Question

question 6 of 10

what was one issue that jacob riis drew attention to with his urban photography?

a. racist voting restrictions
b. unsafe food and water supplies
c. child labor in factories
d. poor treatment of women workers

Explanation:

Identify the subject of Jacob Riis's work

Jacob Riis was a pioneering muckraking journalist and social documentary photographer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His most famous work, the 1890 book How the Other Half Lives, used powerful photography and writing to expose the squalid living conditions in New York City's slums and tenements.

Analyze the given options

• A. Racist voting restrictions: This was not the focus of Riis's urban photography.
• B. Unsafe food and water supplies: While a major Progressive Era issue (often associated with Upton Sinclair's The Jungle), this was not the primary focus of Riis's photographic work.
• C. Child labor in factories: Jacob Riis documented the lives of poor children in tenements, including those working as newsboys or in home sweatshops. (Note: Lewis Hine is more famously associated with documenting child labor in factories, but Riis's work heavily featured child labor and the plight of impoverished children in urban environments). Let's re-evaluate the options to find the best match.
• D. Poor treatment of women workers: While women worked in tenements, this was not his primary focus.

Let's look closer at the options. In many standard high school curricula, Jacob Riis's photography is highlighted for exposing tenement housing, urban poverty, and child labor (such as children sleeping in streets or working in sweatshops). Among the choices provided, C. Child labor in factories (or general child labor/poverty) is the most direct social issue represented.

Connect to student's mastered concepts

As a Muckraker, Jacob Riis used his camera as a tool for social reform, capturing the harsh realities of urban poverty to shock the middle and upper classes into pushing for legislative change.

Answer:

• (A) Racist voting restrictions
• (B) Unsafe food and water supplies
• (C) Child labor in factories (Correct answer)
• (D) Poor treatment of women workers