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Kalamazoo During the Great Depression
The Great Depression left its mark on Kalamazoo. In an effort to stimulate employment, local, state, and federal governments provided funds for projects intended to create jobs. These included the Kalamazoo County Courthouse, original portions of Waldo Stadium, the Douglass Community Center, and infrastructure at Milham Park. Other projects included road, bridge, and sewer upgrades including
the 1934 repaving of Main Street (today Michigan Avenue).
The Kalamazoo Museum was staffed for almost 5 years by unemployed workers paid through the Works Progress Administration. They built exhibits, developed educational materials, and maintained the building.
These physical reminders, together with the passage of time, sometimes disguise the human costs of the Depression. Over 20% of Kalamazoo’s population was receiving some form of assistance.
The Stock Market Crash of October 1929 did not immediately lead to massive economic downturn. The Kalamazoo Gazette reported that a local investor lost $300,000 in the stock market, perhaps equal to $5,000,000 today. In 1930, troubling signs were appearing. The employment office of the Kalamazoo Civic League reported 1,312 applicants in March, compared to 449 in 1929. By the end of the year, one estimate tallied 3,300 unemployed workers, about six times higher than the number of unemployed after the Depression.
The American Federation of Labor helped to provide relief for the unemployed. It organized a soup kitchen in late 1930 which fed over 400 a day and in 1932, with aid from the City Commission, opened a dormitory that housed 100 homeless men.
In 1931, the Kalamazoo City Commission funded a permanent employment bureau. In 1932, the Commission authorized the sale of $300,000 in bonds to provide relief aid including clothes and food for destitute workers and their families.
Private charity also was important in relief efforts. Dr. W. E. Upjohn purchased 1,700 acres along Gull Road in 1931 to provide farm work for the unemployed. He later donated the land to a trust which became the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. The Welfare Federation and Red Cross raised and distributed over $250,000 in aid during 1932 and 1933.
The Depression lasted for most of a decade in Kalamazoo. More than 70 years have passed, but the physical evidence lingers in the region’s landscape.
The Kalamazoo Museum was staffed for almost 5 years by unemployed workers paid through the Works Progress Administration. They built exhibits, developed educational materials, and maintained the building.
These physical reminders, together with the passage of time, sometimes disguise the human costs of the Depression. Over 20% of Kalamazoo’s population was receiving some form of assistance.
The Stock Market Crash of October 1929 did not immediately lead to massive economic downturn. The Kalamazoo Gazette reported that a local investor lost $300,000 in the stock market, perhaps equal to $5,000,000 today. In 1930, troubling signs were appearing. The employment office of the Kalamazoo Civic League reported 1,312 applicants in March, compared to 449 in 1929. By the end of the year, one estimate tallied 3,300 unemployed workers, about six times higher than the number of unemployed after the Depression.
The American Federation of Labor helped to provide relief for the unemployed. It organized a soup kitchen in late 1930 which fed over 400 a day and in 1932, with aid from the City Commission, opened a dormitory that housed 100 homeless men.
In 1931, the Kalamazoo City Commission funded a permanent employment bureau. In 1932, the Commission authorized the sale of $300,000 in bonds to provide relief aid including clothes and food for destitute workers and their families.
Private charity also was important in relief efforts. Dr. W. E. Upjohn purchased 1,700 acres along Gull Road in 1931 to provide farm work for the unemployed. He later donated the land to a trust which became the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. The Welfare Federation and Red Cross raised and distributed over $250,000 in aid during 1932 and 1933.
The Depression lasted for most of a decade in Kalamazoo. More than 70 years have passed, but the physical evidence lingers in the region’s landscape.