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The slum is the measure of civilization
~ Jacob Riis ~ Jacob Riis documents the filth, disease, exploitation, and overcrowding that characterized the experience of more than one million immigrants living in New York City's slums, and helped push tenement reform to the front of the political agenda prompting then-Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt to close down the police-run poor houses.
Roosevelt later called Riis "the most useful citizen of New York." Riis' idea inspired Jack London to write a similar exposé on London's East End, called People of the Abyss. Patricia Weeks, Ph.D., will lead the discussion on Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Lives. Patricia teaches in the Department of Politics and History at the University of South Florida and has a number of publications to her credit. She is also a home builder with more than 40 years experience in providing housing across the United States. |