My Photographs of New York City
I was sent by the newspaper to the Lower East side of New York City and I had discovered something so appalling. It was no place for men and women. And surely no place for little children. It was a terrible slum -- as such places are called -- where too many are crowded together, where the houses and streets are dirty and full of rats. The place began to trouble me as the truth about it became clear. Others were not troubled. They had no way of finding out how terrible the lives of people were in Mulberry Bend. But as a newspaper reporter, I could find the truth. So I went through the dark dirty streets and houses, and saw how the people suffered in this area. And I wrote many stories about the life there. I decided to devote my life to try and help these people and bring awareness to others.
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A quote from my dearest friend, Theodore Roosevelt:
''It is difficult for me to write of Jacob Riis only from the public standpoint. He was one of my truest and closest friends. I have ever prized the fact that once, in speaking of me, he said, "since I met him he has been my brother." I have not only admired and respected him beyond measure, but I have loved him dearly…and I mourn him as if he were one of my own family." -Theodore Roosevelt
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