From the mid-19th century through the dust bowl years of the Great Depression, a new kind of migrant worker became a familiar sight in communities across America.
“The Hobo” traces the journeys of these homeless men and women, showing how hobo work was an adaptation to energy transitions and a harsh and unpredictable climate, and how the hobo played a central role in the histories of industrialization and westward expansion.
Challenging common depictions of the hobo as a world-weary, bearded man in ragged clothes, Robert Suits reveals how these wandering laborers were often fastidious and heartbreakingly young.
Forever on the move due to economic hardship and climate disaster, they chased harvests and took seasonal jobs in industries like logging and mining. Too often they couldn’t find employment at all.
