How the Other Half Lives

How the Other Half Lives is a groundbreaking 1890 book by Jacob Riis that exposed the harsh realities of slum conditions in New York City. Riis, a reporter and photographer, used factual descriptions and early flashbulb photography to document the poverty and squalor within tenement housing.1

The book's powerful revelations shocked readers and spurred significant legislative action in New York, leading to the first laws aimed at improving tenement conditions. How the Other Half Lives is also recognized as a crucial precursor to the muckraking journalism movement that emerged in the United States in the early 20th century. Theodore Roosevelt, who later became U.S. president, was personally moved by the book and offered his support to Riis's reform efforts.21