The Making of an American

Jacob A. Riis (1849 - 1914)

Jacob Riis was an esteemed reporter and documentary photographer in New York City. In his autobiography he movingly recounts his early life and unrelenting attempts at courtship in Denmark followed by his later experiences in the United States, first as a struggling itinerant immigrant and later as a journalist. He describes how he became a reporter and how his work in lower Manhattan’s teeming, squalid immigrant communities sparked his passion and activism for social reform. In his opening note he writes: “To those who have been asking if they are made-up stories, let me say here that they are not.”

NOTE: Elizabeth's letter (In Chapter 7) is read by Ann Boulais. – Lee Smalley

Genre(s): Biography & Autobiography

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 The Meeting On The Long Bridge Lee Smalley
00:43:51
Play 02 I Land In New York And Take A Hand In The Game Lee Smalley
00:31:44
Play 03 I Go To War At Last, And Sow The Seed Of Future Campaigns Lee Smalley
00:27:01
Play 04 Working And Wandering Lee Smalley
00:31:56
Play 05 I Go Into Business, Headlong Lee Smalley
00:32:44
Play 06 In Which I Become An Editor And Receive My First Love Letter Lee Smalley
00:37:38
Play 07 Elizabeth Tells Her Story, Part 1 Ann Boulais
00:20:41
Play 08 Elizabeth Tells Her Story, Part 2 Lee Smalley
00:11:19
Play 09 Early Married Life; I Become An Advertising Bureau; On The "Tribune" Lee Smalley
00:36:04
Play 10 Life In Mulberry Street Lee Smalley
00:46:01
Play 11 My Dog Is Avenged Lee Smalley
00:39:18
Play 12 The Bend Is Laid By The Heels Lee Smalley
00:46:21
Play 13 I Become An Author And Resume My Interrupted Career As A Lecturer Lee Smalley
00:37:19
Play 14 Roosevelt Comes—Mulberry Street's Golden Age Lee Smalley
00:46:27
Play 15 I Try To Go To The War For The Third And Last Tlme Lee Smalley
00:43:07
Play 16 When I Went Home To Mother Lee Smalley
00:38:01
Play 17 The American Made Lee Smalley
00:29:36