Hooverville Community of 1933

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The stock market crash of 1929 caused 15 million people across the United States to plunge into poverty. Those who once lived in a home and enjoyed three meals a day, were now living on the streets and dining in soup kitchens. Between 1929 and 1941 two million American people were homeless. Hoovervilles were shanty town built by homeless people during the Great Depression. They were named after President Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States during the onset of the Depression and widely blamed for the Stock Market crash.

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In Christopher Paul Curtis’s book, Bud, Not Buddy, Bud visits a Hooverville and makes friends with a young girl whose father has jumped a train to find work, while leaving his family to stay close to food sources in the Hooverville.

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Our class will build a Hooverville for our Lego people who are living through the Great Depression. Each character has a story to share.  Using Google Classroom, students will write the individual family stories of each member of the Hooverville.  The stories may connect to other members of the shanty town.  Each member should have a job to fulfil within the community.  Each narrative will describe life in the Hooverville, with details chronicling the experiences of the characters.

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Hooverville TO DO List

1. Build a Lego person that reflects the Great Depression

2. Build a house for the shanty town using the scraps available.

3. Write a first person narrative story from the perspective of the your character. Explain the life of your person as they life in the Hooverville of the Great Depression.   Story must be well written with a beginning, middle and ending. Setting must include place, time considerations and weather. Use metaphors, similes and other figurative language to describe the experience of living in the shanty town.

4. Build additional Lego family members

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5. Create a scene using houses and Lego people to use as illustrations for the narrative story.  Photos will be taken to record the individual stories.

6. Once HOUSE, PERSON, SCENE PHOTO and NARRATIVE are complete – all pages will be published on our website and in print