How the Other Half Lives

These are images by Jacob Riis from his project, 'How the Other Half Lives' sourced from http://www.authentichistory.com/. 

The photographs of numerous, basic bunks shows how impoverished many immigrant 'new' Americans were when they came to the United States in 1890. Immigrant New York was an overcrowded and dirty placed to live, advocated by the conditions portrayed by the '7 Cent Boarding House' above. A huge influx of European immigrants to New York via the gateway of Ellis Island flooded the city with non-English speaking (some unskilled) people whom struggled to assimilate to American culture. This caused New York City to become a squalled, cramped and conflicted City to live in for not only the struggling immigrants but for Americans who inhabited the city previous to The Great Deluge. The types of hardships highlighted in Anzia Yezierska's, "The lost "Beautifulness" such as struggles to pay rent or be creative and personal in such depressing spaces gives context to such establishments pictured above. Living in cheap boarding houses was a reality for many immigrants as they were unbelievably poor and had no option other than living on the streets. An aspect of Immigrant New York which Riis thoroughly documented in his photographs of 'street Arabs'.

The most interesting aspect of these Riis images in my opinion is linked to the name of the project itself. Attitudes towards the immigrants that came to New York in the late nineteenth century was at times an unforgiving one, mirrored by the label 'other half'. The mood doesn't quite suggest that immigrants were seen as second class citizens as America was built on the ideology of everyone having a fair chance to better themselves. However, the fact that people, whether it be 'native' Americans or more successful immigrants were profiting from the helplessness and impoverishment of Immigrant New York society indicates that; there was a lack of empathy and compassion for immigrants whom struggled to make the 'American Dream' work for them and their families.