Jacob Riis How The Other Half Lives Summary

Towards the end of the 19th century, reformers used many different tactics to encourage the public to advocate for social reforms. Jacob Riis used photographs of New York City’s slum tenements and its inhabitants to shock people with the truth. His book, How the Other Half Lives, provides a clear picture of the dangers that tenement life poses to middle-class values. Because all life is a product of its environment, Riis used pictures to encourage members of the middle class to see the poor’s struggles before it became a problem that undermined society’s ability to function. His approach had on tenement reform and the struggles of life in the tenement houses were detrimental to changing the poor’s way of life Jacob Riis, used a first-person perspective to explore the living conditions of that era. Riis was an immigrant, a photojournalist, a police reporter, and more importantly a social reformer He paints a very clear un-shielded

experience of New York City’s lower class at the end of the 19th century.
With the growing level of immigrants coming to America to start building a new life for themselves many immigrants start from the bottom and try to work their way to the top but for many they stayed trapped at the bottom. Most ethnic groups stuck together in neighborhoods like it was a territory for them. Most worked very paying jobs and lived in poverty. Most lived in overcrowded housing tenements because of the low rent cost. In 1869 to 1890 tenement housing grew to over 37,000 tenements being used. Houses and city blocks were transformed into overcrowded living quarters. The cost of these living conditions was equal to the quality of them. One could compare them to the accommodations of coal mines, there were no safety standards early on and they had a lack of ventilation and light. But it was the fastest way to make the most money.

The death rate in the city grew to one-in-twenty-seven people in 1855 mostly due to the living conditions and neglect on the owners’ part.

Most of the diseases spread fast within the tenement walls due to the close proximities. Usually the diseased tenants did not live long, and spread plague throughout other city blocks. This led to a citizen movement that resulted in the organization of the Board of Health. The Health Department educated the people more than giving them help. Eventually they ordered tenements to be ventilated with air shafts and ordered windows to be installed. Over time it led to the decline and extinction of the "dark room".
The Health Department made more propositions that included getting rid of rear tenement-housing. A more successful idea was tenement housing with ten or more families was assigned a housekeeper. With the attention of the public lacking, a good start to making a difference was neighborhood guilds and philanthropists who invested their time in few tenement buildings to make it more

livable.

But for many of the poor, trying to change their situation the normal gender roles would take on a new look. In other words, this image usually affiliated with women’s role should remain in domestic in nature. All the while men’s role is to support and provide for the family. Women who would traditionally cooking and cleaning, would take on jobs such as making clothing and working from home to help earn extra income. Husbands that would traditionally work and relax at home would manufacture clothing, roll cigars or anything that will help generate revenue. Children who would normally attend school or play would give up their time to work in order to help support their family. Essentially the gendered roles become indistinguishable between father, mother, and children. Furthermore if the mothers work all day for money, supervision of the family declines and contributes to juvenile delinquency and crimes such as pick pocketing.