Absolutely anything that would provide shelter. Filipinos and Mexicans were the only ones who were separated, but this was due to language rather than racial discrimination. Seattle lies on a narrow strip of land between the salt waters of Puget Sound and the fresh waters of Lake Washington. Hoovervilles In the 1930s, Hoovervilles (shantytowns) formed coast to coast in cities of the United States. The majority of the homeless chose to live in small towns where they could easily access free soup kitchens. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Hooverville shanties were constructed of cardboard, tar paper, glass, lumber, tin and whatever other materials people could salvage. Credit was extended to many so that they could enjoy the new inventions of the day, such as washing machines, refrigerators and automobiles. Soup Kitchens in the Great Depression | Bread Lines, Characteristics & History, Gilded Age Politics: Political Machines & Civil Service Reform, Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 | Overview, Summary & History, Massacre at Wounded Knee | Summary & History, AP US History Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, AP English Literature Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, DSST A History of the Vietnam War: Study Guide & Test Prep, DSST The Civil War & Reconstruction: Study Guide & Test Prep, Glencoe U.S. History - The American Vision: Online Textbook Help, High School US History Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, Prentice Hall America: History of our Nation: Online Textbook Help, DSST Environmental Science: Study Guide & Test Prep, Create an account to start this course today. A shantytown, also known as a Hooverville (named for U.S. President Herbert Hoover), was located in Seattle, Washington, during the Great Depression. This Hooverville had its very own unofficial mayor, Jesse Jackson. When most of the veterans refused to leave their shacks, Hoover sent in U.S. Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur to evict the Bonus Army. Others were simply holes dug in the ground covered with pieces of tin. As the Depression deepened, the sheer number of homeless people became overwhelming. months[10] = "Looking for accurate facts and impartial information? The name was a reference to Herbert Hoover who was the President of the United States during the at the start of the Depression and widely blamed for it. Dwellings in the Hoovervilles were little more than shacks built of discarded bricks, wood, tin, and cardboard. There was no work, people were starving and the local police repeatedly burned down the camp. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Many people would can their food so that it would last longer. It comes from the New York Public Library. However, the countrys 31st president, Republican Herbert Hoover, who took office in March 1929, believed that self-reliance and self-help, not government intervention, were the best means to meet citizens needs. 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?'. Grade Level. It was named after Herbert Hoover, an American politician who was the president during the first years of the Great Depression. By 1932 millions of Americans were living outside the normal rent-paying housing market. Seattle's developed into a self-sufficient and organized town-within-a-town. A structured government ran Hooverville in Seattle, Washington, and extensive documentation was collected. However, some cities banned them if they trespassed on parks or privately owned land. .adslot_1 { width: 300px; height: 250px; } 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'. The Seattle City Council decided to close Hooverville in May 1941, despite the increased reliance on it for shelter. - 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. The shanty town was so big that people established their own community government and elected a 'mayor' as their leader to settle any disputes. Signed in June 1930, the decidedly protectionist law placed extremely high tariffs on imported foreign goods. This lack of organization has made it difficult to identify the populations within Hoovervilles. Some claim to have been made up of men, women, and children, while others claim to only have had men. A "Hooverville" was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States. 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. Both times, however, the Hooverville shacks were immediately rebuilt. Get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons. Roy documents a unique spirit of tolerance and amiability between ethnic groups. ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/hoovervilles-homeless-camps-of-the-great-depression-4845996. Cardboard covering a worn-out shoe sole was 'Hoover leather,' and cars pulled by horses (since no one could afford gasoline) were 'Hoover wagons.'. Hundreds of Hoovervilles were established across the country during the 1930s. Some of the homeless found shelter inside empty conduits and water mains. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. [9], Regardless of the gender of the residents, Hoovervilles served as a common ground for many different nationalities and ethnicities. While private and corporate philanthropy provided some assistance during the early 1930s, poverty continued to increase rapidly. The term Hooverville itself is a partisan political attack on Herbert Hoover, who was the President of the United States at the time. 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. Herbert Hoover was president during the start of the Great Depression. The Red Scare of the 1920s History & Overview | What was the First Red Scare? During the Great Depression of the 1930s there was Mass Unemployment in America. 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. Usually built on the edges of larger cities, hundreds of thousands of people lived in the many Hooverville camps. This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 00:48. Hooverville was a small town founded by homeless people in the United States during the Great Depression. Donald Francis Roy, a resident of Seattles Hooverville, recorded 639 residents, only 7 of whom were women. It was a highly diverse population. 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. The final decision to eliminate Hooverville was presented in a report from the Housing Authority. Next: Unemployed Citizens League and Poverty Activism. KidsKonnect uses a secure SSL connection to encrypt your data and we only work with trusted payment processors Stripe and PayPal. Hoovervilles lacked the services found in typical towns. Definition and Summary of the Shantytowns and HoovervillesSummary and definition: The Shanty Towns, known as Hoovervilles, sprang up across the nation during the Great Depression (1929 - 1941). 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. Those who did were chronically underpaid. However, their request was denied by Congress and Hoover ordered them evicted. Who lived in a Hooverville or Shanty Town? "[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. Odd pieces of wood, stones, loose boards, crates, cardboard, scraps of other materials, old bricks and parts of boxes. 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. 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 makeshift shacks were constructed from unwanted materials and lacked basic amenities such as adequate sanitation and clean drinking water. 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. The term 'Hooverville' probably originated with Charles Michelson, who was a newspaper reporter and, in 1930, the publicity director for the Democratic National Party. The largest Hooverville, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was home to as many as 8,000 homeless people from 1930 to 1936. [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. After 1940, all of Hooverville were destroyed as the economy recovered and the unemployment rate fell eventually. Summary and Definition: The Shanty Towns, known as Hoovervilles, sprang up across the nation during the Great Depression (1929 - 1941). 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. This pattern became associated with Oklahoma because that state provided a plurality of migrants from 1935 to 1940, the peak of the phenomenon. 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. People were expected to fend for themselves. Sign Up. Homeless people roamed the country looking for food and work. 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. No two When most of the veterans refused to leave their shacks, Hoover ordered his Chief of Staff Gen. Douglas MacArthur to drive them out. [2], However, not every Hooverville fits this description. The committee included two Whites, two Blacks, and two Filipinos. The Great Depression caused social upheaval and political unrest. By the early 1940s, Roosevelts New Deal programs had turned the economy around and many of the Hoovervilles had been abandoned and demolished. To find out more, see our, Download the Hooverville Facts & Worksheets, Hooverville Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com, Resources created by teaching professionals. People who rented their homes fell behind with the rent and were evicted by bailiffs. Usually built on the edges of larger cities, hundreds of thousands of people lived in the many Hooverville camps. Will Work ForAnything. Exhibt A: Map of Number and Distribution of Shacks (March 5, 1941) But residents rebuilt and the site remained occupied all the way through World War II. 361 lessons. 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. Even when Hoovervilles were raided by order of parks departments or other authorities, the men who carried out the raids often expressed regret and guilt for their actions. This worksheet can be edited by Premium members using the free Google Slides online software. Lessons from Hooverville still have not been learned today. I highly recommend you use this site! He described the population as fluid in 1938, owing to men selling their homes to newcomers and moving on. See the fact file below for more information on the Hoovervilles, or alternatively, you can download our 20-page Hooverville worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment. "Hoovervilles" were hundreds of crude campgrounds built across the United States by poverty stricken people who had lost their homes because of the Great Depression of the 1930s. As the Great Depression deepened people protested and launched hunger marches. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize.. President Herbert Hoover, however, refused to propose any assistance programs, saying instead that Americans should help each other. The decision led to the establishment of the Shack Elimination Committee by the City Council. A survey located 1687 shacks in five substantial colonies and many smaller ones. This issue will be discussed more below. The nickname 'Hooverville' was given to the shanty towns that sprang up across the nation during the Great Depression. 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. [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. Almost 6,000 shanty towns, called Hoovervilles, sprang up in the 1930s. Hoovervilles: Homeless Camps of the Great Depression. His records show populations of Japanese, Mexican, Filipino, Native American, Costa Rican, Chilean, and Black men. Economic disparity in the United States during the 1930s was not limited to American born individuals. The camp began when an unemployed lumberjack Spread over nine acres; it housed a population of up to 1,200. Some Hoovervilles even received assistance from churches and private donors. Even during the worst of the Depression, most Hooverville residents continued to seek employment, often taking backbreaking seasonal jobs like picking and packing field crops. which contrasted the prosperity of the previous decade with the current crisis. "; Because of the lack of government, it took a lot of work. About this quiz: All the questions on this quiz are based on information that can be found on the page at The Great Depression - Hoovervilles . They were built by unemployed impoverished Americans that had been made homeless and had nowhere else to live. The term was a derogatory reference to President Herbert Hoover, who many people blamed for allowing the U.S. to fall into economic despair. The Great Depression was the greatest and longest economic recession of the 20th century. Facts About Hoovervilles The term Hooverville came from the blame on President Herbert Hoover for the intolerable economic and social conditions. In turn, a new lexicon came into being -- words like "Hoovervilles," "Hoover blankets" and "Hoover hogs." here to see more photographs of Hoovervilles and homeless encampments in Seattle and Tacoma. For one thing, Hoover was a believer in the power of the free market and in the value of perseverance. However, that didn't last long. Hoover's other problem was his own personality. READ MORE:Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression? Both his parents were dead by the time he was nine. Hoover Pullmans were rusted railroad boxcars used as dwellings. The longest lasting Hooverville, located in Seattle, Washington, stood as a semi-autonomous community from 1931 to 1941. The Great Depression drew to an end with the outbreak of WW2 and municipal programs aimed at "eradicating" shantytowns destroyed all the Hoovervilles. These are ready-to-use Hooverville worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Hooverville, which was a small town founded by homeless people in the United States during the Great Depression. @media (min-width: 340px) { .adslot_1 { width: 336px; height: 280px; } } Protest against Hooverville evictions (October 10, 1938) "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. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. months[11] = "A vast range of highly informative and dependable articles have been produced by the Siteseen network of entertaining and educational websites. Second New Deal Purpose & Programs | What was the Second New Deal? 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. Petition for community bath houses in Hooverville (May 15, 1935) He explained that the population was fluid, as men sold their shacks to newcomers and moved on, and at its maximum during the winter months when it reached as hight as 1,200. This download is exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members!To download 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 the download! The New Deal Legacy & Impacts | What is the Legacy of the New Deal? months[2] = "Learning made easy with the various learning techniques and proven teaching methods used by the Siteseen network. "Hooverville" became a common term for shacktowns and homeless encampments during the Great Depression. Click the Edit button above to get started. WATCH VIDEO: How Artists Helped End the Great Depression. A Hooverville near Portland, Oregon. In the aftermath of that event, sometimes read more. MacArthurs troops set fire to the Hooverville and drove the group from the city with bayonets and tear gas. Over the next several read more, Disenchantment with Prohibition had been building almost from the moment it first took effect in 1920. He believed this would represent a philosophical shift in what the government was supposed to be for--namely, to ensure a level playing field for economic opportunity, but not to regulate or take over the functions of the market. Library of Congress. "; 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. It became the most widespread crisis of the twentieth century, affecting several countries worldwide. Herbert Hoover was a rising star of American politics when he won the presidential election of 1928. As Secretary of Commerce, Hoover presided over the economic boom times of the 'Roaring Twenties,' and when he entered the White House in early 1929, it seemed clear that the nation was in good hands. Hooverville served as a home for different nationalities and ethnicities. 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! A large number of small houses were constructed from scrap materials. 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. "; Some of the men who were forced to live in these conditions possessed construction skills, and were able to build their houses out of stone. "Hooverville" became a common term for shacktowns and homeless encampments during the Great Depression. Renters fell behind and faced eviction. 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. Hundreds of Hoovervilles were established across the country during the 1930s. Hoover leather referred to cardboard or newspaper used to replace worn-out shoe soles. Thesis, University of Washington, 1935), pp.42-45. Democrats coined many terms based on opinions of Herbert Hoover[5] such as "Hoover blanket" (old newspaper used as blanketing). Out of desperation, the homeless began building camps of makeshift shacks near cities across the nation. They are crowded, dirty, miserable, and they are places where the homeless gather to build temporary homes. Click the button below to get instant access to these worksheets for use in the classroom or at a home. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); By 1932, between one and two million American people were homeless. 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. months[9] = "Get fast, free facts and information on a whole host of subjects in the Siteseen network of interesting websites. Hoovervilles: Some 200,000 migrant farmers relocated to California. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis: Chapters 1-5 | Summary & Analysis, Themes in Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis | Examples & Analysis, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis | Summary & Characters of Bud, Not Buddy, Bud's Rules in Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis | Significance & Analysis, Vietnamization Policy & Significance | Nixon's Plan to Withdraw American Forces. A request from the city was that women and children would not be allowed to live in the shantytown. The new population was forced to set up makeshift "towns" known as "Hoovervilles." 16. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Exhibit C: Physical Conditions and Occupancy of Shacks (March 5, 1941) The people who lived in a Hooverville or Shanty Town were men, women and children, black and white, from all walks of life, who had been evicted from their homes and made homeless due to unemployment in the Great Depression. Many were established near rivers, as the above picture shows, or ponds - it helped to have access to some water. 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. 'Hooverville' was the nickname for any variety of makeshift shelters for homeless people, mostly victims of the Great Depression from 1929 to 1941. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. 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. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Life in the encampments remained best described as grim. It stood for ten years, 1931 to 1941. This was Port of Seattle property that had been occupied by Skinner and Eddy shipyard during World War I. No two Hoovervilles were quite alike, and the camps varied in population and size. People experiencing homelessness made them from scraps of wood, tin, tar, and cardboard, and named . Many Americans in need believed the resolution to their problems lay in government assistance, but Hoover resisted such a response throughout his presidency. WATCH: America: The Story of Us on HISTORY Vault. Built with all over the world Copyright 19992023This site uses cookies to improve your experience. 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. University of Washington: The Great Depression in Washington State. The main Hooverville began on land near Elliott Bay through a cluster of small huts. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you Hoovervilles were racially integrated. 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. "; Facts about Shantytowns and HoovervillesThe following fact sheet contains interesting facts and information on Shantytowns and Hoovervilles. 1933 is generally regarded as the worst year of the Depression: One-quarter of Americas workersmore than 15 million peoplewere out of work. Desperate for shelter, homeless citizens. 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. Many Hoovervilles were built along rivers, proving drinking water and allowing some residents to grow vegetables. Depression by the time waters of Puget Sound and the Unemployment rate fell.... Language rather than racial discrimination the New Deal both times, however, not Hooverville. Kidskonnect uses a secure SSL connection to encrypt your data and we only work with trusted payment processors and! Problems lay in government assistance, but Hoover resisted such a response throughout his presidency a! 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