Hoovervilles: The Shantytowns of the Great Depression By History.com, adapted by Newsela staff on 04.05.17 Word Count 912 A typical shantytown of the Great Depression in the United States, this one located in a city. Photo: WPA The Great Depression, which began in 1929 and lasted about 10 years, was an economic crisis that left many Americans poor and out of work. Many people had invested money in the stock market and when it crashed they lost much of the money they had invested. People stopped spending money and investing. Shantytowns appeared across the U.S. as unemployed people were evicted from their homes when they couldn't afford the payments on their homes. As the Depression worsened in the 1930s, many Americans looked to the federal government for help. When the government failed to provide relief, President Herbert Hoover was blamed for the unbearable economic and social conditions. The shantytowns that cropped up across the nation, mainly on the edges of major cities, became known as Hoovervilles. In the 1932 presidential election, Franklin Roosevelt defeated the highly This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1
unpopular Hoover. Roosevelt's New Deal programs helped provide some relief to Americans during the Depression. In the early 1940s, most remaining Hoovervilles were torn down. The Great Depression sets in The Great Depression was the most severe economic collapse of the 20th century, and led to a huge rise in unemployment. The year 1933 is generally considered the worst one of the Depression. One-quarter of America s workers - more than 15 million people - was out of work. Several factors led to the Great Depression, including the U.S. stock market crash in October 1929 and the failure of the American banking system. Both destroyed society s confidence in the nation s economy. Many people had invested money in the stock market and when it crashed people lost much of the money they had invested. People stopped spending money and investing. As the fear and desperation mounted, Americans looked to the federal government for relief. However, the country s 31st president, Herbert Hoover, did not support government intervention. He believed that self-reliance and self-help were the best ways to meet citizens' needs. In Hoover's view, prosperity would return if people would simply help one another. Although charity donations by wealthy individuals increased during the early 1930s, the amounts given were not enough to make a significant difference. Many Americans in need believed the solution to their problems lay in government assistance, but Hoover continued to resist such a response. The rise of Hoovervilles As the Depression worsened and millions of families lost their jobs and their savings, many Americans also lost their homes. Desperate for shelter, homeless citizens built shantytowns in and around cities across the nation. These camps came to be called Hoovervilles, after the president. Hooverville shanties were made of cardboard, glass, lumber, tin and whatever other materials people could find. Some were made of cast-off stone and bricks. Most shanties, however, were distinctly less glamorous. Cardboard-box homes did not last long, and most dwellings were in a constant state of being rebuilt. Some homes were not buildings at all, but deep holes dug in the ground with roofs laid over them to keep out bad weather. Huts and unemployed people living in a "Hooverville" at West Houston and Mercer Street in Manhattan, New York, in 1935. Today, this is the wealthy neighborhood of SOHO. Photo by Berenice Abbott, taken for the Works Progress Administration. [Click to enlarge] This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2
Life in a Hooverville No two Hoovervilles were quite alike, and the camps varied in population and size. Some were as small as a few hundred people while others, in bigger metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., and New York City, had thousands of inhabitants. St. Louis, Missouri, was home to one of the country s largest and longest-standing Hoovervilles. Whenever possible, Hoovervilles were built near rivers for the convenience of a water source. For example, in New York City, camps sprang up along the Hudson and East rivers. Some Hoovervilles were dotted with vegetable gardens, and some individual shacks contained furniture a family had managed to carry away from their former home. However, Hoovervilles were typically grim and unsanitary. They posed health risks to their inhabitants as well as to those living nearby. Hoover out, Roosevelt in In addition to the term Hooverville, President Hoover s name was used mockingly in other ways during the Great Depression. For example, newspapers used to shield the homeless from the cold were called Hoover blankets. When soles wore out of shoes, the cardboard used to replace them was dubbed Hoover leather. Cars pulled by horses because gas was unaffordable were called Hoover wagons. In 1932, tensions reached a peak between poor citizens and the Hoover administration. That year, 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. In June, many of them marched to the Capitol to request early payment of the government bonuses they had been promised. This was money that would have reduced the financial problems of many families. But the government refused to pay, citing budgetary restrictions. When most of the veterans refused to leave their shacks, Hoover sent in U.S. Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur to evict the so-called Bonus Army. MacArthur s troops set fire to the Hooverville and drove the group from the city. By 1932, Hoover was so unpopular that he had no realistic hope of being re-elected. Franklin D. Roosevelt won that year s presidential election in November by a landslide. Roosevelt s new program known as the New Deal eventually reduced unemployment, regulated banking and helped turn the economy around. By the early 1940s, many Hoovervilles had been torn down. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3
Quiz 1 Read the section "The Great Depression sets in." Which paragraph explains the reaction of Hoover and the government to the Great Depression? 2 Which selection from the article suggests that many people expected to live in their Hoovervilles for a long time? Some homes were not buildings at all, but deep holes dug in the ground with roofs laid over them to keep out bad weather. Whenever possible, Hoovervilles were built near rivers for the convenience of a water source. For example, in New York City, camps sprang up along the Hudson and East rivers. Some Hoovervilles were dotted with vegetable gardens, and some individual shacks contained furniture a family had managed to carry away from their former home. However, Hoovervilles were typically grim and unsanitary. They posed health risks to their inhabitants as well as to those living nearby. 3 Read the paragraph from the section "Hoover out, Roosevelt in." In addition to the term Hooverville, President Hoover s name was used mockingly in other ways during the Great Depression. For example, newspapers used to shield the homeless from the cold were called Hoover blankets. When soles wore out of shoes, the cardboard used to replace them was dubbed Hoover leather. Cars pulled by horses because gas was unaffordable were called Hoover wagons. What does this paragraph accomplish? It suggests that Hoover was doing everything he could to help the people. It lists the types of goods that people were likely to have in their homes. It illustrates that people enjoyed finding humor in their grim situation. It demonstrates the level of hostility and blame directed at Hoover. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4
4 Why does the author include the information about the Bonus Army in the article? to illustrate where the idea to build Hoovervilles originated to show that the government was concerned with the national budget to illustrate the conflict between the people and the government to show that veterans were the primary residents of Hoovervilles This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 5