Transcript Hoovervilles

Mays Avenue
Community Camp, Oklahoma City
In the immediate months
and years following the
crash of 1929 and the Dust
Bowl summers of the 1930s,
several hundreds of families
who lost their farms
migrated to the cities of
Oklahoma in search
of work…
Squatting on city property
near the banks of the
Canadian River, these
families established
communities of make-shift
houses. From these locations,
they sought odd-jobs in the
city’s businesses and
factories, surviving one day
at a time…
“Sandtown” (Shanty towns)
South side of the Canadian River, OKC
One of the most populous
locations for these
down-and-out OKIEs was the
riverbank area, south of the
Canadian, near the street of
May Avenue. For this reason,
the “community camp”
became known as the Mays’
Avenue Camp.
Oklahoma
City
provided
community
sources of
water,
either by
occasional
pumps or
hauled in
by wagon.
Boy living in camp near Mays Avenue making
sandwich. This food is distributed by Saint Anthony's
hospital after patients have been fed. This was the
only foodline left in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
This family had been farmers in Oklahoma until four
years ago. Since then they have lived in community
camp getting some food from the vegetable dumps,
doing "trashing" and going on the road occasionally
as migrant workers.
Resident of Mays Avenue camp under the bridge,
covering milk with wet cloth in order to keep it cool.
Many residents of this camp sneak into stockyards
early in the morning to milk cows.
Mother and
daughter picking
over crawfish
which they catch
to sell for bait.
Source: Library of Congress
Created by:
Pam Merrill,
Edmond Public Schools