![]() ![]() It also led him to speak out against the injustices surrounding him. His success gave him the confidence to again propose marriage to Elizabeth. The hours were long, the pace demanding and the competition fierce, but he counted the work of a journalist among “the highest and noblest of all callings.” Riis witnessed crime, overcrowding and municipal corruption as he acclimated himself to his adopted country and embarked on his journalistic career. Yet, he thought, “The world was before me.” īandits’ Roost, 59 1/2 Mulberry Street, considered the most dangerous part of New York City. He later described weeping on the steamship Iowa’s upper deck as he cast a final glance at his hometown. ![]() Heartbroken but determined to make himself worthy of her, he departed for the United States in 1870 at age 21. After all, she was the daughter of a wealthy factory owner Riis was a carpenter’s apprentice. Her family disapproved when he first proposed marriage. Riis met the love of his life, Elizabeth Giørtz, there. Surrounded by windswept marshland overlooking the North Sea, the Viking-settled hamlet was a close-knit community. Riis always recalled his hometown-Ribe, Denmark- romantically. Nonetheless, Barre served as a place of meaningful reflection in the twilight of Riis’s life. He learned that the life of a New England farmer was not simple nor leisurely. The advice was clear: slow down.Īside from his diagnosis, Riis’s upbringing, career and changing family circumstances led him to purchase a farm in Barre, Mass. ![]() In 1912, doctors diagnosed him with coronary heart disease. While late nights and long hours had helped secure his prominent reputation, they also took a serious physical and mental toll. Riis maintained a celebrated career at a breakneck pace. Street Arabs in the Area of Mulberry Street, sleeping children, photographed by Jacob Riis. ![]()
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