Hoovervilles

Cultural  

1. The encampments of the poor and homeless that sprang up during the Great Depression. They were named with ironic intent after President Herbert Hoover, who was in office when the depression started.

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Example Sentences

In some parts of our city, we aren’t too far from looking like the Hoovervilles of the 1930s.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 19, 2024

People who lost their homes moved to "Hoovervilles," shacks made from scrap wood and metal.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2021

Homeless people built shantytowns called Hoovervilles on unused land, the name intended to mock then-President Hoover’s handling of the economic crisis.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 16, 2021

This was when the United States was suffering the worst throes of the Depression, with unemployment cresting at twenty-five per cent and Hoovervilles springing up across the country.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 12, 2018

A lot of squatter towns, Hoovervilles, was built on the tracks, I guess ’cause people got around by hopping the rails.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson