Poormaster
Template:Short description Poormaster is the name of a now obsolete job position similar to that of paymaster. Most of the states in the early United States had their own poormaster.
The duties of a poormaster were to validate those who applied for relief and issue funds.[1] The job was often a political sinecure before the 1930s. However the job was not without its risks. Those rejected often held grudges, and poormasters were sometimes guarded by police officers during the Great Depression.[2]
Harry L Barck was one such. He held the position of Poormaster for the city of Hoboken, New Jersey. He was killed by Joseph Scutellaro, a frustrated applicant, on February 15, 1938.[3] Scutellaro, who killed Barck with a spindle, received two years in prison.[4]
The occupation ceased to exist after the 1940s, with the advent of social assistance.
References
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Works
- Historian Holly Metz has received a grant to write a book on Barck [1], to be titled Killing the Poormaster.[2]
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- Killing the poormaster : a saga of poverty, corruption, and murder in the Great Depression (book) https://lccn.loc.gov/2012021790