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Mass movement into U.S. cities in the late 1800s once
prompted Horace Greeley to remark that "We cannot all live in cities, yet nearly all
seem determined to do so." Among major U.S. cities in the early 1900s, none
experienced more growth than New York City. By 1910, the population of New York City
swelled to over three million people. Large cities offered both improved and decreased
quality of life to their residents. To the middle and upper classes, the cities provided
for enriched lives. To the lower class, which generally was made up of minority groups,
recently arrived immigrants, and people who had moved to the city from the country, life
was oftentimes far from good.
The following photos were taken in New York City in the early 1900s. What differences do you observe in the photos? What statements about life in the city does each of the photos make? From looking at these photos, how do you think the lives of the middle and upper classes differed from the lives of the lower classes in New York City during this period of time? Click on the photographs for a larger picture. View additional images on this topic from Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, 1880-1920. Use your browser's Back Button to return to this page.
top of page View additional photographs on this topic from Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, 1880-1920. Use your browser's Back Button to return to this page. |
 Rise
of Industrial America | Progressive Era
to New Era | Great Depression
and World War II  |
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| Last updated 09/26/2002 |
