The quality and livability of structures built in Hooverville camps varied widely. Hoovervilles were not fancy or well-constructed. 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. St. Louis, Missouri, was the site of the largest Hooverville in America. It was a period of the global economic crisis that began with a significant drop in stock prices in the United States. Seattle, in 2009, is currently facing a recession that may be the most serious since the Depression of the 1930s, and a community similar to Hooverville has formed. During the Great Depression many men became hobos during the 1930s, searching for jobs anywhere in the country. "; Thesis, University of Washington, 1935), pp.42-45. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. Come learn about Hoovervilles, how they got their name, and. The term itself was first used in 1930 by Charles Michelson, the Publicity Chief of the Democratic National Committee when he published an article in the New York Times referring to a homeless camp in Chicago, Illinois, as Hooverville. Before long, the term was in common use. [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. 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. By the spring of 1932, when it could have most helped ease the Depression, Americas revenue from world trade was reduced by more than half. Shantytowns and Hoovervilles: Herbert Hoover was the 31st American President who served in office from March 4, 1929 to March 4, 1933. The Great Depression drew to an end with the outbreak of WW2 and municipal programs aimed at "eradicating" shantytowns destroyed all the Hoovervilles. All the Hoovervilles were 'eradicated' at the end of the Great Depression in 1941. Democratic National Committee publicity director and longtime newspaper reporter Charles Michelson is credited with coining the term, which first appeared in print in 1930. It stood for ten years, 1931 to 1941. The longest lasting Hooverville, located in Seattle, Washington, stood as a semi-autonomous community from 1931 to 1941. Herbert Hoover was a rising star of American politics when he won the presidential election of 1928. Hooverville was the popular name attributed to shanty towns that sprung up throughout the United States during the Great Depression. [2] Donald Francis Roy, a citizen of Seattles Hooverville, took detailed recordings of the population during his time there. Hoover's other problem was his own personality. The Great Depression started on Wall Street. A "Hooverville" dweller, Circleville, Ohio, c. 1938. These settlements were often trespassing on private lands, but they were frequently tolerated or ignored out of necessity. After negotiating with the camps mayor, the Health Department agreed to let the residents remain as long they observed minimal safety and sanitary rules. The Red Scare of the 1920s History & Overview | What was the First Red Scare? Sign Up. They cut down dramatically on their purchases, but less buying meant fewer goods needed, so companies didn't need so many employees. As their investments lost value, people soon depleted their savings. As elsewhere in the country, Washington State's Communist Party helped to organize the unemployed into active political and social formations. 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. This website helped me pass! The Great Depression saw the collapse of the United States' economy, rampant unemployment and a broad sense of hopelessness. The anger directed at Herbert Hoover didn't stop with the label given to the makeshift settlements. The current "Nickelsville" is a nod to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, just as "Hooverville" was a sarcastic nod to . [6], After 1940, the economy recovered, unemployment fell, and shanty housing eradication programs destroyed all the Hoovervilles. The inhabitants of the Hoovervilles and shantytowns in the 1930s were deprived of many of these basic needs - for additional facts refer to Poverty in the Great Depression. Police officers doused the little structures with kerosene and lit them as spectators watched. read more, The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program that gave millions of young men employment on environmental projects during the Great Depression. Even before the Great Depression, there were homeless people, but most large cities were able to build municipal lodging houses for the homeless. One of the important events during his presidency was the emergence of the Shanty Town during the Great Depression. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 84,000 On October 29, 1929, the date known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed, signaling the beginning of the Great Depression. Families who had lost their homes lived in shacks in temporary settlements known as "Hoovervilles," named after the current president, Herbert Hoover. "; In his estimation, prosperity would return if people would simply help one another. 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. [3] Report of the Sanitation Divison December 31, 1935 as quoted in Excerpt from the Health Department Annual Report 1935, Seattle Municipal Archives: http://www.seattle.gov/CityArchives/Exhibits/Hoover/1935ar.htm (accessed December 29, 2009), [4] Report of Shack Elimination Committee (April 14, 1941), Seattle Municipal Archives (accessed December 29, 2009), Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium. Some of the homeless found shelter inside empty conduits and water mains. 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. This was at a time when most workers didn't have access to unemployment benefits, health care, or Social Security--in fact, none of the programs that could provide that kind of help even existed. The homeless clustered in shanty towns close to free soup kitchens. It helped me pass my exam and the test questions are very similar to the practice quizzes on Study.com. Renters fell behind and faced eviction. The Great Depression rolled on, and people got caught in a vicious cycle. Divided into distinct sectors, the racially integrated and cohesive encampment was home to as many as 8,000 destitute people. At 81, He does Tell History Firsthand", Photos of a new father figure in Hooverville in Portland, Oregon, Great Depression in Washington State Project, Photos and details of a Hooverville in Seattle, Washington, Photographs of California Hoovervilles (Sacramento, Kern County), Presidential transition of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Birthplace and childhood home National Historic Site, Presidential Library, Museum, and gravesite, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hooverville&oldid=1139613330, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from May 2017, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. When disaster struck, Americans looked to their President for leadership and compassion, but Hoover seemed to be short on both counts. Browse Catalog. 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. 361 lessons. But residents rebuilt and the site remained occupied all the way through World War II. Some have estimated that 500 Hoovervilles sprang up in 1929 and increased in number to over 6000 in the 1930s. months[11] = "A vast range of highly informative and dependable articles have been produced by the Siteseen network of entertaining and educational websites. ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/hoovervilles-homeless-camps-of-the-great-depression-4845996. Many felt that the government had to help those who lost work in the 1930s. Migrant workers and immigrants greatly suffered from the lack of work and made up a large portion of the Hoovervilles across the country.[2]. All rights reserved. Nonwhites comprised 29% of the colony's population, including 120 Filipinos, 29 African Americas, 25 Mexicans, 4 Native Americans, 4 South Americans, and 2 Japanese. Library of Congress. Check out the Siteseen network of educational websites. More often than not, Hoovervilles were tolerated. After 1940, all of Hooverville were destroyed as the economy recovered and the unemployment rate fell eventually. Excerpt from Health Department Annual Report (1935) 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. Included are photographs, city documents, a 1934 sociological survey of residents, a short memoir written by the former "mayor" of Hooverville, and more. Each Hooverville was unique. Excerpt from "The Story of Hooverville, In Seattle" by Jesse Jackson, Mayor of Hooverville (1935) 10 Question Quiz. 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. There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation, he wrote of the squalled camp. The smaller camps tended to come and go, while the larger Hoovervilles proved far more permanent. The term was coined by Charles Michelson. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. Roy found the relaxed social atmosphere remarkable, describing "an ethnic rainbow" where men of many colors intermingled "in shabby comraderie. As America's housing and economic crisis worsened through 2009, homelessness was on the rise. This sort of fatalism was especially apparent in the language that developed around the iconic representation of the Great Depression --the Hooverville. 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. Trade your paper with a Partner. Others were simply holes dug in the ground covered with pieces of tin. He offers fascinating observations about social mores and culture of the community, including the easy racial relations and tolerance of homosexuality. Seattle's Hooverville had lasted a full decade.[4]. By the time the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, enough Americans were working again that virtually all the encampments had vanished. To find out more, see our, Download the Hooverville Facts & Worksheets, Hooverville Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com, Resources created by teaching professionals. The Seattle Hooverville covered nine acres of land on the tidal flats adjacent to the Port of Seattle. Seattle is fortunate to have the kind of detailed documentation of its Hooverville that other cities lack, and we have compiled these unique resources here. 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. A request from the city was that women and children would not be allowed to live in the shantytown. 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. (2021, December 6). [2] Among the white population, nationalities included English, Irish, Polish, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. Pre-K - K; 1 - 2; 3 - 5; . Most large cities built municipal lodging houses for the homeless, but the Depression exponentially increased demand. A large number of small houses were constructed from scrap materials. As the Great Depression worsened, so too did people's moods. Cardboard covering a worn-out shoe sole was 'Hoover leather,' and cars pulled by horses (since no one could afford gasoline) were 'Hoover wagons.'. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards. Public reaction to the Hoovervilles added to President Hoovers general unpopularity, leading to his landslide defeat by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election. 1933 is generally regarded as the worst year of the Depression: One-quarter of Americas workersmore than 15 million peoplewere out of work. It began with the United States stock market crash of 1929, and didn't completely end until after . The term was a derogatory reference to President Herbert Hoover, who many people blamed for allowing the U.S. to fall into economic despair. 01 of 10 First Quaker President Hoover was the son of a blacksmith, Jesse Clark Hoover, and a Quaker minister, Huldah Minthorn Hoover. Definition, Examples, Pros and Cons. Usually built on the edges of larger cities, hundreds of thousands of people lived in the many Hooverville camps. The highly unpopular Hoover was defeated in the 1932 presidential election by Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal recovery programs eventually helped lift the United States out of the Depression. In 1933, it was 25%, with 1 out of every 4 people out of work. Facts about Shantytowns and HoovervillesThe following fact sheet contains interesting facts and information on Shantytowns and Hoovervilles. 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. Construction within the strict timeframe proved an immense read more, The Dust Bowl was the name given to the drought-stricken southern plains region of the United States, which suffered severe dust storms during a drought in the 1930s. It was named after Herbert Hoover, an American politician who was the president during the first years of the Great Depression. Many other names were coined by Democrats based on his opinion, including Hoover blanket, flag, leather, and wagon. Longley, Robert. When the government failed to provide relief, President Herbert Hoover was blamed for the intolerable economic and social conditions, so the shantytowns that cropped up became known as Hoovervilles. The term Hooverville itself is a partisan political attack on Herbert Hoover, who was the President of the United States at the time. Response from Health Department (May 23, 1935) In 1932, Hooverville was established in Anacostia, District of Columbia, to house a group of WWI veterans seeking expedited benefits, dubbed the Bonus Army. He wasn't a particularly warm, charismatic individual; he had won the presidency on the strength of his record and his character, but very few people would have described him as sympathetic (though by all accounts, he agonized over the suffering of the Great Depression). Economic disparity in the United States during the 1930s was not limited to American born individuals. Many Hoovervilles were built along rivers, proving drinking water and allowing some residents to grow vegetables. Hoovervilles were racially integrated. Banks closed, and factories shut down; thousands and then millions of jobs were lost. The makeshift shacks were constructed from unwanted materials and lacked basic amenities such as adequate sanitation and clean drinking water. This is especially clear from the lyrics which included this line: 'They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead; why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?'. 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