The failure of Depression-era policies to alleviate unemployment and address the social crisis led to the creation of Hoovervilles, shantytowns that sprang up to house those who had become homeless because of the Great Depression.
Mass unemployment was rampant among men aged 18—50, and the lack of a social safety net continued to push them down the ladder. Even though these men wanted to care for themselves, the social structure forced them toward charity, a dependent position many unemployed men in Seattle rejected.
While there was shelter for sleeping, it was often on the ground in damp and unhygienic surroundings, and while charities such as the Salvation Army offered soup kitchens, the food was often barely digestible and contained little to no nutritional value. The creation of a Hooverville in Seattle, then, was due to the lack of social safety net, the desire for self-sufficiency, and the poor quality of Depression-era charity.
Jesse Jackson, the self-declared mayor of Hooverville, was one of the men who had a strong distaste for organized charity. After finding men that shared this feeling, they decided to do something about it. Seattle city officials were not thrilled about this new development.
They simply dug deeper embankments for their homes and reestablished the community. In June of a new administration was elected in Seattle. 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 s. Seattle's main Hooverville was one of the largest, longest-lasting, and best documented in the nation. It stood for ten years, to Covering nine acres of public land, it housed a population of up to 1,, claimed its own community government including an unofficial mayor, and enjoyed the protection of leftwing groups and sympathetic public officials until the land was needed for shipping facilities on the eve of World War II.
Seattle is fortunate to have the kind of detailed documentation of its Hooverville that other cities lack, and we have compiled these unique resources here. Included are photographs, city documents, a sociological survey of residents, a short memoir written by the former "mayor" of Hooverville, and more.
Homelessness followed quickly from joblessness once the economy began to crumble in the early s. Homeowners lost their property when they could not pay mortgages or pay taxes. Renters fell behind and faced eviction. By millions of Americans were living outside the normal rent-paying housing market. Many squeezed in with relatives. Unit densities soared in the early s. Some squatted, either defying eviction and staying where they were, or finding shelter in one of the increasing number of vacant buildings.
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. Some cities allowed squatter encampments for a time, others did not.
Click to see google map of shack towns in Seattle area and more photos and descriptions. Herbert Hoover , America's 31st president, took office in , the year the U. Although his predecessors' policies undoubtedly contributed to the crisis, which lasted over a decade, Hoover bore much of the blame in the minds of the American people.
When did hoovervilles end? The End of the Hooverville In , programs were put into place to remove the makeshift towns throughout the United States. What is hooverville in Cinderella Man? As Americans lost their jobs, during the Great Depression, they could not make the mortgage payments on their homes.
When they lost their homes, families were forced to live in shacks in shanty towns known as Hoovervilles. This image depicts such a home in Ohio. Where is hooverville located? Hoovervilles in Seattle: Map and Photos Here are the locations of eight shack towns that housed homeless people in the Seattle area in the s. The largest, known as "Hooverville," was on Elliot Bay near the present site of Qwest stadium. How did hoovervilles start? The homeless clustered in shanty towns close to free soup kitchens.
They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States during the onset of the Depression and widely blamed for it. Over the next several The Civilian Conservation Corps CCC was a work relief program that gave millions of young men employment on environmental projects during the Great Depression.
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In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. The Great Depression Sets In 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.
The Rise of Hoovervilles As the Depression worsened and millions of urban and rural families lost their jobs and depleted their savings, they also lost their homes.
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