Hooverville huts were constructed of cardboard, glass, tin, tar, lumber, and whatever else a person was able to salvage. Those who were lucky, such as unemployed masons, could use cast-off stone and bricks to build a decent hut about 20 feet high. However, most huts were in a state of constant need for repair and didn't last long. Some huts were just holes in the ground with a makeshift roof to keep out the rain. Others lived in empty conduits and water mains.
Hoovervilles were usually near a river or stream for a water source. Some had small vegetable gardens. However, Hoovervilles were grim and unsanitary, usually posing health risks to inhabitants and those living nearby. Hoovervilles were tolerated, but most people just wanted them to go away. In worst case scenarios, Hoovervilles were raided by sour park directors and other authorities.
People living in Hoovervilles had to beg for food, or wait in a breadline.
Pictures of soup kitchens and breadlines:
http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/pictures/soup-kitchens-and-breadlines/bread-line-in-depression-era-new-york
For work, they usually took whatever backbreaking job that was leftover.
Life in Hooverville was truly depressing.
Great post Katherine! I posted a few days back about Hoovervilles, and I could not imagine living in those conditions. A lot of the larger Hoovervilles were found in urban areas, such as one in Central Park in New York City. I also remember in class we discussed the large demonstration of World War I veterans in Washington DC because they wanted their bonuses they were promised. This large Hooverville in DC was know as the Bonus Army after their want of their war bonuses. At its peak, there were as many as 15,000 people living there. Just as a comparison, Washington DC had a population of 486,000 people. Eventually, the U.S. army was called in to break up the giant Hooverville.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting post! I was still wondering about the amount of people living in a single Hooverville so I do some research. It turns out that in Seattle's biggest Hooverville which was only about 9 acres, had a population of about 1,200 people. Not only was it terrible living space, but it was quite cramped as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for researching more into this! The documentary we saw in class only briefly covered this topic. Your post made me think about The Jungle right nearby in San Jose, which was just cleared out earlier this week. It was the largest shantytown in San Jose and stretched 69 acres with about 200 to 300 people believed to be living in unsanitary conditions. When the city cleared The Jungle out, it tried to provide housing for the displaced, which is much more than the authorities during the Great Depression did to help the occupants of the Hoovervilles.
ReplyDeleteLife in The Jungle was better than life in the Hoovervilles, but just a quick Google search of "The Jungle San Jose" shows that it wasn't much better. This article very concisely summarizes what life in The Jungle was like, and also includes pictures of the conditions the people had to live in: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-jungle-largest-homeless-camp-in-us-2013-8?op=1
Even though almost a century has passed since the Great Depression, it is interesting to see how homeless encampments still have not changed much, and shows that homelessness as an issue has never gone away, and probably never will.
Sources:
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_27066589/jungle-san-jose-shuts-down-notorious-homeless-encampment
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-jungle-largest-homeless-camp-in-us-2013-8?op=1
Going to what Ryan said about the Hoovervilles, there were many notable ones on both coasts of the country like the one in Seattle that he stated, Hollywood; one which resembled the Seattle one, but only occupied six blocks, New York which had two Hoovervilles, one in Central Square the other in Riverside Park. My question is how mayn notable ones were there in total and how many people took to life in these Hoovervilles?
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