteseen network of interesting websites. Many other names were coined by Democrats based on his opinion, including Hoover blanket, flag, leather, and wagon. Who lived in a Hooverville or Shanty Town? The Seattle City Council decided to close Hooverville in May 1941, despite the increased reliance on it for shelter. Writer John Steinbeck featured a family who lived in a California Hooverville and sought farm work in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939. There were dozens in the state of Washington, hundreds throughout the country, each testifying to the housing crisis that accompanied the employment crisis of the early 1930s. A request from the city was that women and children would not be allowed to live in the shantytown. A survey located 1687 shacks in five substantial colonies and many smaller ones. Regardless of the gender of the residents, Hoovervilles served as a common ground for many different nationalities and ethnicities. By 1932 millions of Americans were living outside the normal rent-paying housing market. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Hoover leather referred to cardboard or newspaper used to replace worn-out shoe soles. Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images. var months = new Array(12); The longest lasting Hooverville, located in Seattle, Washington, stood as a semi-autonomous community from 1931 to 1941. Early in 1941, the Seattle Health Department established a Shack Elimination Committee to identify unauthorized housing clusters and plan their removal. "[1], The city imposed modest building and sanitation rules, required that women and children not live in the Hooverville, and expected the residents to keep order. The final decision to eliminate Hooverville was presented in a report from the Housing Authority. Around 11,000 banks failed during the Great Depression, leaving many with no savings. Hooverville housed about 10,000 veterans and their families in ramshackle shelters built from old lumber, packing boxes, and scrapped tin from a nearby junk pile. A "Hooverville" is the popular name for slum towns built by people without homes during the Great Depression. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); By 1932, between one and two million American people were homeless. The Great Depression started on Wall Street. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. In late 1935, the city Health Department estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 people were living in the various shacktowns. "Hooverville" became a common term for shacktowns and homeless encampments during the Great Depression. Home Facts Privacy About Blog Contact Terms. This was Port of Seattle property that had been occupied by Skinner and Eddy shipyard during World War I. A look at how people lived, especially in the makeshift dwellings they constructed, gives a better sense of this, as does an understanding of the bitter humor behind the naming of these dwellings, known as 'Hoovervilles'. Hoovervilles: Homeless Camps of the Great Depression. I highly recommend you use this site! [3], The city tolerated Hoovervilles until the eve of World War II. Hundreds of Hoovervilles were established across the country during the 1930s. The makeshift shacks were constructed from unwanted materials and lacked basic amenities such as adequate sanitation and clean drinking water. [6], After 1940, the economy recovered, unemployment fell, and shanty housing eradication programs destroyed all the Hoovervilles. For webquest or practice, print a copy of this quiz at the Great Depression - Hoovervilles webquest print page. Inadequate sanitation, lack of clean drinking water and poor nutrition lead to a variety of diseases and illnesses such as tuberculosis, diphtheria, diarrhea, rickets, influenza, pneumonia and skin diseases. Come learn about Hoovervilles, how they got their name, and. Homelessness was rampant during the Great Depression. City officials alternately tolerated and tried to eradicate the shack town. Usually built on the edges of larger cities, hundreds of thousands of people lived in the many Hooverville camps. When Congress refused payment and the veterans refused to leave, President Hoover sent in the army under the direction of Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur; the riot scene that followed included tear gas, bayonets, and tanks, and resulted in the burning of large parts of the Bonus Army's Hooverville as well as several deaths. Probably the most famous Hooverville was the one founded on Anacostia Flats, just outside Washington, D.C., in 1932. This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members!To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download! This began with a heated debate over the status and rights of Hooverville residents, who became more visible in petitions submitted throughout the late 1930s. A Hooverville near Portland, Oregon. This Hooverville had its very own unofficial mayor, Jesse Jackson. The rectangular reservoir north of Belvedere Castle was taken out of service when the stock market crashed in 1929. They were built by unemployed impoverished Americans that had been made homeless and had nowhere else to live. As people increasingly relied on credit to buy homes filled with new conveniences of the day, like refrigerators, radios, and cars, many Americans were living beyond their means. One of the important events during his presidency was the emergence of the Shanty Town during the Great Depression. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States during the onset of the Depression and was widely blamed for it. This photo shows a team of two work horses hitched to a wagon with farm house visible in the background in Beltsville, Md., in 1935. I feel like its a lifeline. By the early 1940s, with the economy rebounding during World War II, many Hoovervilles had fewer residents and most were torn down. People who rented their homes fell behind with the rent and were evicted by bailiffs. Homeowners lost their property when they could not pay mortgages or pay taxes. Erected by unemployed lumberjacks on the tidal flats of the Port of Seattle, the encampment covered nine acres and grew to house up to 1,200 people. [3] Men, women and children alike lived in Hoovervilles. This Hooverville thrived because it was funded by private donations. Credit was extended to many so that they could enjoy the new inventions of the day, such as washing machines, refrigerators and automobiles. Riverside Park, New York City: A shantytown occupied Riverside Park at 72nd Street during the depression. "Hoovervilles," shanty towns of unemployed men, sprung up all over the nation, named after President Hoover's insufficient relief during the crisis. 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