Hoovervilles

1929-1940By: Benny Rothfuss

Basic LayoutSmall housing

Some had vegetable gardens

Houses with little furniture for an entire family

Usually built near a water source such as a river

Houses were unsanitary and plain

Hoovervilles were marked as health risks because of how bad they were

BackroundHomeless people were a common sight before The Great Depression

Homeless people began to cluster in certain areas with soup kitchens

Some of the people had building skills so they would make there house out of stone or wood

Many blamed President Hoover for this problem giving it the name “Hoovervilles”

The struggleHoovervilles were poorly maintained

Many things were dubbed with Hoovers name

Newspapers used as blankets were called “Hoover blankets”

Inside-out pockets were “Hoover flags”

Cardboard used to repair things like shoes would be given the name “Hoover leather”

The comeback

Hoovervilles were soon seen as unfit

They were demolished in the 1940’s

When the New Deal was passed many lives had changed

The economy got back on its feet and started to seem better

Hoovervilles were officially torn down

Work Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooverville

http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles