Jacob Riis and Jane Addams: City Reformers

Jacob Riis spent his life documenting the lives of the poor and down-trodden in the cities. His work as a photographer helped to illustrate the need for change in the slums and tenements of the cities.

Bandits' Roost, c. 1890Jacob A. Riis Hand-colored glass lantern slide

Baxter Street in Mulberry Bend, "At 59 Baxter Street... is an alley leading in from the sidewalk with tenements on either side crowding so close as to almost shut out the light of day. On one side they are brick and on the other wood, but there is little difference in their ricketiness and squalor." New York Sun, February 12, 1888

Bohemian Cigar Makers at Work in Their Tenement "In the front room man and wife work at the bench from six in the morning till nine at night. They make a team, stripping the tobacco leaves together; then he makes the filler, and she rolls the wrapper on and finishes the cigar. For a thousand they receive $3.75, and can turn out together three thousand cigars a week."

Five Cents A Spot "The doors are opened unwillingly enough.... It was photographed by flashlight.... In a room not thirteen feet either way slept twelve men and women.... The 'apartment' was one of three in two adjoining buildings we had found... similarly crowded. Most of the men were lodgers, who slept there for five cents a spot."

Italian Mother and Her Baby in Jersey Street "Come with me...when those stony streets are like fiery furnaces, and see those mothers walking up and down the pavements with their little babes...and hear the feeble wails of those little ones!...Here is one of them, an Italian baby in its swaddling clothes. You have seen how they wrap them around and around until you can almost stand them on either end, and they won't bend, so tightly are they bound."

Necktie Workshop in a Division Street Tenement, "...The bulk of the sweater's work is done in the tenements, which the law that regulates factory labor does not reach....Ten hours is the legal work-day in the factories, and nine o'clock the closing hour at the latest. Forty-five minutes at least must be allowed for dinner, and children under sixteen must not be employed unless they can read and write English; none at all under fourteen....But the tenement has defeated its benevolent purpose. In it the child works unchallenged from the day he is old enough to pull a thread."

Shoemaker Working in House in yard of 219 Broome Street "This shoemaker, knows a trick...He has his 'flat' as well as his shop here. A curtain hung back of his stool in the narrow passage half-conceals his bed that fills it entirely from wall to wall.

A "Slide" in Hamilton Street "A dozen years ago [l890], I gave a stockbroker a good blowing up for hammering his cellar door full of envious nails to prevent the children using it as a slide. It was all the playground they had."

Jane Addams too saw the plight of the immigrants. She worked diligently to make changes in the city of Chicago. She established Hull House, a settlement house, in order to improve the lives of the immigrant population.

SOME HULL-HOUSE FIRSTS First Social Settlement in Chicago First Social Settlement with men and women residents Established first public baths in Chicago Established first public playground in Chicago Established first gymnasium for the public in Chicago Established first little theater in the United States Established first citizenship preparation classes Established first public kitchen in Chicago Established first college extension courses in Chicago Established first group work school

Established first painting loan program in Chicago Established first free art exhibits in Chicago Established first fresh air school in Chicago Established first public swimming pool in Chicago Established first boy scout troop in Chicago

Investigations that led to creation and enactment of first factory laws in Illinois Investigations that led to creation of the first model tenement code First Illinois Factory Inspector, a Hull-House resident, Florence Kelley First probation officer in Chicago, a Hull-House resident, Alzina Stevens Labor unions organized at Hull-House: Women Shirt Makers Women Cloak Makers Dorcas Federal Labor Union Chicago Woman's Trade Union League

Janes funeral at Hull House.The streets are crowded with people who admired her and who were helped by her.

The Hull House as a museum today.

Jacob Riis- photographer who exposed How the Other Half Lives (rich vs poor) Jane Addams- philanthropist that helped poor people to gain a skill to be successful by living in her Hull House in Chicago. (Providing opportunities for the underprivileged)