Click The button to the left to skip to tenement living
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Tenement Living
Urban life was often filled with hazards for the new immigrant, and housing could be one of the greatest dangers. At the turn of the century more than half the population of New York City, and most immigrants, lived in tenement houses, narrow, low-rise apartment buildings that were usually grossly overcrowded by their landlords. Cramped, poorly lit, under ventilated, and usually without indoor plumbing, the tenements were hotbeds of vermin and disease, and were frequently swept by cholera, typhus, and tuberculosis. The investigative journalist Jacob Riis, himself a Danish immigrant, launched a public campaign to expose and eradicate the exploitative housing new immigrants were forced to endure.
Tour of Ellis Island
Moriah Wrenn-Sandkul
Created on October 23, 2025
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Transcript
Tour of Ellis Island
Begin Your Journey by Clicking on the numbers
Click The button to the left to skip to tenement living
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Back to Main Map
Tenement Living
Urban life was often filled with hazards for the new immigrant, and housing could be one of the greatest dangers. At the turn of the century more than half the population of New York City, and most immigrants, lived in tenement houses, narrow, low-rise apartment buildings that were usually grossly overcrowded by their landlords. Cramped, poorly lit, under ventilated, and usually without indoor plumbing, the tenements were hotbeds of vermin and disease, and were frequently swept by cholera, typhus, and tuberculosis. The investigative journalist Jacob Riis, himself a Danish immigrant, launched a public campaign to expose and eradicate the exploitative housing new immigrants were forced to endure.