It became the most widespread crisis of the twentieth century, affecting several countries worldwide. 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. Next: Unemployed Citizens League and Poverty Activism. Most Hoovervilles operated in an informal, unorganized way, but the bigger ones would sometimes put forward spokespersons to serve as a liaison between the camp and the larger community. Seattle's main Hooverville was one of the largest, longest-lasting, and best documented in the nation. A Tarpaper Carthage: Interpreting Hooverville, by Joey Smith, The homeless clustered in shanty towns close to free soup kitchens. 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. 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 Hoovervilles primarily popped up on the outskirts of major cities. In his estimation, prosperity would return if people would simply help one another. While the goal of the tariffs was to protect U.S.-made products from foreign competition, most countries retaliated by raising their tariffs on U.S. goods. By the early 1940s, with the economy rebounding during World War II, many Hoovervilles had fewer residents and most were torn down. There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation, he wrote of the squalled camp. Herbert Hoover was a rising star of American politics when he won the presidential election of 1928. University of Washington: The Great Depression in Washington State.Hoovervilles in Seattle. months[2] = "Learning made easy with the various learning techniques and proven teaching methods used by the Siteseen network. Excerpt from Health Department Annual Report (1935) 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. Petition for community bath houses in Hooverville (May 15, 1935) The term 'Hooverville' probably originated with Charles Michelson, who was a newspaper reporter and, in 1930, the publicity director for the Democratic National Party. For webquest or practice, print a copy of this quiz at the Great Depression - Hoovervilles webquest print page. A Hoover blanket was a pile of old newspapers used as bedding. Banks closed, and factories shut down; thousands and then millions of jobs were lost. Many authorities frequently tolerated the shantytowns out of sheer necessity. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. 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. 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). It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. 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! https://www.thoughtco.com/hoovervilles-homeless-camps-of-the-great-depression-4845996 (accessed March 1, 2023). https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/hoovervilles. Brief History of Seattle. In "The Grapes of Wrath" the camp is described as filthy, filled with hopeless, despairing residents. 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 Pullmans were rusted railroad boxcars used as dwellings. These areas were frequently on private lands, but the trespassing settlements were simply ignored as the crisis demanded. To find out more, see our, Download the Hooverville Facts & Worksheets, Hooverville Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com, Resources created by teaching professionals. No two Hoovervilles were quite alike, and the camps varied in population and size. [3], The city tolerated Hoovervilles until the eve of World War II. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! It is just west of Qwest Field and the Alaska Viaduct. In the aftermath of that event, sometimes read more. The term was coined by the publicity director of the Democratic National Committee in 1930. Both his parents were dead by the time he was nine. 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. Others were simply holes dug in the ground covered with pieces of tin. In late 1935, the city Health Department estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 people were living in the various shacktowns. WATCH VIDEO: Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, the U.S. Army burned the Hooverville and drove the veterans out with tanks, tear gas, and fixed bayonets. Many Americans quickly purchased automobiles, appliances, and stocks, but they did so on credit. Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression? Click the Edit button above to get started. Robert Longley is a U.S. government and history expert with over 30 years of experience in municipal government and urban planning. [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. More often than not, Hoovervilles were tolerated. 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. Seattle's decision to raze Hooverville in 1941 and expel its residents relied on a discourse of "otherness" that set Hooverville economically, socially, and geographically apart. Who lived in a Hooverville or Shanty Town? Many people turned to farming, and grew the food themselves, like fruits, vegetables, cattle, chickens, sheep, and hogs. No one knows, but there were literally millions of homeless people during the Great Depression so it seems reasonable to estimate the number as several thousands. Around 15,000 men joined the movement, many of whom came from far away and arrived in the area by illegally riding on railroad freight trains. 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. City officials alternately tolerated and tried to eradicate the shack town. "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. For example, one of the eight Hoovervilles in Seattle, Washington, stood from 1931 to 1941. Economic disparity in the United States during the 1930s was not limited to American born individuals. Public dissatisfaction with Hoover soon all but eliminated his chances of being reelected, and on November 8, 1932, New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in a landslide. 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. 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. By 1932, between one and two million American people were homeless. Many features of life during the Great Depression were given bitter connotations with Hoover's name. "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. READ MORE:Did New Deal Programs Help End 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. Source for information on Okies: Encyclopedia of the Great Depression dictionary. 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! 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. 10 Facts About the Great Depression. Hoovervilles, or shantytowns, became a common sight. After hosting several homeless settlements, the reservoir was dubbed the Hoover Valley and Depression Street. Hoover also received criticism for signing, in June 1930, the controversial Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, which imposed a high tariff on foreign goods in an effort to prevent them from competing with U.S.-made products on the domestic market. Beyond the waters lie two rugged mountain ranges, the Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east. 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. A Brief Look at the U.S. Department of Labor. The quality and livability of structures built in Hooverville camps varied widely. "Hooverville" became a common term for shacktowns and homeless encampments during the Great Depression. .adslot_1 { width: 300px; height: 250px; } "; months[8] = "This website is produced by the Siteseen network that specializes in producing free informative websites on a diverse range of topics. Police officers doused the little structures with kerosene and lit them as spectators watched. 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. Donald Roy created this map of Seattle's Hooverville. In April, residents of the main Hooverville were given notice to leave by May 1. Workers, whether migrant or immigrant, suffered from a lack of jobs making up a large portion of Hooverville. Why was the Shanty Town called a Hooverville? Families who had lost their homes lived in shacks in temporary settlements known as "Hoovervilles," named after the current president, Herbert Hoover. By 1930 and 1931, settlements appeared in various locations throughout Seattle, but authorities typically destroyed them after neighbors complained. A shantytown, also known as a Hooverville (named for U.S. President Herbert Hoover), was located in Seattle, Washington, during the Great Depression. As the Depression deepened, the sheer number of homeless people became overwhelming. Throughout the country, Hoovervilles, or makeshift shanties, would spring up to provide shelter wherever possible, often near water sources or the soup kitchens operated by churches and charities. Donald Francis Roy, a resident of Seattles Hooverville, recorded 639 residents, only 7 of whom were women. But they eventually returned because they had nowhere else to go, and they were soon allowed to stay, owing to public sympathy. 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. Excerpt from "The Story of Hooverville, In Seattle" by Jesse Jackson, Mayor of Hooverville (1935) WATCH: America: The Story of Us on HISTORY Vault. The majority of the homeless chose to live in small towns where they could easily access free soup kitchens. Desperate for shelter, homeless citizens built shantytowns in and around cities across the nation. Pre-K - K; 1 - 2; 3 - 5; . The decision led to the establishment of the Shack Elimination Committee by the City Council. 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. In 1930, the largest Hooverville in America, consisting of four distinct sectors, was established in St. Louis. 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