Jacob Riis
American photographer, journalist and activist (1849-1914) · United States · On the map · Artists · Died at 65
Jacob August Riis was a Danish-American social reformer, "muck-raking" journalist, and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in the United States of America at the turn of the twentieth century.
Jacob Riis is read about 317 times a day, in 32 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?People around Jacob
Jacob RiisPartners
Is this everyone?
Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.
Correct this familyMedia & music
Photos 9
Riis c. 1903
The first US Christmas seal, 1907 issue
Bandits' Roost, 59 1/2 Mulberry Street (1888) by Jacob Riis, from How the Other Half Lives. This portrays the infamous Mulberry Bend, which was transformed into Mulberry Park in 1897 due to Riis's efforts
The Trench in Potter's Field (1890) by Jacob Riis. Laborers loading coffins into an open trench at the city burial ground on Hart's Island.
The cover of the 1890 edition of How the Other Half Lives, photojournalism book by Riis
Riis walks the beat in New York City behind his friend and fellow reformer, NYC Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt (1894 - Illustration from Riis's autobiography)
Street Arabs in the Area of Mulberry Street (c. 1890); sleeping homeless children, photographed by RiisAwards
About this person
He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City; those impoverished New Yorkers were the subject of most of his prolific writings and photography.
