EOTO 1: Jacob Riis

Jacob Riis 

Jacob Riis, as many of you knew as an American reporter, is also one of New York's most  popular social reformers and photographers. Riis is one of many muckraker journalists who brought attention to the economic and social hardships in New York during the the late 19th century. 

In the late 1800s the Lower East Side was probably one of the most populated places on earth. Blocks after blocks were tenements filled with poor and hard-working immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Germany, China, Czech  Republic, etc. Riss, who was also an immigrant from Denmark, photographed these tenements filled with immigrants and its conditions. Not only did Riis photograph the hardships of immigrant life but he experienced it first hand as well. When Riis moved to America he began working as a carpenter, however during the financial panic in 1873 he became unemployed. 

Working as a police reporter for newspapers, including The Evening Sun, he had seen a different view of the poverty and crime that resided in the Lower East Side. One of Riis’ most popular photos was taken in a tenement on Bayard Street. This photograph is called “5 Cents a Spot,”. 

Over-Populated 

To get a better look at how over populated these tenements were: By 1900, there were more than 80,000 tenements located in New York City alone. These tenements were filled with immigrants that were fleeting home for reasons such as the the Irish Potato Famine or the revolution in Germany. It was recorded that an estimate of 2.3 million people were living in these tenements, which was two-thirds of the city’s population. 

Conditions 

Since the tenements were next to each other in a row, it restricted the light and air that would enter the buildings. A court decision during that time decided that it was not a legal right to be provided a window or breathing space.  

“How the Other Half Lives”

Riis eventually published a book named “How the Other Half Lives” in 1890, to expose the slum conditions of  New York City to the public. Riis included his photographs in his book to reach the conscience of native born Americans. 

Today Mulberry Street, which is where Riis campaigned against housing conditions, is gentrified however you can still see the small building lots. 

In the beginning of Riis’ career he was more focused on his photography and his use of flash lamps. Riis began photographing the interior and exterior parts of the New York slums to bring attention to these matters. 

A museum in the Lower East Side, located on 97 Orchard Street, is a glimpse into the past and what the old tenements were like. This now museum was a home of some 7,000 working class immigrants.