facts about hoovervilles

Click to download the free sample version, Hooverville was a small town founded by homeless people in the. Many features of life during the Great Depression were given bitter connotations with Hoover's name. 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 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. Many other names were coined by Democrats based on his opinion, including Hoover blanket, flag, leather, and wagon. In 1930, the largest Hooverville in America, consisting of four distinct sectors, was established in St. Louis. 'Hooverville' was the nickname for any variety of makeshift shelters for homeless people, mostly victims of the Great Depression from 1929 to 1941. The Depression increased the demand for such assistance exponentially. Around 11,000 banks failed during the Great Depression, leaving many with no savings. Trade your paper with a Partner. Photos from shantytowns across the country show images of families, including women and children, dwelling in their makeshift home. People were expected to fend for themselves. 361 lessons. The publics frustration with President Hoovers refusal to deal with the Depression peaked in the spring of 1932 when an estimated 15,000 World War I veterans and their families established a Hooverville along the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. On June 17, 1932, many of the veterans, known as the Bonus Army, marched on the U.S. Capitol demanding payment the badly needed WWI combat bonuses the government had promised them. To find out more, see our, Download the Hooverville Facts & Worksheets, Hooverville Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com, Resources created by teaching professionals. Among the hundreds of Hoovervilles across the U.S. during the 1930s were those in: Hoovervilles have often featured in popular culture, and still appear in editorial cartoons. There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation, he wrote of the squalled camp. Black and white men would share homes out of convenience and, likewise, exemplify camaraderie and friendship. KidsKonnect uses a secure SSL connection to encrypt your data and we only work with trusted payment processors Stripe and PayPal. 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. When disaster struck, Americans looked to their President for leadership and compassion, but Hoover seemed to be short on both counts. Next: Unemployed Citizens League and Poverty Activism. In his famous novel the Joad family briefly settles into a Hooverville in California. Unsanitary conditions in the camps left both their residents and the nearby communities at risk of disease. Probably the most famous Hooverville was the one founded on Anacostia Flats, just outside Washington, D.C., in 1932. 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. Who lived in a Hooverville or Shanty Town? Homelessness was present before the Great Depression, and was a common sight before 1929. Hoovervilles are very similar to refugee camps. Many authorities frequently tolerated the shantytowns out of sheer necessity. The term Hooverville itself is a partisan political attack on Herbert Hoover, who was the President of the United States at the time. 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. Summary and Definition: The Shanty Towns, known as Hoovervilles, sprang up across the nation during the Great Depression (1929 - 1941). Here are ten key facts to know about Herbert Hoover, who he was as a person and his tenure as president. 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. The largest Hooverville, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was home to as many as 8,000 homeless people from 1930 to 1936. All Rights Reserved. Some cities allowed squatter encampments for a time, others did not. Roy lived in the Hooverville in spring 1934 while conducting this survey which became his 1935 MA thesis. His records show populations of Japanese, Mexican, Filipino, Native American, Costa Rican, Chilean, and Black men. Hoovervilles were racially integrated. 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?'. Homeless people were forced to live in absolute poverty in the Hoovervilles or shantytowns in the 1930s. 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. 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. 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. MacArthurs troops set fire to the Hooverville and drove the group from the city with bayonets and tear gas. Sign Up. Almost 6,000 shanty towns, called Hoovervilles, sprang up in the 1930s. Hoovervilles In the 1930s, Hoovervilles (shantytowns) formed coast to coast in cities of the United States. "; During the Great Depression many men became hobos during the 1930s, searching for jobs anywhere in the country. 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. 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. [2], However, not every Hooverville fits this description. months[11] = "A vast range of highly informative and dependable articles have been produced by the Siteseen network of entertaining and educational websites. This website helped me pass! Regardless of the gender of the residents, Hoovervilles served as a common ground for many different nationalities and ethnicities. 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. Tacoma hosted a large encampment near the city garbage dump that residents called "Hollywood-on-the-Tideflats." The majority of the homeless chose to live in small towns where they could easily access free soup kitchens. In "The Grapes of Wrath" the camp is described as filthy, filled with hopeless, despairing residents. Lessons from Hooverville still have not been learned today. Anyone who has seen the famous old Civil War movie ' Gone with the Wind' might remember the Shanty Town on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia that was occupied by freed slaves and poor whites. Politicians continued drinking as everyday people were slapped with charges. Donald Francis Roy, a resident of Seattles Hooverville, recorded 639 residents, only 7 of whom were women. Seattle police twice burned the early Hooverville, but each time residents rebuilt. He described the population as fluid in 1938, owing to men selling their homes to newcomers and moving on. Home Facts Privacy About Blog Contact Terms. Tacoma had a large encampment that spanned six blocks. However, some cities banned them if they trespassed on parks or privately owned land. Riverside Park, New York City: A shantytown occupied Riverside Park at 72nd Street during the depression. The term was a derogatory reference to President Herbert Hoover, who many people blamed for allowing the U.S. to fall into economic despair. [1] There were hundreds of Hoovervilles across the country during the 1930s.[2]. Hundreds of Hooverville settlements were built across the United States, but some stood out. During the Great Depression, Hoovervilles provided shelter to many of the homeless population of America. This sort of fatalism was especially apparent in the language that developed around the iconic representation of the Great Depression --the Hooverville. The camps, dubbed Hoovervilles after Republican President Hoover, often sprang up near charity operated soup kitchens and rivers for drinking water and limited sanitary needs. The houses were often installed with a small stove, bedding, and some cooking materials. In 1933, it was 25%, with 1 out of every 4 people out of work. "; These communities of shacks or shanties were called Hoovervilles, after President Hoover, who refused to help the growing number of homeless. They are crowded, dirty, miserable, and they are places where the homeless gather to build temporary homes. "; However, Hoovervilles were typically grim and unsanitary. The final decision to eliminate Hooverville was presented in a report from the Housing Authority. Businesses made huge profits, but average workers wages did not rise at the same rate. For example, one of the eight Hoovervilles in Seattle, Washington, stood from 1931 to 1941. READ MORE:Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression? [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. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Come learn about Hoovervilles, how they got their name, and. Exhibit B: Location and Number of Shacks (March 5, 1941) 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. Nearly 29 percent of the population was non-white. 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. [3], The city tolerated Hoovervilles until the eve of World War II. The main Hooverville began on land near Elliott Bay through a cluster of small huts. Hoover's other problem was his own personality. "; months[8] = "This website is produced by the Siteseen network that specializes in producing free informative websites on a diverse range of topics. The suffering in the Great Depression, from 1929 to 1941, is hard for modern Americans to wrap their minds around. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. Some shelters were little more than holes in the ground covered with tin or cardboard. The makeshift shacks were constructed from unwanted materials and lacked basic amenities such as adequate sanitation and clean drinking water. Early Hooverville was burned down twice by Seattle police, but its residents continued to rebuild small houses. Seattle was also the location of seven other shantytowns. Seattle's Hooverville had lasted a full decade.[4]. Renters fell behind and faced eviction. Courtesy Tacoma Public Library. 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. Excerpt from "Hooverville: A Study of a Community of Homeless Men in Seattle" by Donald Francis Roy (1935) [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. The reaction to all of this was often characterized by a grim sort of humor, sometimes represented by popular songs like the 1930's 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?' The Great Depression started on Wall Street. Hoovervilles Appear Nationwide As the Depression worsened and millions of families lost their jobs and depleted their savings, they also lost their homes. The term was coined by the publicity director of the Democratic National Committee in 1930. 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. President Herbert Hoover & the Great Depression, America During the Great Depression: The Dust Bowl, Unemployment & Cultural Issues, End of WWI, the Treaty of Versailles & the League of Nations, Ku Klux Klan Nativism & Eugenics | Movement & History. When Congress refused payment and the veterans refused to leave, President Hoover sent in the army under the direction of Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur; the riot scene that followed included tear gas, bayonets, and tanks, and resulted in the burning of large parts of the Bonus Army's Hooverville as well as several deaths. 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