4. Jacob Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half at MCNY

Photo by Jacob A. Riis. Image via MCNY, Gift of Roger William Riis

Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a journalist and social reformer, carefully documenting his manuscripts, correspondence, clippings and annotated notebooks during the late 19th century and early 20th century. But what most people don’t know is that the photographs he took during this time, documenting the city’s slums, were forgotten in the attic of his home in Queens. His photographs were only discovered in the 1940s, decades after his death in 1914. The exhibit, Jacob Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half, at The Museum of the City of New York is the first major retrospective of Riis’s photographic work. His photographic collection and archives will be on view until March 20, 2016, located at 1220 Fifth Avenue, between 103rd and 104th Streets. Read more about current and past exhibits at MCNY here.