Class 9 - The "Other Half"

New York City's population surged to 1,710,715 in 1890, a period marked by rapid urban growth driven by immigration and industrialization. While the rich enjoyed their parties in their mansions on Fifth Avenue, hordes of immigrants from many parts of Europe were arriving at New York. Having no money and no jobs, they soon found themselves living in shabby tenements and working in menial jobs amid deplorable conditions. Jacob Riis, a journalist and social reformer (and photographer), wrote a book about them, entitled, most appropriately, How the Other Half Lives.

One of the tenements from those difficult times has become a museum. It provides great insight into the living conditions of the immigrants:

Learn more about Jacob Riis and his studies of "the other half" in the article below.

And here is a short video about a recent exhibition of the photos of Jacob Riis:

Around 1900, a group of young realist artists began to paint the seamy side of life in New York City. Their movement came to be known as the Ash Can School of Art. Click on the image below to learn about them.

Learn more about the Ashcan School of Artists here:

John Sloan was a member of the Ash Can School. He walked around the Lower East Side with a sketchpad. One of his favorite haunts was McSorley's Ale House. Click on the video below to learn more about his paintings:

The original Penn Station, which opened in 1910 , was built as part of a vast expansion project orchestrated by Alexander Cassatt (President of the Pennsylvania Railroad and brother of the artist, Mary). It was designed by McKim, Meade, and White. Land purchases began in 1902. Buildings in the area were condemned and torn down. The next step was to dig a giant whole in the ground. George Wesley Bellows painted four canvases devoted to the excavation phase of the construction, which provided jobs for a large number of blue-collar workers. View the video below to hear the story of Penn Station.

George Bellows was a member of the Ashcan School of Artists. He created a series of memorable paintings focusing upon the early stages of building Penn Station. Learn more about Bellows by clicking on his painting of The Lone Tenement below:

Reginald Marsh is known for his paintings of New York during the Depression Years. His produced several works of Coney Island. Below is a short video about one of his paintings:

In 1957 Leonard Bernstein's musical, West Side Story, was first performed. Set in the low income west side section of New York, it focuses upon the rivalry between the white American street gang, the Jets, and the gang of the newly arrived Puerto Rican immigrants, the Sharks. Although often criticized for its use of stereotypes, the show does capture some of the conflicts that inevitably arise in a city proudly known as "the melting pot." Racial conflict is nothing new. Here is a famous dance scene performed by the rival gangs: