Summary Of The Mirror With A Memory By Jacob Riis

With the speedy advancement of the American nation, there were several issues that arose and were left to develop and make the city life something to be astonishing to those who were not accustomed. In New York, the cities were contaminated with sickness and filth on every corner and these problems were left to the poor to figure out and solve. However, with the invention of the camera and a man named Jacob Riis the issues at hand were displayed for all to see and better understand the struggles that poor immigrants and citizens had come accustomed to during the 1800's. "The article The Mirror with a Memory" by James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Lytle takes place as a biography that traces the life of Jacob Riis and his work to improve the

What were the author's main claims and how did they defend them? The author claims that Jacob Riis was more effective at reform due to his own immigration background and his experience with the troubles they face on a daily basis. Jacob Riis immigrated to America from the Scandinavian countryside where his family was respected, to the crowded cities of New York where he started at the bottom and like very few managed to find the American dream. When he firsts moved here, "Jacob Riis was an immigrant to America, like so many of those he wrote about. He had tasted poverty and hardship" (page 214). Jacob Riis had gone through one of the worst parts of America before making a name for himself as a journalist for a newspaper. He used his freedoms as an author for the press to express the issues that ran rampant in the streets, but even with his constant description to the masses, nothing was ever done until he started to show photographs of the problems. Riis would take photos that would help to maximize the reaction of those who saw them. It is said that Riis "…did not stand over the boys to shoot

American citizens and Riis himself had biases towards other immigrants and where they should be ranked by societal standards. Riis had a bias against Mediterranean immigrants which he makes abundantly clear in his writings. It is believed that, "Of southern- and eastern- Mediterranean people, Riis was the least understanding… not only did they 'come in at the bottom,' but they also managed to stay there" (page 216). Riis believed that these people were the lowest of the low. He did not think that they had what was necessary to make a life for themselves no matter where they were living and that they constantly lived like pigs with little economic or social abilities. These capabilities, Riis believed, were the backbone of making a living and progressing in society. Riis also showed bias through the types of pictures he took. The article describes how difficult it is for any photo to be completely unbiased by comparing it to a family photo, "If the artless photographers of family life unconsciously shape the records they leave behind, then we must expect those who self-consciously use photography to be even more interpretive with their materials" (page 212). This statement goes to show that no matter who you are you are always filtering information through photos. The photographer is