| Shantytown, USA: Forgotten Landscapes of the Working Poor Subjects: Squatter settlements -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Squatter settlements -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Slums -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Slums -- United States -- History -- 20th century; The word "shantytown" conjures images of crowded slums in developing nations. Though their history is largely forgotten, shantytowns were a prominent feature of one developing nation in particular: the United States. Lisa Goff restores shantytowns to the central place they once occupied in America's urban landscape, showing how the basic but resourcefully constructed dwellings of America's working poor were not merely the byproducts of economic hardship but potent assertions of self-reliance. Goff Lisa : Lisa Goff is a member of the Department of English at the University of Virginia. |