Jacob A. Riis: How the Other Half Lives

First published in 1890, Jacob Riis’s remarkable study of the horrendous living conditions of the poor in New York City had an immediate and extraordinary impact on society, inspiring reforms that affected the lives of millions of people.

Explore our new exhibit, ‘Jacob Riis: How the Other Half Lives’.

Jacob August Riis (1849–1914) was a journalist and social reformer in late 19th and early 20th century New York. He steadily publicized the crises in poverty, housing and education at the height of European immigration, when the Lower East Side became the most densely populated place on Earth. From his job as a police reporter working for the local newspapers, he developed a deep, intimate knowledge of Manhattan’s slums where Italians, Czechs, Germans, Irish, Chinese and other ethnic groups were crammed in side by side.

https://ncsml.org/exhibit/jacob-a-riis-how-the-other-half-lives/