Jacob a Riis

Reproduction of the original: The Battle with the Slum by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: Children of the Tenements by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: Out of Mulberry Street by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: Out of Mulberry Street by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: The Battle with the Slum by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: A Ten Years War by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: Neighbors by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: The Children of the Poor by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: The Children of the Poor by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: Children of the Tenements by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: Hero Tales of the Far North by Jacob A. Riis

Reproduction of the original: Hero Tales of the Far North by Jacob A. Riis

Riis's rarely available account of the ten year battle to eradicate New York's Slums was first published in 1900. "The battle with the slum began the day civilization recognized in it her enemy. It was a losing fight until conscience joined forces with fear and self-interest against it."

A classic early example of "muck-racking" journalism, or reporting by reform-minded American journalists who attacked established institutions and leaders as corrupt, "How the Other Half Lives" is a chronicle of the conditions of abject poverty that the residents of the slums of New York endured at the end of the 19th century. Danish immigrant Jacob A. Riis saw first-hand the horrible conditions of the Lower East Side of Manhattan following his immigration to the United States. A poor itinerant carpenter by trade, Riis would first begin documenting the filthy disease-ridden tenements of New York while working as a police reporter for the "New York Tribune." "How the Other Half Lives" would first be published as an eighteen page article in the Christmas 1889 edition of "Scribner's Magazine." In the following year it would be expanded into a book of the same name. This book would shed a light on the housing conditions of the working-class and help to bring about much needed reforms. Presented here is a reproduction of that original 1890 edition with the numerous illustrations included in that volume. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Children of the Tenements By Jacob A. Riis

The Making of an American By Jacob A. Riis

The Battle with the Slum By Jacob A. Riis