Dwellings in the Hoovervilles were little more than shacks built of discarded bricks, wood, tin, and cardboard. The state described as 'absolute poverty' has been described as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information". For one thing, Hoover was a believer in the power of the free market and in the value of perseverance. Trench Warfare in WWI: History & Facts | What is Trench Warfare? As the Great Depression worsened, so too did people's moods. Economic disparity in the United States during the 1930s was not limited to American born individuals. Some cities allowed squatter encampments for a time, others did not. Trade your paper with a Partner. It stood for ten years, 1931 to 1941. 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. Hoovervilles Appear Nationwide As the Depression worsened and millions of families lost their jobs and depleted their savings, they also lost their homes. The Seattle Hooverville covered nine acres of land on the tidal flats adjacent to the Port of Seattle. The Great Depression saw the collapse of the United States' economy, rampant unemployment and a broad sense of hopelessness. months[1] = "Find information about the instructive websites produced by international publisher Siteseen Ltd. "; 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?'. The Great Depression (1929-1940): Tutoring Solution, Franklin D. 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Hooverville residents had nowhere else to go, and public sympathy, for the most part, was with them. For example, newspapers used to shield the homeless from the cold were called Hoover blankets, while empty pants pockets pulled inside outdemonstrating no coins in ones pocketswere Hoover flags., When soles wore out of shoes, the cardboard used to replace them was dubbed Hoover leather, and cars pulled by horses because gas was an unaffordable luxury were called Hoover wagons.. In late 1935, the city Health Department estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 people were living in the various shacktowns. Roy documents a unique spirit of tolerance and amiability between ethnic groups. Life for the Average Family During the Great Depression. "; Excerpt from Health Department Annual Report (1935) While private and corporate philanthropy provided some assistance during the early 1930s, poverty continued to increase rapidly. 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. 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. All Rights Reserved. Unemployed masons used cast-off stone and bricks and in some cases built structures that stood 20 feet high. 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. Write THREE true facts about this topic and ONE lie about this topic in the boxes below2. However, Hoovervilles were typically grim and unsanitary. [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. At its peak, roughly 25%, maybe more, of the American work force was unemployed. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. 10 Question Quiz. One of the important events during his presidency was the emergence of the Shanty Town during the Great Depression. var months = new Array(12); Americas longest lasting Hooverville in Seattle, Washington, stood for ten years, from 1931 to 1941. 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. This worksheet can be edited by Premium members using the free Google Slides online software. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. "Hooverville" was a deliberately politicized label, emphasizing that President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Party were to be held responsible for the economic crisis and its miseries. Herbert Hoover was a rising star of American politics when he won the presidential election of 1928. Donald Roy created this map of Seattle's Hooverville. Unsanitary conditions in the camps left both their residents and the nearby communities at risk of disease. READ MORE:Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression? People who rented their homes fell behind with the rent and were evicted by bailiffs. Hoovervilles, or shantytowns, became a common sight. "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. Click the Edit button above to get started. Homelessness followed quickly from joblessness once the economy began to crumble in the early 1930s. We pride ourselves on being a safe website for both teachers and students. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This issue will be discussed more below. Small camps and sites in towns sprang up in any available space. months[3] = "Check out the interesting and diverse websites produced and created by the international publisher in the Siteseen network. As high winds and choking dust swept the region from Texas to Nebraska, people and livestock were killed and read more, The New Deal was a series of programs and projects instituted during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that aimed to restore prosperity to Americans. 2 See answers Advertisement jayilych4real The new mayor allowed the towns Hooverville to thrive and grow, even granting it some official tolerance. Regardless of the gender of the residents, Hoovervilles served as a common ground for many different nationalities and ethnicities. 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. Advertisement. The Seattle City Council decided to close Hooverville in May 1941, despite the increased reliance on it for shelter. Exhibt A: Map of Number and Distribution of Shacks (March 5, 1941) Odd pieces of wood, stones, loose boards, crates, cardboard, scraps of other materials, old bricks and parts of boxes. Riverside Park, New York City: A shantytown occupied Riverside Park at 72nd Street during the depression. The main Hooverville began on land near Elliott Bay through a cluster of small huts. Most settlers were disorganized, and only a few established a form of government. Usually built on the edges of larger cities, hundreds of thousands of people lived in the many Hooverville camps. However, understanding that the campers had nowhere else to go, and fearing that they might still fall victim to the Great Depression themselves, most more affluent people were willing to tolerate the Hoovervilles and their impoverished residents. Most shanties, however, were distinctly less ambitious: Cardboard-box homes did not last long, and most dwellings were in a constant state of being rebuilt. Thousands of Hoovervilles began to appear all over the country. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. In Seattle, Washington, stood one of the country's largest, longest-lasting, and best-documented Hoovervilles, standing for ten years between 1931 and 1941.Though several were located about the city, this Hooverville was on the tidal flats adjacent to the Port of Seattle. Hoover leather referred to cardboard or newspaper used to replace worn-out shoe soles. Hoover Pullmans were rusted railroad boxcars used as dwellings. In the aftermath of that event, sometimes read more. They usually had a small stove, bedding and a couple of simple cooking implements. The Great Depression drew to an end with the outbreak of WW2 and municipal programs aimed at "eradicating" shantytowns destroyed all the Hoovervilles. "[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. As the optimism of the 1920s gave way to fear and desperation, Americans looked to the federal government for relief. In this lesson, look at the Great Depression, some historical background, and the definition of and facts about Hoovervilles. The shanty town was so big that people established their own community government and elected a 'mayor' as their leader to settle any disputes. 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. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. months[5] = "Explore the interesting, and fascinating selection of unique websites created and produced by the Siteseen network. Each Hooverville was unique. Usually built on vacant land, the camps were largely tolerated by city authorities. No two The Great Depression rolled on, and people got caught in a vicious cycle. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. Tacoma had a large encampment that spanned six blocks. "Nobody Paid any Attention": The Economic Marginalization of Seattle's Hooverville, Seattles Hooverville: The Failure of Effective Unemployment Relief in the Early 1930s, Hooverville: A Study of a Community of Homeless Men in Seattle, Seattle Municipal Archives Hooverville Documents, Unemployed Citizens League and Poverty Activism, Self-Help Activists: The Seattle Branches of the Unemployed Citizens League, Organizing the Unemployed: The Early 1930s, Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium | University of Washington. Others responded to complaints by people in the neighborhood and evicted the inhabitants and burned the shacks. [3] Men, women and children alike lived in Hoovervilles. A "Hooverville" was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States. Most people, however, resorted to building their residences out of wood from crates, cardboard, scraps of metal, or whatever materials were available to them. In 1932, Hooverville was established in Anacostia, District of Columbia, to house a group of. Central Park Hooverville with Central Park West in the Background in 1932. Sign Me Up, Editing resources is available exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members.To edit this worksheet, click the button below to signup (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start editing! 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. The New Deal enacted special relief programs aimed at the homeless under the Federal Transient Service (FTS), which operated from 1933 to 1939. [9], Regardless of the gender of the residents, Hoovervilles served as a common ground for many different nationalities and ethnicities. In 1929, unemployment was around 3%. Beyond the waters lie two rugged mountain ranges, the Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east. 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