The Seattle Salvation Army was founded in 1887 and during the Depression operated shelters for homeless men at 213 ½ Second Avenue South, the former United States Immigration Building, and at 117 ½ Main Street. Because of Seattle's position as a gateway city to the Pacific and Alaska, the men who visited the shelters came from all over the United States and even from foreign nations.
During the early 1930s, while the United States endured the Great Depression, many people became homeless. Some government agencies and private charities tried to help the homeless by providing food, shelter, and employment. These shelters were known by several names such as emergency shelters, flophouses, Hoover's hotels, and recreation halls.
When men entered the shelters, they were registered, fed, cleaned and examined, and provided with clean nightclothes and a bed for the night. If the men needed medical attention, they were sent to a hospital. In the morning, their newly fumigated and sterilized clothes were returned. They were served breakfast and either sent on their way or asked to do some work in the shelter. Sometimes a shelter had an employment agency that located jobs for the men.
The photographs in this collection show three of the shelters that were set up by the Salvation Army to help the homeless men in Seattle during the Great Depression. Interior views of the shelters show double-deck beds, the shower facilities, and some of the areas in the shelters where the men could find employment, such as a tailor shop, a shoe repair shop, and a wood yard operation.
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Processed by Maria Ovalles and Jocelyn Spicer, 2002.
Condition Note: Because the album had come apart, the album pages were separated and put into protective folders.
Caption on page 3: This shelter (#1) is located at 213 1/2 Second Avenue South.
Caption on page 5: This shelter (#2) secured free rent. This building is formerly the United States Immigration Building. The total capacity is 700.
Caption on page 7: This shelter (#3) is located at 117 1/2 Main Street. The total capacity is 500 men. It has 83 double-deck beds on each of the three floors.
Caption on page 9: The dormitory is located at Shelter #2, at the old United States Immigration Building.
Caption on page 11 The double-deck beds have one 20 pound felt mattress, two white sheets, and one four pound wool blanket.
Caption on page 13: Woodyard at Railroad Avenue and King Street. The minimum hours per week is eight hours. It was opened by the Salvation Army and taken over by the Community Fund. Sixty-five men work there per day.
Railroad Avenue was renamed Alaskan Way in 1936.
Caption on page 15: The receiving ward has a capacity of forty-five beds.
Caption on page 17: The check room at headquarters during one peak period have checked per day 180 pieces of package. The check room contain[s] a daily average of 3,000 pieces of luggage.
Caption on page 19: The principal [sic] items of repair in the tailor shop, located at shelter #1, 213 1/2 Second Avenue Shop [sic], is sewing on buttons, and patching and repairing clothes.
Caption on page 21: The laundry rooms located at shelter #1, 213 1/2 Second Avenue Shouth, furnish hot water, soap, and drying room facilities.
Caption on page 23: The sterilizer, at 213 1/2 Second Avenue South, is a steam pressure vat. The cost of this sterilizer is $300.
Caption on page 25: The shower room is located at shelter #1, 213 1/2 Second Avenue South.
Caption on page 27: The shoe repair shop at 213 1/2 Second Avenue South, half-sole shoes and fix heels. No new shoes are issued as long as the old ones could be repaired.
Caption on page 29: The occupational chart shows the percentage of trades and professions.
Caption on page 31: The recreation room is located at 213 1/2 Second Avenue South. Programs and entertainment are arranged regularly during the winter months.
The Salvation Army held services and prayer meetings in the recreation rooms.
Caption on page 33: The Number Two Corps Auditorium is located at the Salvation Army chapel.
Caption on page 35: The first-aid cabinet is for emergency needs.
Caption on page 37: Harborview Hospital.