How the Other Half Lives was influential in alerting Americans to the problems of the cities. It helped inspire campaigns for better housing codes, improved education, put an end to child labor, and other social improvements. Riis gained prominence and published other works advocating reforms.
What was the purpose of how the other half lives?
How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. It served as a basis for future "muckraking" journalism by exposing the slums to New York City's upper and middle classes.
How the other half lives by Riis summary?
How the Other Half Lives was only one book in Riis' bibliography of highlighting the conditions in the slums of New York. Some of his other works that highlighted more in depth views into slum life were Children of the Tenements, The Battle with the Slums, and Out of Mulberry Street.
What happened to the slums in how the other half lives?
A map of the area Jacob Riis surveyed while collecting material for How the Other Half Lives. In the years after the Civil War, many of the former residents of the most notorious slums were wealthy enough to move out of these conditions, or had died in the war.
When was the other half lives published?
In February 1889, Riis wrote a magazine article based on his lectures in Scribner magazine, which was a resounding success. The book version of Riis' work was published in January 1890 as How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York.
Why was How the Other Half Lives so important?
How the Other Half Lives was a pioneering work of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting the squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. It served as a basis for future muckraking journalism by exposing the slums to New York City's upper and middle class.
How the Other Half Lives impact on progressivism?
How the Other Half Lives made a big impact. For the first time, readers saw photos of New York City's neediest people and poorest areas. With his book, Riis helped launch the Progressive Era. Progressives, like Riis, hoped to solve social and economic problems.
What was the impact of Riis work on reform movements?
Riis helped raise support for small public parks and thought that every public school should have a playground. He believed in the right of boys and girls to play as part of healthy early child development, and as an outlet for energies that could instead be turned to lives of vice or crime.
How the Other Half Lives definition US history?
How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s.
How did Jacob Riis change the world?
Jacob A. Riis (1849–1914) was a journalist and social reformer who publicized the crises in housing, education, and poverty at the height of European immigration to New York City in the late nineteenth century.
How did muckrakers influence American society?
Influential muckrakers created public awareness of corruption, social injustices and abuses of power. Muckrakers' sensational accounts resulted in public outcry and served as a catalyst for Progressive Era social, economic and political reforms.
What were the results of Riis work?
His book, How the Other Half Lives (1890), stimulated the first significant New York legislation to curb poor conditions in tenement housing. It was also an important predecessor to muckraking journalism, which took shape in the United States after 1900.
What did Jacob Riis achieve with his best selling How the Other Half Lives 1890 )?
What did Jacob Riis achieve with his best-selling How the Other Half Lives (1890)? He forced middle-class Americans to acknowledge the degraded reality of the poor.
How did reformers expose the living conditions to the public?
Through settlement houses and other urban social work, reformers aided workers and their families and entreated employers to eliminate dangerous working conditions and other abuses. Muckraking journalists and others gave nation‑wide publicity to accidents and unsafe conditions.
How the Other Half Lives industrial revolution?
Jacob Riis was a muckraker before the term was used to describe journalists in America. His photo-journalistic effort, How the Other Half Lives, exposed the general public to the tenement housing that served as home to thousands of working class families in New York.
Why do you think Jacob Riis titled his collection of images How the Other Half Lives?
Predict: Why do you think Jacob Riis titled his collection of images How the Other Half Lives? I believe Jacob Riis' titled his collection of images because through this images people in the middle or high class could see what this people live through.
What did Jacob Riis advocate for?
Through his 1892 book, The Battle with the Slum, Riis highlighted the issue of poor sewage and water sanitation, that contributed to diseases such as typhoid. His maxim was: "It is squalid houses that makes squalid people".
What were the results of Riis work?
His book, How the Other Half Lives (1890), stimulated the first significant New York legislation to curb poor conditions in tenement housing. It was also an important predecessor to muckraking journalism, which took shape in the United States after 1900.
Which three conditions did the Progressive movement work to improve?
The Progressive movement was a turn-of-the-century political movement interested in furthering social and political reform, curbing political corruption caused by political machines, and limiting the political influence of large corporations.
What was a main objective of the Progressive movement?
The main objectives of the Progressive movement were addressing problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption. Social reformers were primarily middle-class citizens who targeted political machines and their bosses.
How the Other Half Lives industrial revolution?
Jacob Riis was a muckraker before the term was used to describe journalists in America. His photo-journalistic effort, How the Other Half Lives, exposed the general public to the tenement housing that served as home to thousands of working class families in New York.
About the Author
Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a journalist and photographer born in Denmark. Luc Sante teaches writing and the history of photography at Bard College. His books include Low Life, Evidence, and The Factory of Facts .
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This is a tour de force of bad housing,wicked landlords who treat tenants with disgust, charge black people more, although the best tenants and housing that generates diseases of the worst kind.
Who Was Jacob Riis?
Jacob Riis immigrated to the United States in 1870. After a series of odd jobs, he became a police reporter, a job he enhanced with his natural photographic skills. Led by his interest in New York City’s tenement life and the harsh conditions people living there endured, he used his camera as a tool to bring about change.
Early Years
Jacob August Riis was born on May 3, 1849, in Ribe, Denmark, and immigrated to the United States in 1870 on a steamship. All he carried with him was $40 and a locket containing a hair from a girl he loved.
Photographs
Riis was moved by what he saw in the neighborhood, and he taught himself basic photography and started taking a camera with him when he hit the streets at night.
Impact on Society
How the Other Half Lives was an instant success and had an immediate impact.
How does the other half live?
Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Lives In How the Other Half Lives, the author Jacob Riis sheds light on the darker side of tenant housing and urban dwellers. He goes to several different parts of the city of New York witnessing first hand the hardships that many immigrants faced when coming to America. His journalism and photographs of the conditions of the tenant housing helped led the way of reformation in the slums of New York. His research opened the eyes of many Americans to the darker
Does Wordsworth see when he sees into the life of things?
does Wordsworth see when he 'sees into the life of things?'; Remember that in the lines leading up to his portrayal of the 'blessed mood'; that gives him sight, Wordsworth has been pointing to the power of human memory and reflection. And the importance of memory and reflection are made plain by the shifting time perspectives in the poem. The poem begins with the speaker on the banks of the Wye for the first time in five years. At first the poet emphasizes the way in which his present experience is
What was Jacob Riis's main concern?
Jacob Riis was very concerned with the treatment that immigrants received when they came to America. He did a lot of research and reporting of the conditions that immigrants faced such as work issues and living conditions. He wanted to improve the living conditions that these individuals had and address working issues.
Why did Jacob Riis refuse to work for the poor?
He refused so that he could continue his work as an ambassador to the poor. He did this by reporting and writing books to keep people informed. Jacob Riis was himself an immigrant and faced some of these tough issues. This is why he was so passionate about his cause. All of this is why he had a social impact on America.
Overview
How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. The photographs served as a basis for future "muckraking" journalism by exposing the slums to New York City's upper and middle classes. They inspired many reforms of working-class …
Background
In the 1880s many people in upper- and middle-class society were unaware of the dangerous conditions in the slums among poor immigrants. After the Civil War, the country transformed into an industrial superpower and became largely urban. Also, a wave of unskilled southern European, eastern European, Asian, and Jewish immigrants came to settle in the "promised land" of the United Stat…
Jacob Riis
Jacob Riis emigrated from Denmark in 1870 to New York City, eager to prove himself. Finding it difficult to find work, he found a home in the slums of New York's Lower East Side. He went back to Denmark for a short period of time, returning to New York to become a police reporter. During this time, Riis became a devout Christian and devoted himself to "the service of God and his …
Summary
In January 1888, Riis bought a detective camera and went on an expedition to gather images of what life was like in the slums of New York City. This both included Riis’ taking his own photos as well as his using the images of other photographers. Finally, on January 28, 1888, Riis presented "The Other Half: How It Lives and Dies in New York" using his images on a projection screen and taking the viewer on a journey by describing the images. Throughout 1888, Riis continued his le…
Critical reception
The article proved to be popular, and Riis spent the better part of a year expanding it into the book published by Scribner's Books in 1890. It offered more illustrations and halftones than the magazine articles could offer.
The book was successful. Soon after its publication, The New York Times lauded its content, calling it a "powerful book". The praise for How the Other H…
Notes
1. ^ Riis, 2011. p.9
2. ^ Riis, 2011. p.15
3. ^ Riis, 2011. p.17
4. ^ Anbinder, p.343
5. ^ Anbinder, p.346
External links
• How the Other Half Lives Complete text and photos online
• How the Other Half Lives at Project Guternberg
• How the Other Half Lives public domain audiobook at LibriVox
• How the Other Half Lives Portfolio at NYU