The Children of the Poor: A Child Welfare Classic

by Jacob Riis, Tanja Bekhuis (Foreword by)

Overview

Tenements, saloons, and streets -- How did children survive the perils of New York City slums? When this book appeared in 1892, it shocked the privileged class. The evidence of misery and greed was undeniable.

The author, Jacob Riis, was a muckraker and social documentary photographer. His exposé includes stories of survival, child abuse and neglect, orphans and outcasts. He wrote about the sorrows and joys of the " little toilers," and gave a resolute account of child labor at the expense of an education.

The Children of the Poor is a companion to Riis' bestseller How the Other Half Lives. His books inspired social reforms during the Progressive Era.

This special edition includes new content, stark photos, and an in-depth subject index. It will appeal to readers interested in the history of child welfare, immigration, urbanization, or photojournalism.

Beautiful design, sturdy binding, acid-free paper, subject index. Suitable for students and general readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780999660416
Publisher:	TCB Classics
Publication date:	04/24/2018
Edition description:	Special Illustrated ed.
Pages:	284
Sales rank:	589,227
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a Danish-American police reporter, newspaper journalist, photographer, and reformer. He wrote about the social and environmental effects of the urban slum and its challenges to survival.

Tanja Bekhuis, PhD, MLIS, MS, is a psychologist and information scientist. She is a distinguished member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals. Her company, TCB Research & Indexing LLC, specializes in the information, health, and social sciences. She also founded TCB Classics, which publishes nonfiction books of historical value.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

1. The Problem of the Children

2. The Italian Slum Children

3. In the Great East Side Treadmill

4. Tony and His Tribe

5. The Story of Kid Mcduff’s Girl

6. The Little Toilers

7. The Truants of Our Streets

8. What It Is That Makes Boys Bad

9. Little Mary Ellen’s Legacy

10. The Story of the Fresh Air Fund

11. The Kindergartens and Nurseries

12. The Industrial Schools

13. The Boys’ Clubs

14. The Outcast and the Homeless

15. Putting a Premium on Pauperism

16. The Verdict of the Potter’s Field

Register of Children’s Charities

Notes

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

"My whole life was influenced by my long association with Jacob Riis, whom I am tempted to call the best American I ever knew." --Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography

"[Riis] forced the destruction of rear tenements ... [he] wiped out Mulberry Bend, the worst tenement block in the city ... won small parks ... labored years for enough schools ... drove bake shops with their fatal fires out of tenement basements ... demanded light for dark tenement hallways ... [and] worked for the abolition of child labor." --Lincoln Steffens, McClure's Magazine and author of The Shame of the Cities

[Riis'] work did "more to educate the general public on this question [of housing for the poor] than the writings of any other person." --The Tenement House Problem

From the Publisher