Overview
Tenement housing was created for the overflow of residents in major cities. Factory workers and immigrants mostly resided in these living conditions. Owners of these houses want to fit as many people in these compact places as they could to earn more money. Because of the poor living conditions, people were more prone to catching diseases.
Primary Documents
Jacob Riis photographed this moment to show the tenement housing residents. These boys in this picture represented the struggle people were going through during this time. Living conditions were so cramped that children were not getting sleep under a sound roof. They'd rather sleep on stairs and on a barrel than maybe beside a coughing woman. Jacob Riis tried to capture these moments to portray the lives of poor and working people.
Above is a census of Kings, New York in 1910. This document shows that immigration of was substantial. Most of the people listed were Italian. Polish and German people are also documented. The increase of these immigrants allowed building owners to find a way to increase their income. They took advantage of the people wanting to seek out new opportunities.
This was the only space allotted to this group of people. It's hard to just say family because more than one family could live in these spaces. In some cases 16 people, if not more, were crammed into these living conditions. The filth shows how easy it could be to spread germs and cause sickness. No person looks pleased, even the young child who is suppose to be energetic. She is most likely suffering from a restless night. There is only one suitable bed shown and seven people. No one could sleep properly.
Secondary Documents
This is book written by Jacob Riis titled How the Other Half Lives. This excerpt is describing the harsh life of a poor man living in a tenement. It goes into detail of the dimensions and even provides a photo. Riis understood the living conditions because he witnessed them and tried to advocate for the residents. He is disgusted by the disregard of morals to earn extra money. He wrote this book and took his pictures to insure this point in American history would not be forgotten.
This is a newspaper clipping about a fire burning down another tenement house. The word holocaust at this time was not associated with Jewish victims of World War II. Holocaust is defined as a huge destruction usually by fire. In this case houses were being burned down because the spaces were so small it would be easy to catch a curtain on fire or a child knock down a candle. Multiple houses were being burned down because the quality of building materials were poor. These buildings could have been burned down on purpose as well. If someone wanted to take anger out or wanted to protest, this could have been a result.
This is a supreme court brief about the horrible things that went on in tenement housing. It is in past tense so it was possibly justifying the stricter regulations on child labor and tenement housing.
Solutions
The Tenement House Act of 1901 was enacted because the death rate was increasing rapidly due to diseases like tuberculosis and congestion. Departments were created to make sure the act was properly pushed through. It started a path of proper living conditions. It may have just started with making sure ventilation was in every space.
Progressive Era Solution?
The Progressive Era led to reform in tenement housing because of the Tenement House Act of 1901. Before the Act of 1901 a Tenement House Act of 1879 was established before the Progressive Era and was not successful. During the Progressive Era there were activists like Jacob Riis and mind sets of improvement. All branches of the government saw the repercussions of tenement housing and the damages created. Health, child labor, and lifestyle were all worsened by tenement housing. After being looked down on, tenement housing began to take a turn for the better during the Progressive Era.
Work Cited
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Yard_of_a_tenement_at_Park_Ave._LOC_det.4a28182.jpg
https://historymartinez.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/jacob-riis-describes-life-in-the-tenements-1890-primary-source-documents-with-reading-questions/
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bongiovi/bongiovi/pictures/1910_u_s__census_entry_for_guisseppe_and_angelina_bongiovi_and_family.jpg
https://ephemeralnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/tenementfamilyphoto.jpg
http://dcc.newberry.org/system/artifacts/497/original/Riis-tenements-pp18-19-1.jpg
http://www.rarenewspapers.com/list/holocaust?page=4
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/education/showcase/200910labor/activities_dbq2.shtml
http://www.livingcityarchive.org/htm/framesets/themes/tenements/fs_1901.htm
http://povertyhistory.org/era/progressive#tenement-house-act-of-1901
https://historymartinez.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/jacob-riis-describes-life-in-the-tenements-1890-primary-source-documents-with-reading-questions/
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bongiovi/bongiovi/pictures/1910_u_s__census_entry_for_guisseppe_and_angelina_bongiovi_and_family.jpg
https://ephemeralnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/tenementfamilyphoto.jpg
http://dcc.newberry.org/system/artifacts/497/original/Riis-tenements-pp18-19-1.jpg
http://www.rarenewspapers.com/list/holocaust?page=4
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/education/showcase/200910labor/activities_dbq2.shtml
http://www.livingcityarchive.org/htm/framesets/themes/tenements/fs_1901.htm
http://povertyhistory.org/era/progressive#tenement-house-act-of-1901