In 1933 and 1934, Thomas Minehan, a young sociologist at the University
of Minnesota, joined the ranks of a roving army of 250,000 boys and
girls torn from their homes during the Great Depression. Disguised in
old clothes, he hopped freight trains crisscrossing six midwestern
states. While undercover, Minehan associated on terms of social equality
with several thousand transients, collecting five hundred life histories
of the young migrants. The result was a vivid and intimate portrayal of
a harrowing existence, one in which young people suffered some of the
deadliest blows of the economic disaster.
Boy and Girl Tramps of America reveals the poignant experiences of
American youth who were sent out on the road by grinding poverty,
shattered family relationships, and financially strapped schools that
locked their doors. For these young people, danger was a constant
companion that could turn deadly in an instant. The book documents the
hunger and hardships these youth faced, capturing an appalling spectacle
and social problem in America's history before any effort was made to
meet the problem on a nationwide basis by the federal government.
Boy and Girl Tramps of America is a work unique in its ability to
extend beyond statistical analyses to uncover the opinions, ideas, and
attitudes of the boxcar boys and girls. Originally published in 1934, it
remains highly relevant to the turbulent moments of the twenty-first
century. This reprint features an introduction by scholar Susan Honeyman
that puts the work into our current context.
