One of the nicer Depression-era shantytowns, dubbed "Hoovervilles", found in Seattle.
Reading and Writing Goals:
To select a text written about an unfamiliar topic and not for a large audience.
To write with a sufficient amount of evidence, in the form of both quotation and restatement.
When asked to name a time of widespread suffering in the United States, many jump to a war fought on American soil; either the Revolutionary or Civil. But perhaps more distraught were the Americans of the Great Depression, 25% of them unemployed and millions too proud to receive government aid. "Afternoon in a pushcart peddlers' colony" is a report written by Frank Byrd, a federally employed journalist, about the lives of men living in an encampment by the Harlem River in 1938. While Byrd and his works are generally unknown, he wrote numerous reports like this one throughout the Depression. Not much is known about his purpose or audience, but it seems that Byrd wrote articles only for the government's archives and his own practice. Whatever his prerogative, Byrd's success in recording the state of this Hooverville comes from his sensory descriptions and dialogued testimonials.
To any reader, the most striking parts of Byrd's writing are his almost ubiquitous and very effective descriptions. He sets the scene with an appeal to touch and hearing -- "It was snowing and, shortly after noontime, the snow changed to sleet and beat a tattoo against the rocks and board shacks" (1) -- giving the reader a taste of the cold and noisy weather. Once Byrd explains that the only shelter the men had were shanties made out of rotting wood, the reader is firmly planted in their scraggly shoes, immersed just enough to understand the direness of the predicament. But, in an effort to lay out the full circumstance, Byrd also describes the luxuries of this Hooverville: "one is amazed (to say the least) by the comfortable divans,
lounges, bookshelves and, of all things, a drinking fountain," (3). It is through these descriptions that Byrd provides a full, unbiased account of his discoveries.
Still, the reader is left wondering why these men do not apply for government relief. Anticipating this, Byrd brings in his after-dinner dialogue with them. After some small talk, Byrd gets an answer that eludes reformers even today: "'What duh hell do we wants wid relief anyhow? We is all able-bodied mens an' can take it. We can make our own livin's.'" (5). He continues the interview, accumulating enough testimonials for the reader to figure out why the men live the way they do. With the what and the why of the story answered, Byrd concludes his report knowing that the reader will be satisfied.
Provided by the Library of Congress.
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