Fieldcrest students are going back into time by recreating "Hoovervilles" from the 1930's.
Teacher Sean Poston said that he wants his students to see what it was like to
live in poverty like those who lived in Hoovervilles during the Depression of the 1930's.
Poston said the project started on a small scale when the class studied the Depression
area and decided to build a small scale model of a Hooverville. The class decided to
expand the project into the real thing.
Hoovervilles were basically hobo camps built at the edge of towns and along railroad tracks
by homeless people who had no place else to live. The enclaves were named after former
President Herbert Hoover who was blamed for the hard times people had to endure.
Poston said that the project is being conducted by the entire junior class. The shacks for
the Hooverville is being built on the old athletic field south of the gymnasium. The materials
for the shacks were procured from scrap lumber from various individuals.
Students plan to spend the night in the Hooverville on Tuesday night, March 23.
Poston said there aren't many people left who lived during the Depression who can explain to the
students what life was like back then.
He said that the students should gain an understanding of what it was like to experience poverty during the
depression.
