Tensions between destitute citizens and the Hoover administration climaxed in the spring of 1932 when thousands of World War I veterans and their families and friends set up a Hooverville on the banks of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Chapter 1: The Great Depression Strikes Pennsylvania Chapter 2: Political Change and the New Deal Coalition Chapter 3: The New Deal in Pennsylvania: Public Works and Organized Labor Chapter 4: Popular Culture and Society in the 1930s Learn More Story Details Historical Markers In the Story Original Documents Story Credits Story Bibliography 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. Hoover was largely blamed for the ineffective federal role to that point, and Americans were largely thankful to see their government trying any policy. The numbers, as mind-boggling as they are, tend not to reflect the actual state of suffering caused by the greatest economic catastrophe in U.S. history. The shanty town was so big that people established their own community government and elected a 'mayor' as their leader to settle any disputes. Residents of the previous Hooverville in Tacoma rebuilt homes on the same site they occupied throughout. Early Hooverville was burned down twice by Seattle police, but its residents continued to rebuild small houses. The decision led to the establishment of the Shack Elimination Committee by the City Council. Covering nine acres of public land, it housed a population of up to 1,200, claimed its own community government including an unofficial mayor, and enjoyed the protection of leftwing groups and sympathetic public officials
The government refused to pay, citing Depression-era budgetary restrictions. Businesses made huge profits, but average workers wages did not rise at the same rate. Some of the homeless found shelter inside empty conduits and water mains. Named for President Herbert Hoover, the ramshackle settlements ranged in size and were set up across the nation. Seattle was also the location of seven other shantytowns. Seattle's Hooverville and its residents were portrayed as violent, exotic, and separate from the rest of Seattle, obscuring the social accomplishments and self-organization of shantytown residents. Technically, these settlements were often in violation of state or local law; and even though they were often raided, it became common practice for authorities to endure them. 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. Sign Up. Eight different Hoovervilles were established in Seattle, Washington, with the largest one lasting from 1932 to 1941 and built on the tidal flats adjacent to the Port of Seattle. One-fourth of all workers were unemployed. During WWI, this area belonged to the Port of Seattle but was occupied by the Skinner and Eddy shipyard. Many were established near rivers, as the above picture shows, or ponds - it helped to have access to some water. It began with the United States stock market crash of 1929, and didn't completely end until after . In Washington, the Unemployed Citizen's League and its newspaper, The Vanguard, gained the state Communists a broad appeal, and integrated the unemployed into the state's radical reform coalitions. Reasons for Homelessness: Homeowners lost their houses when they could not pay mortgages or pay taxes. A "Hoover flag" was an empty pocket turned inside out and "Hoover leather" was cardboard used to line a shoe when the sole wore through. 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. Hoover's other problem was his own personality. A "Hoover wagon" was an automobile with horses hitched to it, often with the engine removed. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was the President of the United States during the start of the Great Depression and was given the blame for it. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath, writer John Steinbeck, vividly described his hardships as a young farmworker in the Weedpatch Hooverville near Bakersfield, California. It was headed by the Commissioner of Health, the Superintendent of Buildings, the Chief of Police, and the Chief of the Fire Department, tasked to draft a plan on how to proceed with the elimination of Hooverville. During the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and lasted about a decade, shantytowns appeared across America as unemployed people were evicted from their homes. Roosevelts recovery program, known as the New Deal, eventually reduced unemployment, regulated banking and helped turn the ailing economy around with public works projects and other economic programs. Seattle's Hooverville had lasted a full decade.[4]. The Seattle City Council decided to close Hooverville in May 1941, despite the increased reliance on it for shelter. Why was the Shanty Town called a Hooverville? [2], Tacoma's "Hollywood-on-the-Tideflats" was burned by city officials in May 1942, but was soon reoccupied and rebuilt. And hundreds of thousands--no one knows how many--took to the streets, finding what shelter they could, under bridges, in culverts, or on vacant public land where they built crude shacks. More often than not, Hoovervilles were tolerated. This issue will be discussed more below. "Nobody Paid any Attention": The Economic Marginalization of Seattle's Hooverville, by Dustin Neighly, Seattles Hooverville: The Failure of Effective Unemployment Relief in the Early 1930s by Magic Demirel, Hooverville: A Study of a Community of Homeless Men in Seattle by Donald Francis Roy, The Story of Seattle's Hooverville by Jesse Jackson, "Mayor" of Hooverville, Seattle Municipal Archives Hooverville Documents. As elsewhere in the country, Washington State's Communist Party helped to organize the unemployed into active political and social formations. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. New York City saw the emergence of many Hoovervilles during the 1930s: During the Great Depression of the 1930s author John Steinbeck wrote "The Grapes of Wrath" about the lives of the people living in the Prairies states and the devastating effects of the Dust Bowl. Usually built on vacant land, the camps were largely tolerated by city authorities. Democratic National Committee publicity director and longtime newspaper reporter Charles Michelson is credited with coining the term, which first appeared in print in 1930. This website helped me pass! Facts about Shantytowns and HoovervillesThe following fact sheet contains interesting facts and information on Shantytowns and Hoovervilles. People who rented their homes fell behind with the rent and were evicted by bailiffs. Next: Unemployed Citizens League and Poverty Activism. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. - Definition & History, Effects & Events of the US Civil War from Various Perspectives, William Monroe Trotter: Quotes & Biography, Andrew Carnegie: Steel, Net Worth & Philanthropy, Neil Armstrong: Biography, Facts & Moon Landing, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. However, most buildings were little more than crude shelters thrown together from wooden crates, cardboard boxes, tar paper, scrap metal, and other fire-prone discarded materials. Small camps and sites in towns sprang up in any available space. OKIESOkies is a term applied generally to people from the American Southwest who migrated to the Pacific Coast, particularly to California, during the Great Depression. The largest Hooverville, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was home to as many as 8,000 homeless people from 1930 to 1936. "; When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he acted swiftly to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief read more, The Stock Market Crash of 1929 occurred on October 29, 1929, when Wall Street investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. The publics frustration with President Hoovers refusal to deal with the Depression peaked in the spring of 1932 when an estimated 15,000 World War I veterans and their families established a Hooverville along the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. On June 17, 1932, many of the veterans, known as the Bonus Army, marched on the U.S. Capitol demanding payment the badly needed WWI combat bonuses the government had promised them. Hundreds of Hooverville settlements were built across the United States, but some stood out. By 1932, between one and two million American people were homeless. For example, in New York City, encampments sprang up along the Hudson and East rivers. Most of them did not find work. ThoughtCo. The economic depression began in September 1929 and was immediately followed by the October 24 Wall Street stock market crash. The Great Depression saw the collapse of the United States' economy, rampant unemployment and a broad sense of hopelessness. He had first achieved fame during World War I when he ran the U.S. Food Administration, and his. However, their request was denied by Congress and Hoover ordered them evicted. A Hooverville near Portland, Oregon. As the Depression worsened in the 1930s many looked to the federal government for assistance. In late 1935, the city Health Department estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 people were living in the various shacktowns. Absolutely anything that would provide shelter. 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. Around 11,000 banks failed during the Great Depression, leaving many with no savings. 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. It is a city built on hills and around water, in a mild marine climate that encourages prolific . Most were unemployed laborers and timber workers, few of whom had held any jobs in the previous two years. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. As America's housing and economic crisis worsened through 2009, homelessness was on the rise. They posed health risks to their inhabitants as well as to those living nearby, but there was little that local governments or health agencies could do. President Herbert Hoover lost the election in 1932 to Franklin D. Roosevelt. 01 of 10 First Quaker President Hoover was the son of a blacksmith, Jesse Clark Hoover, and a Quaker minister, Huldah Minthorn Hoover. Hoover also didn't think it would work and that a crisis such as this one would have to blow over on its own. 2 See answers Advertisement jayilych4real We are grateful to the Seattle Municipal Archives, King County Archives, and the University of Washington Library Special Collections for permission to incorporate materials in their collections. Homeless people were forced to live in absolute poverty in the Hoovervilles or shantytowns in the 1930s. How many people lived in the Hoovervilles in the 1930s? Central Park Hooverville with Central Park West in the Background in 1932. The Depression was blamed on President Herbert Hoover, after whom the town was named after, as coined by Charles Michelson. [4] Most of these unemployed residents of the Hoovervilles relied on public charities or begged for food from those who had housing during this era. Thousands of Hoovervilles began to appear all over the country. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was an ambitious employment and infrastructure program created by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, during the bleakest days of the Great Depression. [2] Among the white population, nationalities included English, Irish, Polish, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. Many of us spend a great deal of time imagining what we'd do if we had a lot of money--if we won the lottery, for example. Shanty towns also appeared in or near other cities. Riverside Park, New York City: A shantytown occupied Riverside Park at 72nd Street during the depression. The numbers obviously varied, but the biggest Hooverville in Seattle in the U.S. state of Washington served as the home to 1200 people. Excerpt from "Hooverville: A Study of a Community of Homeless Men in Seattle" by Donald Francis Roy (1935)
WATCH: America: The Story of Us on HISTORY Vault. As the Depression deepened, the sheer number of homeless people became overwhelming. A "Hooverville" was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States. Included are photographs, city documents, a 1934 sociological survey of residents, a short memoir written by the former "mayor" of Hooverville, and more. Grade Level. Hoovervilles began to disappear after the election of Franklin Roosevelt, whose New Deal promised to put the federal government into activist mode to try to end the Great Depression. This building housed a mayora's office and a commissary, or grocery store. Each Hooverville was unique. Browse Catalog. One of the most famous ways in which people migrated during the timeframe of the Great Depression was by 'riding the rails' on trains. What became the city's main Hooverville started as a group of little huts on land next to Elliott Bay south of "skid road," as the Pioneer Square area was then called. Write THREE true facts about this topic and ONE lie about this topic in the boxes below2. Out of desperation, the homeless began building camps of makeshift shacks near cities across the nation. The Seattle City Council decided to close Hooverville in May 1941, despite the increased reliance on it for shelter. 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. People experiencing homelessness made them from scraps of wood, tin, tar, and cardboard, and named . By the time the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, enough Americans were working again that virtually all the encampments had vanished. Source for information on Okies: Encyclopedia of the Great Depression dictionary. [1] This pattern became associated with Oklahoma because that state provided a plurality of migrants from 1935 to 1940, the peak of the phenomenon. Although a common factor among Hooverville residents was unemployment, inhabitants took any work that became available, often laboring at such backbreaking, sporadic jobs as fruit picking or packing. Including the veterans, their families, and other supporters, the crowd of protesters eventually grew to nearly 45,000 people. months[3] = "Check out the interesting and diverse websites produced and created by the international publisher in the Siteseen network. Odd pieces of wood, stones, loose boards, crates, cardboard, scraps of other materials, old bricks and parts of boxes. These areas were frequently on private lands, but the trespassing settlements were simply ignored as the crisis demanded. 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. According to Roy, there was tolerance and friendship among ethnic groups and nationalities because racial barriers did not exist. Home Facts Privacy About Blog Contact Terms. Whenever possible, Hoovervilles were built near creeks, streams, and rivers to provide a source of water. This began with a heated debate over the status and rights of Hooverville residents, which became more visible in petitions submitted throughout the late 1930s. The Great Depression caused social upheaval and political unrest. This lack of organization has made it difficult to identify the populations within Hoovervilles. Join 51,000+ happy teachers and students who use our teaching worksheets and resources every day. By the early 1940s, Roosevelts New Deal programs had turned the economy around and many of the Hoovervilles had been abandoned and demolished. Letter from Housing Authority to City Council (March 4, 1941)
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