University of Washington: The Great Depression in Washington State. The Great Depression drew to an end with the outbreak of WW2 and municipal programs aimed at "eradicating" shantytowns destroyed all the Hoovervilles. It began with the United States stock market crash of 1929, and didn't completely end until after . This drain reservoir became the site of an informal camp established by a few homeless people, but they were quickly evicted. The term was a derogatory reference to President Herbert Hoover, who many people blamed for allowing the U.S. to fall into economic despair. 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. Roosevelt promised to improve the country with a "new deal for the American people." During the fall and winter of 1931 and 1932, unemployed workers established Seattle's "Hooverville," a shantytown named in sarcastic honor of U.S. President Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), on whose beat the Great Depression began. Hundreds of Hoovervilles were established across the country during the 1930s. [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. Protest against Hooverville evictions (October 10, 1938) Hooverville was a small town founded by homeless people in the United States during the Great Depression. The Great Depression saw the collapse of the United States' economy, rampant unemployment and a broad sense of hopelessness. Hundreds of Hooverville settlements were built across the United States, but some stood out. 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. "; 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. The largest Hooverville, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was home to as many as 8,000 homeless people from 1930 to 1936. Inside Hoovervilles were houses called shanties . 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. Second New Deal Purpose & Programs | What was the Second New Deal? As their investments lost value, people soon depleted their savings. Come learn about Hoovervilles, how they got their name, and. Whenever possible, Hoovervilles were built near rivers for the convenience of a water source. By the middle of 1941, Roosevelts New Deal programs had increased employment to the point that all but a few Hoovervilles had been abandoned and demolished. 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. Exhibit C: Physical Conditions and Occupancy of Shacks (March 5, 1941) Two young residents at a Hooverville shantytown in Washington, D.C. Longley, Robert. 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. Thesis, University of Washington, 1935), pp.42-45. The camp began when an unemployed lumberjack Spread over nine acres; it housed a population of up to 1,200. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. 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. But residents rebuilt and the site remained occupied all the way through World War II. Tacoma hosted a large encampment near the city garbage dump that residents called "Hollywood-on-the-Tideflats." Seattle's Hooverville and its residents were portrayed as violent, exotic, and separate from the rest of Seattle, obscuring the social accomplishments and self-organization of shantytown residents. Letter from Housing Authority to City Council (March 4, 1941) 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?'. By 1932, Hoover was so unpopular that he had no realistic hope of being re-elected, and Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York won that years presidential election in November by a landslide. To find out more, see our, Download the Hooverville Facts & Worksheets, Hooverville Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com, Resources created by teaching professionals. There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation, he wrote of the squalled camp. 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. 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 Depression increased the demand for such assistance exponentially. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Follow the Great Depression Project/ Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project on Facebook. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In some cases, unemployed skilled construction workers used stones and bricks from demolished buildings to build fairly solid houses. 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. [3], The city tolerated Hoovervilles until the eve of World War II. While private and corporate philanthropy provided some assistance during the early 1930s, poverty continued to increase rapidly. Roy lived in the Hooverville in spring 1934 while conducting this survey which became his 1935 MA thesis. St. Louis, Missouri, was the site of the largest Hooverville in America. The easiest way to travel across the country was by train and Shantytowns, nicknamed 'Hobo Jungles' sprang up by most city railroad stations. 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. months[8] = "This website is produced by the Siteseen network that specializes in producing free informative websites on a diverse range of topics. Some squatted, either defying eviction and staying where they were, or finding shelter in one of the increasing number of vacant buildings. Early Hooverville was burned down twice by Seattle police, but its residents continued to rebuild small houses. "Hoovervilles: Homeless Camps of the Great Depression." 'Hooverville' was the nickname for any variety of makeshift shelters for homeless people, mostly victims of the Great Depression from 1929 to 1941. Response from Health Department (May 23, 1935) In turn, a new lexicon came into being -- words like "Hoovervilles," "Hoover blankets" and "Hoover hogs." months[0] = "Discover the vast range of useful, leisure and educational websites published by the Siteseen network. The Red Scare of the 1920s History & Overview | What was the First Red Scare? Click the button below to get instant access to these worksheets for use in the classroom or at a home. KidsKonnect is a growing library of premium quality educational materials, printable worksheets and teaching resources for use in the classroom. [8], One exceptional Hooverville of Seattle, Washington held a structured government and collected extensive documentation. In "The Grapes of Wrath" the camp is described as filthy, filled with hopeless, despairing residents. 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). The Great Depression was the most severe and enduring economic collapse of the 20th century, and included abrupt declines in the supply and demand of goods and services along with a meteoric rise in unemployment. [7], While some Hoovervilles created a sort of government, most were unorganized collections of shanty houses. Businesses made huge profits, but average workers wages did not rise at the same rate. The Depression was blamed on President Herbert Hoover, after whom the town was named after, as coined by Charles Michelson. One of the important events during his presidency was the emergence of the Shanty Town during the Great Depression. A "Hoover wagon" was an automobile with horses hitched to it, often with the engine removed. It is just west of Qwest Field and the Alaska Viaduct. Desperate for shelter, homeless citizens. Erected by unemployed lumberjacks on the tidal flats of the Port of Seattle, the encampment covered nine acres and grew to house up to 1,200 people. Tacoma had a large encampment that spanned six blocks. They are crowded, dirty, miserable, and they are places where the homeless gather to build temporary homes. But even as the Great Depression eased and the Hoovervilles began to vanish, they remained a potent symbol of how a combination of bad luck, governmental philosophy, and rotten timing could create a lasting, negative image. The smaller camps tended to come and go, while the larger Hoovervilles proved far more permanent. Sign Me Up. There was no work, people were starving and the local police repeatedly burned down the camp. "Hoovervilles," shanty towns of unemployed men, sprung up all over the nation, named after President Hoover's insufficient relief during the crisis. READ MORE:Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression? Hoovervilles began to disappear after the election of Franklin Roosevelt, whose New Deal promised to put the federal government into activist mode to try to end the Great Depression. 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. On two occasions, the Seattle Health Department ordered the residents to leave and burned their shanties when they refused. months[2] = "Learning made easy with the various learning techniques and proven teaching methods used by the Siteseen network. Renters fell behind and faced eviction. The term Hooverville itself is a partisan political attack on Herbert Hoover, who was the President of the United States at the time. The new population was forced to set up makeshift "towns" known as "Hoovervilles." 16. 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. President Herbert Hoover lost the election in 1932 to Franklin D. Roosevelt. 10 Question Quiz. New York City: Depression shacks "Hoover Village" in the old Central Park reservoir. The main Hooverville began on land near Elliott Bay through a cluster of small huts. This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Hooverville across 20 in-depth pages. This was at a time when most workers didn't have access to unemployment benefits, health care, or Social Security--in fact, none of the programs that could provide that kind of help even existed. Home Facts Privacy About Blog Contact Terms. Encampments and shantytowns often referred to as tent citieswith similarities to Hoovervillesbegan appearing in parts of California, Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, Washington and other states. At 81, He does Tell History Firsthand", Photos of a new father figure in Hooverville in Portland, Oregon, Great Depression in Washington State Project, Photos and details of a Hooverville in Seattle, Washington, Photographs of California Hoovervilles (Sacramento, Kern County), Presidential transition of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Birthplace and childhood home National Historic Site, Presidential Library, Museum, and gravesite, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hooverville&oldid=1139613330, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from May 2017, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/hoovervilles. Hoovervilles were hundreds of makeshift homeless encampments built near large cities across the United States during the Great Depression (1929-1933). Multiple factors led to the Great Depression, including the U.S. stock market crash in October 1929 and the widespread failure of the American banking system, both of which helped destroy confidence in the nations economy. The economic depression began in September 1929 and was immediately followed by the October 24 Wall Street stock market crash. Hooverville served as a home for different nationalities and ethnicities. For webquest or practice, print a copy of this quiz at the Great Depression - Hoovervilles webquest print page. 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. Sign Up. Bootleggers were becoming rich on the profits of illegal alcohol sales and violence was on the rise. 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. 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. After hosting several homeless settlements, the reservoir was dubbed the Hoover Valley and Depression Street. And although private philanthropy increased during the early 1930s, the amounts given were not enough to make a significant impact. Thousands of Hoovervilles began to appear all over the country. months[1] = "Find information about the instructive websites produced by international publisher Siteseen Ltd. "; Even before the Great Depression, there were homeless people, but most large cities were able to build municipal lodging houses for the homeless. Many of us spend a great deal of time imagining what we'd do if we had a lot of money--if we won the lottery, for example. Usually built on the edges of larger cities, hundreds of thousands of people lived in the many Hooverville camps. Riverside Park, New York City: A shantytown occupied Riverside Park at 72nd Street during the depression. Divided into distinct sectors, the racially integrated and cohesive encampment was home to as many as 8,000 destitute people. Twelve million Americans, about 25% of the normal labor force, were out of work and many suffered poverty, deprivation and homelessness. The rectangular reservoir north of Belvedere Castle was taken out of service when the stock market crashed in 1929. Democrats coined many terms based on opinions of Herbert Hoover[5] such as "Hoover blanket" (old newspaper used as blanketing). The majority of the homeless chose to live in small towns where they could easily access free soup kitchens. By the end of the decade it covered a six block area and, like Seattle's Hooverville, included a large number of little houses that residents had built out of scrap materials and steadily improved over the years. "; This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 00:48. months[6] = "Uncover a wealth of facts and information on a variety of subjects produced by the Siteseen network. Interesting Facts About Hoovervilles During the Great Depression The Bonus Army of veterans built a large Hooverville in Washington D.C. that housed around 15,000 people. Writer John Steinbeck featured a family who lived in a California Hooverville and sought farm work in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939. Additionally, although the 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, had been a decade of prosperity, income levels varied widely and numerous Americans lived beyond their means. As the optimism of the 1920s gave way to fear and desperation, Americans looked to the federal government for relief. Did you know? Longley, Robert. Hoovervilles were racially integrated. I feel like its a lifeline. It helped me pass my exam and the test questions are very similar to the practice quizzes on Study.com. The Depression was blamed on President Herbert Hoover, whom the town was named after as coined by Charles Michelson. The homeless clustered in shanty towns close to free soup kitchens. Roys 1934 census provides a breakdown of the population by ethnicity and nationality. The Shanty Town was given the sarcastic nickname 'Hooverville' after President Herbert Hoover who Americans blamed for the Great Depression. [1] There were hundreds of Hoovervilles across the country during the 1930s.[2]. months[10] = "Looking for accurate facts and impartial information? Eight different Hoovervilles were established in Seattle, Washington, with the largest one lasting from 1932 to 1941 and built on the tidal flats adjacent to the Port of Seattle. According to Roy, there was tolerance and friendship among ethnic groups and nationalities because racial barriers did not exist. Hoovervilles were not fancy or well-constructed. Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression? A Brief Look at the U.S. Department of Labor. Usually built on vacant land, the camps were largely tolerated by city authorities. succeed. With such a well-developed social order, the camp maintained itself as a functional separate community from 1930 to 1936, when President Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal sweeping economic recovery plan allocated federal funds for its removal. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. 01 of 10 First Quaker President Hoover was the son of a blacksmith, Jesse Clark Hoover, and a Quaker minister, Huldah Minthorn Hoover. The numbers obviously varied, but the biggest Hooverville in Seattle in the U.S. state of Washington served as the home to 1200 people. 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. For example, one of the eight Hoovervilles in Seattle, Washington, stood from 1931 to 1941. (2021, December 6). The effect was the virtual freezing of international trade. Probably the most famous Hooverville was the one founded on Anacostia Flats, just outside Washington, D.C., in 1932. 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: Homeless Camps of the Great Depression." They usually had a small stove, bedding and a couple of simple cooking implements. In 1934, Roy recorded a population of non-White people, including Black men, Costa Rican, Chilean, Filipino, Japanese, Mexican, and. 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. Click the image to see a larger version of the map and here to read excerpts from Roy's sociological survey.By 1934 nearly 500 self-built one-room domiciles were "scattered over the terrain in insane disorder," according to Donald Roy, a sociology graduate student who studied the community. Will Work ForAnything. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. Public reaction to the Hoovervilles added to President Hoovers general unpopularity, leading to his landslide defeat by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election. Named for President Herbert Hoover, the ramshackle settlements ranged in size and were set up across the nation. A shantytown, also known as a Hooverville (named for U.S. President Herbert Hoover), was located in Seattle, Washington, during the Great Depression. In 1932, Hooverville was established in Anacostia, District of Columbia, to house a group of. Those who did were chronically underpaid. Hoovervilles lacked the services found in typical towns. Grade Level. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. 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. https://www.thoughtco.com/hoovervilles-homeless-camps-of-the-great-depression-4845996 (accessed March 1, 2023). Seattle, in 2009, is currently facing a recession that may be the most serious since the Depression of the 1930s, and a community similar to Hooverville has formed. 361 lessons. [2], However, not every Hooverville fits this description. Most were unemployed laborers and timber workers, few of whom had held any jobs in the previous two years. 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! During the Great Depression, in the 1930s, as millions of people lost their jobs and homes, shanty towns, also known as "Hoovervilles" began to sprout up across the US. Hoovervilles: homeless camps of the increasing number of vacant buildings leave and burned their shanties when they.... 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