Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives (1890)

'How the Other Half Lives'.

Thetitle ‘How the Other Half Lives’, really sets the tone of the serious nature Jacob Riis’ documentation and photographs. It emphasises the huge proportion of those who were living below the poverty line or were facing difficult circumstances. Whilst this picture only reveals immigrant males living in poor conditions, many of the other accounts show children living in the streets, and those working in extensive labour.

In context, Jacob Riis was a Dutch-American who migrated to the United States in 1870.[1] During his time as a police reporter, he witnessed the living conditions that many immigrants lived in, such as the slums of New York City and Manhattan. His published book ‘How the Other Half Lives’ sought to expose the poverty and poor living conditions that were effecting so many immigrants in America.

It calls to question the fundamental American values of prosperity and opportunity. For these individuals presented in the photograph, their circumstances can contradict the believed sense of endless opportunity that attracted most immigrants to America. From what we can see in the photograph, it appears that the men are living in a windowless, unfurnished, and poorly lit room. The way that Riis has captured the setting, makes the viewer question if the conditions were acceptable for people to live in. Today, we would see this as more of a basement or cellar, not somewhere for people to necessarily pay to live.
In addition, the nature of the photograph being cramped and housing at least six men can link to the wider context of mass immigration. New York was one of the biggest receivers of immigrants during the several waves that occurred in American history. The fact that these men had to live together can suggest that either the financial position of immigrants was more challenging, or that the big cities such as New York were quickly becoming overcrowded.

On a personal level, the absence of photographs or any family connections gives a sense of displacement amongst the men. The men are confined together in a room, instead of being part of the ‘melting pot’ or ‘mosaic’ ideology of the United States. From what we can see, they are not integrating into society.

Furthermore, as immigrant males, they may have moved for the employment opportunities available in America. However, this photo highlights the reality for many that they were not on route to achieving the American dream. It may also indicate the attitudes towards these immigrants, as they are living in such bad conditions, it could suggest that there was not an overwhelming support available to them at the time.

Overall, what was significant about Riis was the impact his writing had on attracting publicity and calling for social reform. His works brought attention to the big underlying socio-economic issues within American society. From both his detailed documentations and visitations to the ghettos with President Theodore Roosevelt, Riis helped to establish a platform that would help the immigrants. For instance, he helped influence the Tenement House Commission in 1884 and 1894, which voiced the poor conditions of Tenement buildings.[2] It meant that there were possibilities for bills to be passed to help improve these conditions, such as the bill introduced on 2^nd June 1884. It emphasised better conditions and set in place a series of improvements, such as sanitary inspections, the closing of all privy vaults, and an overall mass investigation into tenement housing.[3] He was vital in informing the public and initiating change.

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[1] http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/riis.html

[2] https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/jacob-riis?all/all/all/all/0

[3] https://archive.org/stream/tenementhouseref00veilrich/tenementhouseref00veilrich_djvu.txt