Museum of the City of New York

“Knee-pants" at forty five cents a dozen -- A Ludlow Street Sweater's Shop, Jacob Riis, ca 1889. From the collection of Museum of the City of New York, 90.13.1.151.

Introduction: Jacob Riis and His Work

Women's Lodging Room in W. 30th Street Station

Jacob Riis’s “Magic Lantern” Lecture

By the turn of the 19th century, New York City’s Lower East Side neighborhood was the most densely populated place in the world. The neighborhood had a higher mortality rate than the rest of the city. Many reformers, like Jacob Riis, advocated for the creation of parks and playgrounds that would provide children with more places to exercise and access fresh air. They used photography to provide powerful visual evidence of the need for open, recreational spaces to combat the spread of disease.

Playgrounds and Parks in the City

“‘I scrubs.’ Little Katie from the W. 52nd Street Industrial School,” Jacob Riis, ca 1890. From the collection of Museum of the City of New York, 90.13.1.132

Little Katie

Jacob Riis used a different technique for each of these three photographs he took to show the plight of individuals in neighborhoods like the Lower East Side in the late 19th century. As you examine the images and read about his process, consider how his portrayals evolved and debate the ethics of Riis’s approach to depicting working-class New Yorkers.

From Candids to Portraits

Jacob Riis took advantage of a new technology - flash powder - to capture images that had previously been impossible to photograph: the city by night and dark interior scenes.

Images and Technology in Jacob Riis's Era

For immigrants in turn-of-the-century New York, labor frequently blurred the line between work and home, at times involving whole families. Examine this image and the text below to consider how different reformers envisioned solutions to the labor problems of the day.

Immigration and Labor at the Turn of the 20th Century

Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a pioneering newspaper reporter, author, and social reformer in New York City in the late 19th century. His then-novel idea of using photographs to illustrate his writing about urban poverty created a rich historical record that was rediscovered in the 1940s and has since established Riis as a forerunner of modern photojournalism. The Museum of the City of New York holds the collection of NYC images that Riis used in his career. See more at https://collections.mcny.org

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half

Introduction: Jacob Riis and His Work

ACTIVITY 1

From Candids to Portraits

ACTIVITY 2

Little Katie

ACTIVITY 3

Jacob Riis’s “Magic Lantern” Lecture

ACTIVITY 4

Playgrounds and Parks in the City

ACTIVITY 5

Immigration and Labor at the Turn of the 20th Century

ACTIVITY 6

Images and Technology in Jacob Riis's Era

ACTIVITY 7