Hundreds Of Hobos Convened In Cincinnati, Defying Orders From The ‘Boy Mayor’

The Panic of 1910-11 was a minor blip compared to many other recessions and depressions in United States history. The economic damage that year was largely confined to stock portfolios. Unemployment remained almost steady. Still, there were a lot of people out of work and, as the Panic eased in 1912, hundreds of those unemployed men descended on Cincinnati, seeking jobs and better working conditions.Because they were unemployed and traveling to look for work, they were called hobos. They called their gathering a Hobo Convention. Cincinnati Mayor Henry Thomas Hunt, known, at age 33, as the “Boy Mayor” wanted the hobos out of his city. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer [31 Jan 1912]:“’What’s this? A hobo convention! Not if I know it!’ Mayor Hunt told Police Chief William H. Jackson. ‘Chief, you will see to it that these people do not meet in this city. If any of the delegates arrive for this affair, you will see that they are given proper transportation to the workhouse, where they…

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