Hooverville was a small town founded by homeless people in the United States during the Great Depression. But residents rebuilt and the site remained occupied all the way through World War II. WW1 veterans formed what was called the Bonus Army and 40,000 people descended on Washington D.C. and set up makeshift camps on areas such as the Anacostia Flats. 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. This was Port of Seattle property that had been occupied by Skinner and Eddy shipyard during World War I. 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. 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. All the Hoovervilles were 'eradicated' at the end of the Great Depression in 1941. As the Great Depression worsened, so too did people's moods. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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 The Depression increased the demand for such assistance exponentially. The economic depression began in September 1929 and was immediately followed by the October 24 Wall Street stock market crash. Usually built on the edges of larger cities, hundreds of thousands of people lived in the many Hooverville camps. Signed in June 1930, the decidedly protectionist law placed extremely high tariffs on imported foreign goods. When disaster struck, Americans looked to their President for leadership and compassion, but Hoover seemed to be short on both counts. To find out more, see our cookie policy. "Hoovervilles: Homeless Camps of the Great Depression." The decision led to the establishment of the Shack Elimination Committee by the City Council. WATCH VIDEO: Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Desperate for shelter, homeless citizens built shantytowns in and around cities across the nation. Usually built on vacant land, the camps were largely tolerated by city authorities. All rights reserved. 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. By 1932, between one and two million American people were homeless. Grade Level. 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. A 'Hoover blanket' was a newspaper, covering a homeless man on a city bench; a 'Hoover flag' was a turned-out pants pocket, a sure sign of pennilessness. Petition for community bath houses in Hooverville (May 15, 1935)
Hoover later claimed that MacArthur had used excessive force, but his words meant little to most of those affected. Most were unemployed laborers and timber workers, few of whom had held any jobs in the previous two years. 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! Hundreds of Hooverville settlements were built across the United States, but some stood out. This was supervised by Mayor Jackson, who also led the Vigilance Committee. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/hoovervilles-homeless-camps-of-the-great-depression-4845996. Bootleggers were becoming rich on the profits of illegal alcohol sales and violence was on the rise. Donald Francis Roy, a resident of Seattles Hooverville, recorded 639 residents, only 7 of whom were women. 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. As the Great Depression deepened people protested and launched hunger marches. 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. If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source. This lack of organization has made it difficult to identify the populations within Hoovervilles. After hosting several homeless settlements, the reservoir was dubbed the Hoover Valley and Depression Street. "Hoovervilles: Homeless Camps of the Great Depression." Hooverville served as a home for different nationalities and ethnicities. For example, in New York City, encampments sprang up along the Hudson and East rivers. The Great Depression caused social upheaval and political unrest. 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. 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. In some cases, unemployed skilled construction workers used stones and bricks from demolished buildings to build fairly solid houses. Seattle police twice burned the early Hooverville, but each time residents rebuilt. Unit densities soared in the early 1930s. Others were simply holes dug in the ground covered with pieces of tin. 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. It became the most widespread crisis of the twentieth century, affecting several countries worldwide. Seattle's developed into a self-sufficient and organized town-within-a-town. 1933 is generally regarded as the worst year of the Depression: One-quarter of Americas workersmore than 15 million peoplewere out of work. 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. Filipinos and Mexicans were the only ones who were separated, but this was due to language rather than racial discrimination. 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. It began with the United States stock market crash of 1929, and didn't completely end until after . The new mayor allowed the towns Hooverville to thrive and grow, even granting it some official tolerance. months[1] = "Find information about the instructive websites produced by international publisher Siteseen Ltd. "; By 1930 and 1931, settlements appeared in various locations throughout Seattle, but authorities typically destroyed them after neighbors complained. Hoovervilles were not fancy or well-constructed. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/hoovervilles. As the Depression worsened and millions of families lost their jobs and depleted their savings, they also lost their homes. However, some countries retaliated by raising their tariffs, and international trade was hampered. The New Deal Legacy & Impacts | What is the Legacy of the New Deal? Reasons for Homelessness: Homeowners lost their houses when they could not pay mortgages or pay taxes. Unemployed masons used cast-off stone and bricks and in some cases built structures that stood 20 feet high. Small camps and sites in towns sprang up in any available space. The homeless clustered in shanty towns close to free soup kitchens. It was named after Herbert Hoover, an American politician who was the president during the first years of the Great Depression. 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. In June, many of the so-called Bonus Army marched to the Capitol to request early payment of the government bonuses they had been promised for their military servicemoney that would have alleviated the financial problems of many families. Source for information on Okies: Encyclopedia of the Great Depression dictionary. In addition to his perceived disregard for the harm done by the Great Depression, Hoover was criticized for backing the controversial Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. It helped me pass my exam and the test questions are very similar to the practice quizzes on Study.com. They usually had a small stove, bedding and a couple of simple cooking implements. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you This was handled by an elected Vigilance Committee-- consisting of two whites, two blacks, and two Filipinos-- led by a white Texas native and former lumberjack named Jesse Jackson, who came to be known as the unofficial "Mayor" of Hooverville. Almost 6,000 shanty towns, called Hoovervilles, sprang up in the 1930s. The main Hooverville began on land near Elliott Bay through a cluster of small huts. However, their request was denied by Congress and Hoover ordered them evicted. var current_date = new Date(); month_value = current_date.getMonth(); day_value = current_date.getDate(); year_value = current_date.getFullYear(); document.write( months[month_value] ); was the 31st American President who served in office from March 4, 1929 to March 4, 1933. I highly recommend you use this site! Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression? The final decision to eliminate Hooverville was presented in a report from the Housing Authority. [3], The city tolerated Hoovervilles until the eve of World War II. This issue will be discussed more below. 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! While private and corporate philanthropy provided some assistance during the early 1930s, poverty continued to increase rapidly. Library of Congress. Homeowners lost their property when they could not pay mortgages or pay taxes. As the Depression deepened, the sheer number of homeless people became overwhelming. Excerpt from "Hooverville: A Study of a Community of Homeless Men in Seattle" by Donald Francis Roy (1935)
"; Seattle lies on a narrow strip of land between the salt waters of Puget Sound and the fresh waters of Lake Washington. 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. Tacoma hosted a large encampment near the city garbage dump that residents called "Hollywood-on-the-Tideflats." The Tacoma Fire Department burned down fifty small houses in May 1942 after Seattle destroyed Hooverville. Exhibt A: Map of Number and Distribution of Shacks (March 5, 1941)
The Great Depression drew to an end with the outbreak of WW2 and municipal programs aimed at "eradicating" shantytowns destroyed all the Hoovervilles. 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