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"Bachelor Shacks in Outskirts of Patterson"

The unemployment rate soared in the U.S. during the Great Depression (peaking at 25% in 1933), while wages for those who still had jobs fell sharply. Many people, employed and unemployed, fell behind on their rent or mortgage payments and lost their homes. This photo was taken in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1937 (well into the Great Depression), by Lewis W. Hine as part of the Works Progress Administration's National Research Project, which studied changes in industry and their effect on employment.

Paterson, New Jersey - Textiles. Bachelor shacks in outskirts of Paterson, on Molly Jan Brook." About 25 men live there now (some of them old silk workers) and stay there all winter. Man in one view worked in silk up to 5 years ago. On relief now., 03/18/1937
Source | Lewis W. Hine, "Bachelor shacks in outskirts of Paterson," Work Projects Administration, National Archives, http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=518625.
Creator | Lewis W. Hine
Item Type | Photograph
Cite This document | Lewis W. Hine, “"Bachelor Shacks in Outskirts of Patterson",” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed March 28, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1086.

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