Favorite Archival Object: Shack Distribution Map, 1941

Mapping Seattle's Hooverville shacks in 1941

11/22/20233:38

In this installment, Seattle Municipal Archives' Archivist Anne Frantilla presents a 1941 map published by the Housing Authority of the City of Seattle illustrating the number and distribution of shacks in Seattle. For more information, please see SMA’s Digital Document Library “Hoovervilles in Seattle."

View more from the "Favorite Archival Object" series here.

SMA MATERIAL CITATIONS:
– Comptroller File 169237: Recommendation of Seattle Housing Authority on elimination of "shack" problem in Seattle. (March 5, 1941)
– Comptroller File 171573: Petition Hilda McManus for removal of shack from city street vicinity 2027 - 10th S. and Hill Streets. (October 14, 1941)
– Comptroller File 170058: Petition of Seattle Housing Authority for legal steps making for the demolition of shacks. (May 12, 1941)
– Comptroller File 171423: Petition of Washington Commonwealth W. Seattle District for adequate housing for persons removed from shacks. (September 29, 1941)
– Numbers and Distribution of Shacks by Census Tracts / Seattle, Washington, Housing Authority of the City of Seattle, Item 1036, Record Series 1801-02: Ordinances
– 6th Avenue South Garbage Fill [and shacks in shantytown] [Garbage Dump] (October 25, 1939), Item 39279, Record Series 2613-07: Engineering Department Negatives
– 15th Ave. SW [shack in foreground] (February 19, 1942), Item 40010, Record Series 2613-07: Engineering Department Negatives
– [Hooverville on tideflats - foot of S. Atlantic St. near the Skinner and Eddy Shipyards] (February 7, 1933), Item 191875, Record Series 2613-07: Engineering Department Negatives
– [Hooverville on tideflats - foot of S. Atlantic St. near the Skinner and Eddy Shipyards] (February 7, 1933), Item 191876, Record Series 2613-07: Engineering Department Negatives
– [Hooverville on waterfront below Elliott near Denny] (February 7, 1933), Item 191877, Record Series 2613-07: Engineering Department Negatives

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES - SEATTLE TIMES
Images and articles appear courtesy of The Seattle Times Library. Permission must be requested from The Seattle Times to reuse.
– Seattle Daily Times, “Ragtime Requiem Rings Out as Tractor Levels Shacks.” ed., 10 Apr. 1941, p. 8. NewsBank
– Seattle Daily Times, “‘Hooverville’ Dies in Flames.” ed., 10 Apr. 1941, p. 8. NewsBank
– Seattle Daily Times, “26 Shacks Go; More Doomed.” ed., 27 June 1941, p. 2. NewsBank

All of the videos from the "Favorite Archival Object" series feature the following:
– Footage in introduction titles: Seattle Channel, Item cs_112119_3071924V
– Music: "The Plan's Working" by Cooper Cannellis from YouTube's Audio Library (Creative Commons)

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