Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources
Attendance Figures for Community Work, Club Work, and Summer Work. Legacy - Jacob
Riis: Revealing "How the Other Half Lives," Library of Congress, 1922.

This digital image was a photograph of details concerning the Jacob Riis Settlement
House. While the Settlement House remains to this day, this image of an original
list pertaining to the Settlement House in its first years displays what the House
provided to the community at the time. From this, we were able to discern the
influences Riis had on the House and what he wished for it to do, therefore
displaying his intentions as a social reformer.

Dampfaergen Odin. Danish Immigration, Museum of Danish America, Museum of Danish

America.

This photograph of a steamship from the 19th century from the Museum of Danish
America helped us understand the travel that Riis experienced during his
immigration to the U.S., as he was a young immigrant from Denmark at the time.

Hon. Jacob Riis at Opera House Saturday Night. Fergus County Democrat, 22 Oct. 1907, pp.
5. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Accessed 15 May 2017.

This source was a newspaper ad from the Montana county newspaper, Fergus
County Democrat, that advertised one of Riiss lantern-slide lectures held later in
his career. We were able to access this document through the Chronicling America
database, a collection of American newspapers. By looking at this primary
document, we were able to better understand the nationwide influence that Riis held
even beyond New York City, and learned more about his later work after his
writing. We were also able to directly include this document into our website for
reader viewing of a primary source.

Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement. Legacy - Jacob Riis: Revealing "How the Other Half
Lives, Library of Congress, 1918.

This photograph displays the Jacob Riis Settlement House in its first years. From
the Library of Congress, the photograph is necessary as a visual to show us the
Settlement House that Jacob Riis had founded. We used this photograph as part of
our websites legacy page to convey one of the more physical and permanent
influences he had on America.
Jacob Riis. Jacob Riis, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., 1 Apr. 1904. Accessed 22 Jan.
2017.

This photograph of Riis from the Library of Congress was used on our website to
help our viewers see Riis, more personally. This image provided a visual
component for us and our viewers to connect a face to our words.

Jacob Riis and Theodore Roosevelt. ca. 1900. Jacob Riis Biography - Gateway National
Recreation Area. Web. 14 May 2017.

Depicting Riis and Roosevelt together, this photograph from the National Park
Service emphasized the friendship that the two men shared. Used in a brief section
about their relationship, this photograph helps communicate the extent to which
Riis and Roosevelt connected over their beliefs and intentions on making the United
States a better nation. From this, we can assume that Riis and Roosevelt were
mutually influential over each others lives, beliefs, and possibly even success.

Keppler, Joseph. The Dead, the Dying, and the Crippled in the Crdit Mobilier Ward of the
Union Pacific Hospital.

This political cartoon by Keppler Joseph highlighted the economic suffering caused
by the Crdit Mobilier scandal. On a larger scale, this helped us to understand the
strife caused by political corruption during the Gilded Age as one of the issues that
Riiss opposed as well as add a visual component representing the political
corruption of the time with a cartoon of the era.

Liberty Enlightening the World. Education Updates, The U.S. National Archives, 2015.

From the U.S. National Archives, this old photograph of the Statue of Liberty
helped us to see what Jacob Riis saw upon his arrival in America; as an immigrant
with hopes and aspirations towards the American Dream, the photograph has a large
impact on our perception of Riis and his connection to the country.
Melhado, Paul Anthony. Jacob Riis Park. 2000. Museum of the City of New York, New York
City. Museum of the City of New York - Jacob Riis Park. Web. 14 May 2017.

Taken by a professional photographer, this photograph depicts the Jacob Riis Park
in 2000. As a more recent photograph of the park that was named after Jacob Riis, it
displays how his namesake still stands--after a century--as a testament to his impact
and legacy.

Morgan, Matthew Somerville. The Tompkins Square Riot. History Matters, American Social
History Project.

This drawing of the Tompkins Square Riot by newspaper artist Matthew Morgan
revealed an example of the growing tensions between the working and upper class
during the Gilded Age. This source helped us to establish historical context
surrounding Riis both in our research and on our website.

Nast, Thomas. Tweed-Le-Dee and Tilden-Dum. Library of Congress. Library of Congress,

Washington, D.C., 1 July 1876.

This image of one of Thomas Nasts famous political cartoons that combatted
political machines and corruption assisted us in explaining the political corruption
that Riis combatted through his work. The inclusion of the work of one of Riiss
contemporaries allowed us to examine Riis in the context of other Progressive Era
reformers.

Photo of Jacob Riis. N.d. About Jacob Riis: Richmond Hill Historical Society. Web. 14 May
2017.

From the Richmond Hill Historical Society, this photograph portrays Jacob Riis
during his years as a reformer. By using this photo within our Legacy page under
the section outlining his legacy, the words became more personal and intimate. A
large part of our website is creating an emotional impact on our viewers, and using
this image in conjunction with our conclusion effectively connects his face to our
words (something that Riis strove to do with his writing and photography).
Police Station Lodgers. Police Station Lodgers. NYTimes.com, The New York Times, 14 Mar.
1865.

The New York Times is one of the United States most relied upon and widespread
newspapers. Written in 1865, this primary source details the police stations and
their lodgers that Riis had witnessed with a validity that can only be obtained by
experience. This article was important to our project as it helped us understand the
police station lodgers and the magnitude of the problem at hand.

Riis, Jacob. A Ten Years' War: an Account of the Battle with the Slum in New York.
Archive.org, 1 Dec. 2009. Accessed 21 Jan. 2017.

This online archive includes an entire digital scan of Riiss work, A Ten Years
War. We used this online scan to read through Riiss content, and took advantage of
its digitized form to include scans of the books cover and pages in our website.

Riis, Jacob. A Ten Years' War: an Account of the Battle with the Slum in New York. Boston, MA,
Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1900.

Another book by Jacob Riis, A Ten Years War focuses on Riiss stance that the
poor were creatures of the environment versus the belief of critics that they were
incapable of reform because they were unfit. Reading Riiss book gave us his
perspective on the issue and strengthened our understanding of his unique Stand in
History for the viability of reform in the Progressive era.

Riis, Jacob. Children of the Tenements. New York City, NY, Macmillan Company, 1903.

Children were one of Riiss biggest concerns and focuses. Through his portrayals
and photographs of the children, this book by Jacob Riis elaborated upon the
plights and lives of the citys youngest and most vulnerable, informing us about his
sympathising thoughts towards the children and the need for reform.
Riis, Jacob. Collection of Jacob Riiss Photographs ca. 1890. Museum of the City of New York,
Museum of the City of New York, New York City, 1994.

The Museum of the City of New York is a museum that features thousands of
photographs, prints, and paintings. This includes the complete collection of Jacob
Riiss photographs, especially those from his career as a social reformer. These
photos are original, unaltered products of Riiss life that depict not only what he
saw, but what all of America saw upon the release of his books--particularly How
the Other Half Lives. The collection was essential to our website not only to make
us aware of the magnitude of the conditions of the tenements, but also to enhance
the website experience.

Riis, Jacob. Collection of Jacob Riiss Photographs 1888-95. Jacob August Riis | MoMA, The
Museum of Modern Art, New York City, 1888-95.

The Museum of Modern Art is a renowned for its exhibitions, its website housing a
small digital collection of Jacob Riiss original photographs. This collection was
important to our project due to the starkness of reality the photos portray, allowing
us to understand the life of the poor and the places they frequented and lived in.

Riis, Jacob. Cover of How the Other Half Lives. How the Other Half Lives - Jacob A. Riis
Google Books, Google Books.

This digital image of the original cover of Riiss book How the Other Half Lives
from Google Books. The image was used in a section about How the Other Half
Lives and as a complement to a list of Riiss famous works. The image provided us
with a visual of Riiss most famous novel.

Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York City, NY, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1890.

Written by Jacob Riis and known as his most famous book, How the Other Half
Lives not only provides essential information about Riis and his ventures but allows
insight upon the lives he saw and changed. His commentaries and photographs are
resources that are of unquantifiable value to our project.
Riis, Jacob. Jacob Riis: Revealing How the Other Half Lives. Library of Congress, Library of
Congress, Washington, ca. 1890.

This exhibition from the Library of Congress includes many photographs and scans
of documents that surrounded Riis and his reform work, including his personal
lecture notes and some of his photographs. We examined these images during our
research for information and included some of them as a visual supplement to our
websites content.

Riis, Jacob. Photo of Theodore Roosevelt. About Jacob Riis: Richmond Hill Historical Society,
The Richmond Hill Historical Society.

From the Richmond Hill Historical Society, this is a photograph of Theodore

Roosevelt taken by Jacob Riis. Used in a section about Riis and Roosevelts
friendship, the photo was a helpful visual component in depicting Roosevelt (and,
indirectly, their friendship).

Riis, Jacob. The Battle with the Slum. New York City, NY, Macmillan Company, 1902.

Another one of Riiss famous books, The Battle with the Slum is a sequel to his The
Other Half Lives, further elaborating upon the depressing lives of the poor and
featuring real-life stories. The book added to our knowledge of the slums and need
for reform, helping us understand Riis and what he stood for.

Riis, Jacob. The Children of the Poor. Archive.org, 6 Sept. 2007.

This online archive includes an entire digital scan of Riiss work, The Children of
the Poor. We used this online scan to read through Riiss content, and took
advantage of its digitized form to include scans of the books cover and pages in our
website. This source also allowed us to directly include this document into our
website for reader viewing of a primary source.
Riis, Jacob. The Children of the Poor. New York City, NY, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1892.

The Children of the Poor elaborated upon the young lives that Riis found to be one
of his focuses in his reform career. Depicting children in the streets and sleeping in
ragged clothes, this novel was yet another form of Riiss argument that reform was
necessary. Therefore, this book was essential to our project because of the
commentary and photographs it provided, as well as how it allowed us to place
more of his reform work in context.

Riis, Jacob. The Making of an American. New York City, NY, The Macmillan Company, 1901.

As Jacob Riiss autobiography, The Making of an American was a staple primary

source. In reading it, we were able to become more familiar with Riis not as a
historical figure but as a human being; his thoughts, feelings, and emotions
throughout his life. In this book, Riis wrote of his beliefs and aspirations, both
reflective and informative.

Riis Portrait from Scrapbook. Library of Congress, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.,
1891. Accessed 12 Jan. 2017.

From the Library of Congress, this illustration of Jacob Riis displays Riis during his
younger years and was taken from Riiss scrapbook. As a drawing rather than a
photograph, this illustration provides a different interpretation of Riis.

Rockaway Beach Hotel. Rockaway Beach Archives - The Bowery Boys: New York City
History, The Bowery Boys.

From the Rockaway Beach Archives, this digitized image of the Seaside Park in
Rockaway, New York helped us visualize the general area that was named after
Riis.
Sumner, William Graham. What Social Classes Owe to Each Other. Caldwell, Caxton Press,
1983.

This book by William Graham Sumner highlights the view that opposes that of
Jacob Riis and other Progressive reformers: that the poor are incapable of salvation
and are innately evil. By examining this opposing view, we gained a better
understanding of Riiss unique stand against such opposition. We were also able to
directly include this document into our website for reader viewing of a primary
source.

The New York Sun Logo. The Once-Defunct New York Sun Is Slowly Rising: Nieman
Journalism Lab, Nieman Lab.

A digitized image of the New York Sun logo, the image provided us with a visual
component to the newspaper company that Riis had worked as a reporter for.

Twain, Mark, and Charles Dudley Warner. The Gilded Age, a Tale of Today. Project
Gutenberg, Project Gutenberg.

Twain and Warners The Gilded Age, a Tale of Today criticized the political and
economic landscape of the Gilded Age. This image of the cover of assisted us in
including a visual element to our explanation of the books criticisms of the era
when establishing historical context.

Vacation Days at Interstate Park, New York's Greatest Playground. The Sun, 15 Sept. 1918.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers,, Accessed 15 May 2017.

This source was a newspaper article from the New York newspaper, The Sun, that
detailed the Jacob A. Riis Settlement House only a couple of decades after it had
debuted under Riiss name in 1892. We were able to access this document through
the Chronicling America database and found it especially valuable because we were
able to see the perspective upon the settlement house from a journalist in the time
period. By investigating further into Riiss legacy through this primary document,
we were able to better understand the impact of his reforms. We were also able to
directly include this document into our website for reader viewing of a primary
source.
William Graham Sumner. Encyclopdia Britannica, Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., 26 Aug.
2009. Accessed 22 Jan. 2017.

This image of William Graham Sumner was used when we examined Riiss reform
work to represent an opposing view to poverty that widely held at the time and that
Riis opposed. Sumner and many others believed that the poor were innately inferior
and were beyond reform; when Riis, like the other reformers of the Progressive Era,
opposed this view, he strengthened his unique stand in history.
Secondary Sources
Bader, Miriam. Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives. Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives,
Khan Academy, 2015.

This article by Miriam Bader gives an overview of Riiss background and reform
work as a photographer as well as a description of the Progressive Era that his
efforts were a part of. Early in our research, we used this source to establish a
baseline knowledge of Riis and his work so that we could begin outlining our
website and searching for leads to follow about his stand in history.

Bergman, William. "The Other Half: The Life of Jacob Riis and the World of Immigrant
America." American History, vol. 43, no. 5, 2008, p. 68+. Academic OneFile.
Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.

This online excerpt from the history journal American History included valuable
information about how Riiss life as an immigrant pursuing the American Dream
would later impact his work as a social reformer. This information was used in our
website when describing Riiss background and analyzing its effects on his reforms.

Burns, Ric, and James Sanders. Sunshine and Shadow (1865-1898). New York: A
Documentary, PBS, 16 Nov. 1999.

This episode from New York: A Documentary by PBS features a section about Riis
and his reforms. Weve relied upon this source as an outside and formal view of
Riis and his influences on America, placing his work in the context of the Gilded
Age and the history of New York City.

Camera Animated GIF. GIPHY, GIPHY. Accessed 22 Jan. 2017.

We used this image as the banner for our gallery page in order to create a more
dynamic aesthetic in our projects conclusion. It was another form of multimedia
that we were able to integrate into our website.
Clark, Judith Freeman. America's Gilded Age: an Eyewitness History. New York, Facts on File,
1992.

This book by Judith Freeman Clark is a compilation of first-hand accounts of the

Gilded Age interspersed among historical commentary. Reading this book gave us a
look at other perspectives of the time and supplied us with valuable quotes to
include in our website to bring the voices of the Progressive Era to life.

Davis, Kay. Jacob Riis. Documenting "The Other Half": The Social Reform Photography of
Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine, University of Virginia, 2003.

This article by David Kay of the University of Virginias main value to us was an
analysis of Riiss stance of Nurture, Not Nature. This source quotes Riis and gave
insight about how critics of Riis and the reform movement believe the poor to be
inherently evil. By learning about his opposition, we were better able to understand
Riiss Stand in History as one for the viability of reform.

Exhibition on Jacob Riis, Pioneering Photographer, Journalist and Social Reformer, Opens
April 14. Exhibition on Jacob Riis, Pioneering Photographer, Journalist and
Social Reformer, Library of Congress, 3 Mar. 2016.

This article about a contemporary exhibition on Jaocb Riis opening in the Library of
Congress goes into detail about Riiss life as a reformer. This source was especially
important to our research in analyzing Riiss continuing legacy on modern life; as a
renowned reformer, the information about this modern exhibition allowed us to
infer his sustained significance to history.

Gilded Age. American Experience. The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie. Gilded
Age, PBS, 1999.

This source from PBS includes a timeline, gallery, and article about the Gilded Age.
It was especially important because it outlined the growing divide between the rich
and the poor and described two of the most infamous exploiters of the poor,
Andrew Carnegie and Boss Tweed. In our research, this source proved to be
useful because it established historical context and a new lens for us to analyze Riis
through. By understanding the evils of the Gilded Age, we were better able to
understand how Riis stood to fix them.
Hillstrom, Laurie Collier. Defining Moments: The Muckrakers and the Progressive Era. Detroit,
MI, Omnigraphics, Inc., 2010.

Laurie Hillstrom is an American author who writes about Americas history. In her
writings of the Progressive Era and the occurring corruption as well as reform
provided needed context for our project. It helped us understand the era that Jacob
Riis lived in and captured, while also detailing the problems he stood against.

Immigrant Life in New York: A Local Legacy. Immigrant Life in New York, Library of
Congress.

This article from the Library of Congress assisted us in better understanding the
hardships of the urban environment specific to immigrants. As a Danish immigrant,
Riis experienced first hand the conditions of the slums, giving him a unique
perspective later on during his reform work. This source gave us a better
understanding of his perspective that we would use when creating the early career
and reform work sections of our website.

Jacob Riis (1849-1914). Open Collections Program: Immigration to the US, Jacob Riis
(1849-1914), Harvard University Library Open Collections Program.

While this article from Harvard University was mainly used to establish baseline
knowledge of Riis and his reform work, it touched especially on Riis as a
muckraker and his belief that poverty could be reformed through increased
government regulation. It describes him as one of the earliest and most influential
reformers, adding strength to his unique Stand in History.

Jacob Riis Biography. Jacob Riis Biography - Gateway National Recreation Area (U.S.
National Park Service), National Park Service.

This short article from the National Park Service includes a short biography of
Jacob Riis. This sources real value to our research, however, was the information
about the decision to rename Seaside Park in Rockaway, New York, in Riiss
honor. This is telling about Riiss enduring historical significance to American lives
and gave us a sense of his legacy that continues today, beyond the continuing
reform of urban poverty.
Jacob Riis: Revealing How the Other Half Lives. Jacob Riis: Revealing "How the Other Half
Lives", Library of Congress, 5 Sept. 2016.

This complete online collection of the Jacob Riis exhibition at the Library of
Congress was one of our most valuable secondary sources, as it went in depth about
Riiss life and reform work as a reporter, photographer, and lecturer. This source
was especially useful because it outlined the different parts of Riiss reform work
and highlighted areas where we needed to research more to have a comprehensive
understanding of Riis and the time period.

Johnson, Steven. Flash Forward. Flash Forward - How We Got to Now - Medium, How We
Got to Now, 29 Sept. 2014.

This article by Steven Johnson focused on the invention of flash photography and
its unique impact on Riiss reform work as a photographer. In our research, this
source gave us information about the unique power of photography (newly enabled
by flash photography technology) to bring the truth of the slums to the eyes of the
public; as a reformer, this effect is exactly what Riis took advantage of. For our
website, this source gave us a technological perspective on Riiss reform work.

Our Founder. Our Founder: Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement, Jacob A. Riis
Neighborhood Settlement.

This website is the official website of the Jacob Riis Settlement House, or Jacob A.
Riis Neighborhood Settlement. While modern, the website still displays the
influences that Riis still has and his original intentions.

Siegel, Robert. Jacob Riis: Shedding Light On NYC's 'Other Half'. All Things Considered, 30
June 2008.

This podcast from NPRs program All Things Considered includes insight onto
Jacob Riiss reform work by a number of historians including Bonne Yochelson,
Daniel Czitrom, and Tom Buk-Swienty. The historical commentary in the podcast
helped to establish baseline knowledge for our research, and the audio of this
podcast was especially useful as another source of multimedia for us to use in our
website to engage the reader and communicate our message better.
Simkin, John. Jacob Riis. Jacob Riis, Spartacus Educational Publishers, 2016.

This article from Spartacus Educational provided valuable historical commentary

about Riis, specifically about the magazine for which How the Other Half Lives was
originally commissioned and about Riiss lectures to the public about the slums
after his photography work. This further look into Riiss lecturing helped provide us
with content to analyze when writing about his later work. This source also
included a number of quotations from people who lived at the time for use as
primary sources.

Stamp, Jimmy. Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed How The Other Half Lives in
America. Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis, Smithsonian, 27 May 2014.

This article from the Smithsonian was mainly used for establishing baseline
knowledge. For our research, it was especially valuable because it delved into the
innovation of photography and how it assisted Riiss reform by allowing him to
literally show the conditions of the urban slums to the American public, which
helped us in writing about Riiss objectives in the reform movement.

Tenements. Tenements - Facts & Summary, A&E Television Networks, LLC.

This in-depth article from History.com provided us with information regarding

tenement housing and other issues of urbanization during the Gilded Age. In our
research, this helped us establish historical context about the problems that the
Progressive movement tried to rectify.

Weinberg, Steve. "The Accidental Icon: how Jacob Riis went from the Muck to Muckraker."
Columbia Journalism Review, vol. 47, no. 3, 2008, p. 61+. Academic OneFile.
Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.

This online excerpt from the history journal Columbia Journalism Review includes
Danish author and historians account of discovering Jacob Riis and his perspective
on him as a modern muckraker. This source provided us with the Danish
perspective of Riis, a Danish immigrant, as a muckraker and of his rise as a
journalist. The valuable perspective of an international historian made our research
into Riis more globally comprehensive.