"Boys Hopping Freight"
During the Great Depression an estimated 250,000 youths left home to search for work, to ease the burden on their families, to escape an abusive home life, or to find adventure. Opportunities for work were rare and never long-term, and most young transients hitch-hiked or illegally rode freight trains, traveling from town to town. Train "accommodations" were never ideal. Empty and unlocked boxcars at least offered shelter from the weather but could also invite danger. In 1932, the Interstate Commerce Commission reported 425 deaths and 1,344 injuries of people getting on or off moving trains.
Source | Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, "Boys Hopping Freight," c. 1935-1942, Library of Congress, American Memory Collection, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e03154
Creator | Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information
Item Type | Photograph
Cite This document | Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, “"Boys Hopping Freight",” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed April 19, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1080.
Creator | Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information
Item Type | Photograph
Cite This document | Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, “"Boys Hopping Freight",” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed April 19, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1080.
