Representations of the
Immigrant Ghetto
| The
nineteenth century middle and upper classes
rarely ventured downtown to the Lower East
Side. Nonetheless, they had distinct
impressions of the politics and culture of
life in the tenements south of 14th Street.
Journalistic accounts, novels, political
proclamations, governmental and charitable
reports painted a picture of, the Lower East
Side as the "jungle" or "underworld."
Dailies, such as the New York Journal and the
New York World and magazines, such as Harper's,
featured stories about the metropolis' "dark
side." |
 |
Nineteenth-century
guidebooks typically ignored zones where behaviors
considered impertinent to the middle and upper
classes transpired. In oversized descriptions of the
city, such as The Secrets of the Great City,
first published in 1868, readers were presented with
both the virtues and vices of the city. As a rule,
the tone of these treatments of vices constituted a
mix of the reproachful with the sensational. Several
novels from the turn-of-the-century dealt with ghetto
life. These include John Dos Passos' Manhattan
Transfer; T.S. Arthur's Cast Adrift;
and David Graham Phillip's Susan Lenox. So-called
"objective" reports on vice issued by the
Committee of Fifteen in 1902 similarly reinforced the
public's overall perception of the evils of the slum
and the threats its residents posed to the larger
society.
Representations
simplified the complex cultural realities of the
immigrant ghetto. The prevailing characterizations of
the Lower East Side help explain the persistence of
exploitation in the workplace and housing. Negative
representations also influenced ethnic community
building and the resistance from residents.
Links
(click
to follow)
View the cover of Manhattan Transfer.
Click here to buy John Dos Passos' Manhattan
Transfer.
Read the entire text of Susan Lenox: Her Rise and
Fall, by David Graham Philips.
Click here to buy David Graham Phillips' Susan
Lenox.
Click here to
buy T.S. Arthur's Cast Adrift
Images
(click to enlarge)
 Here is a photo from Darkness
and Daylight.
|
 Here is some text from Darkness
and Daylight.
|
 Here is the cover of Darkness
and Daylight (large file size).
|
 More Darkness and
Daylight text.
|
Another
large photo from Darkness and
Daylight.
|
A
final series of text from Darkness and
Daylight.
|
