Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a pioneering newspaper reporter and a social reformer in New York at the turn of the twentieth century.  His then-novel idea of using photographs of the city’s slums to illustrate the plight of impoverished residents established Riis as a forerunner of modern photojournalism.  “Jacob Riis: How the Other Half Lives” features photographs by Riis and his contemporaries, as well as his handwritten journals and personal correspondence.  

The national tour is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Jacob A. Riis: How the Other Half Lives is adapted from the exhibition Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half, organized by the Museum of the City of New York. The exhibition was curated by Bonnie Yochelson and co-presented by the Library of Congress. It was made possible with major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Terra Foundation for American Arts, as well as support from D. Euan and Merete Baird, The Malkin Fund, Ronay and Richard L. Menschel, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrick’s Foundation, C. Flemming and Judy Heilmann, Kan and Lotte Leschly, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, and the John L. Loeb Jr. Foundation. It was adapted and toured for NEH on the Road by Mid-America Arts Alliance.

Sponsored at the Museum of Danish America by The Danish Home, Croton-on-Hudson, NY