Once the Great Depression hit, unemployment became a common sight, and along with unemployment comes homelessness. Those who owned homes lost their property once they could no longer afford to pay their mortgage or even taxes. Renters would fall behind soon facing eviction. Those who lost their homes either moved in with relatives, squared, or even refused to leave even after being evicted. Countless numbers moved to the street finding shelter wherever they could, under bridges, abandoned buildings, culverts, and in some cases building shelters out of whatever they could find in vacant public spaces. This collection of makeshift structures begin to be known as Hoovervilles, named in order to emphasize that the blame truly did rest with president Herbert Hoover and the Republican party.
Hoovervilles came in all shapes in sizes, with no two the same. They ranged from sizes of a couple hundred to some in the thousands. They were made out of whatever could be found, cardboard, tar paper, glass, lumber, tin and anything else that could be found. As Hoovervilles contained people from all walks of life, houses ranged from 20 foot structures created by laid off masons using cast off stone and brick, to simple huts. Most buildings were as simple as cardboard box homes, however these did not last long and were constantly in a state of rebuilding. Some homes were not even buildings at all, simply holes dug in the ground covered with room to keep out the elements. Although Hoovervilles were made as a last resort, they were often at least vaguely thought out, most were built by rivers for access to clean water as well as some even contained a few vegetable gardens. However most were quite unsanitary, posing health risks to their inhabitants as well as those around them, yet there was really nothing that the government and other public health agencies could do about them. For the most part the inhabitants of Hoovervilles did have the sympathies of the people. Even when it was ordered that they be destroyed, those who were forced to do so regretted it.
Most Hoovervilles unsurprisingly were unorganised. However larger ones tended to have at least some form of organisation. Oftentimes with unofficial mayors, and churches, some even had a liaison between the camp and the larger community.
The large population and pure number or Hoovervilles across America, meant that by 1932 president Hoover was so unpopular that he had no chance of being reelected. And so Franklin D. Roosevelt governor of New York won by a large majority. Roosevelt's recovery program known as the New Deal allowed for the eventual reduction of unemployment, a more regulated banking system, and turned the economy around using public works and other economic programs. This mean that by the 1940’s many Hoovervilles had been vacated and torn down.
Sources:
http://depts.washington.edu/depress/hooverville.shtml
Did Hoovervilles normally house people who had previously lived in the area around the Hooverville, or did people migrate across the United States and just settle in random clusters of settlements?
ReplyDeleteThe organization of Hoovervilles reminds me of slums right now, like the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong or the favelas in Brazil, because people scavenge materials to build housing in those areas right now. What kind of symptoms create slum-like areas similar to Hoovervilles, even if economic conditions aren't Depression-level terrible?
Is there any modern equivalent to a Hooverville? I would expect not, because of the sheer size and number of the encampments back then. What do you suppose the benefit of living within a Hooverville would be? I think that the competition for jobs and the threat of theft would make the unofficial cities very bad places to live.
ReplyDeletehttp://depts.washington.edu/depress/hooverville.shtml
I don't that there's anything truly like them today, however the closest thing that there would seem to be, would have to have been the tunnel people of New York. It would seem like the only main advantage of living in a Hooverville would be that you wouldn't have to pay rent and possibly other taxes. The competition for jobs would definitely be fierce, but I don't believe that relatively, there would have been that much theft, as everyone was pretty much in the same boat.
DeleteHow much blame should Hoover take for the depression and the rise of Hoovervilles? Yes, when people turned to the government and Hoover for unemployment relief, he simply told people to "wait it out" and that the best way to recover was from self-help and self-reliance rather than government intervention. What's also interesting is that nearly 13 million people lived in Hoovervilles. How could Hoover have prevented this? Was he really the one to blame?
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