Jacob Riis
![]() |
Jacob August Riis (May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish American journalist, photographer and reformer best known for How the Other Half Lives. Born
the third of 15 children in Ribe, Denmark, he apprenticed as a
carpenter and immigrated to the United States in 1870. He worked off and
on as a carpenter in New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and western New
York State, and began to write. During this time he was frequently
homeless and experienced poverty first hand. He returned to New York
City and worked as a flatiron salesman before becoming editor of the
weekly News and then police reporter for the New York Tribune,
where he covered stories in the most impoverished and crime-ridden
areas of the city. He was one of the first to use flash photography as
means of vividly capturing the squalor of the slums, and developed a
photographic archive consisting of pictures taken by him and his team
along with those of other amateurs and professionals. He gave lectures
illustrated with slides that greatly increased the awareness of his
subject and led to connections that, in turn, led to How the Other Half Lives,
which sold well and made his reputation. In 1891 he exposed
contamination in the New York City water supply, which led to
life-saving improvements. He also worked with Theodore Roosevelt in 1895
in his efforts to reform the police in New York; later, President
Roosevelt wrote a tribute that cited him as “the most useful citizen of
New York”. |
How the Other Half Lives
How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York by Jacob Riis was a ground-breakin..
$9.99