What are Hoovervilles?
Hoovervilles were makeshift shantytowns, slums of makeshift shelters (cardboard, scrap metal, wood) that sprang up across the U.S. during the Great Depression (1930s), housing the homeless and unemployed. Named bitterly after President Herbert Hoover, whom many blamed for the economic crisis, these communities symbolized widespread poverty, desperation, and government failure, offering a harsh but often self-organized refuge for families and individuals. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key Characteristics:
- Construction: Made from scavenged materials like tin, tar paper, wood scraps, and cardboard, offering little protection from the elements.
- Location: Found on vacant land, city outskirts, parks (like Central Park), and near railroad tracks.
- Residents: Included unemployed workers, displaced families, veterans (Bonus Army), and migrants, all suffering from joblessness and homelessness.
- Conditions: Lacked sanitation, running water, and proper food, leading to disease and malnutrition.
- Community: Despite hardship, residents often formed supportive communities, sharing resources and organizing for survival. [2, 3, 6, 7]
Significance:
- Symbol of Protest: Became a stark visual protest against President Hoover's perceived inaction during the Depression.
- Resilience: Showcased the resourcefulness and mutual support of people in dire circumstances.
- Decline: Many diminished with the start of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs in the mid-1930s, which provided some relief and housing. [2, 3, 4, 8]
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In the early 1930s, as the Great Depression deepened, thousands of evicted and unemployed Americans built makeshift communities called "Hoovervilles" on vacant lots across the nation—named bitterly after President Hoover. The largest, in Seattle, Washington, housed over 1,000 residents in cardboard, tin, and tarpaper shacks with communal kitchens and elected mayors.
Residents scavenged, gardened, and shared what little they had, creating order amid chaos. One Seattle Hooverville even had its own newspaper. Though razed by authorities in 1941, they symbolized widespread suffering and resilience.
A resident noted: "We built homes from nothing—because nothing was all we had left."
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