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“Jewish Peddler in New York City.”

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“Jewish Boy Reading the Torah in New York City.”

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“Move On,” 1903.

“In certain sections of New York City large numbers of Jewish and Italian push-cart vendors congregate so closely along the sidewalks that they interfere with traffic. Policemen keep them moving. The picture shows how the frightened peddlers hurry away when a bluecoat appears. Some of the carts are piled high with fruits of all kinds, and it is interesting and amusing to see the expressions of combined fear and anxiety on the faces of the men as they hurry away; the fear of being arrested if they stand, and of losing some of their wares if the carts strike an obstruction in the street.”

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Yiddish Theatre was a community that developed in New York City as the Jewish population increased. Plays were often performed in the courtyards outside synagogues. Performers wore masks and sang songs to share the story.

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“Jewish family working on garters in kitchen for tenement home,” Lewis Hine, 1912.

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“A Scene in the Ghetto, Hester Street,” 1902.

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The above book selection describes the experience of living in a dumbbell tenement with an air shaft. The picture to the right shows an example air shaft at the top of a building.

The Secretary – Have you known of cases where the water supply in tenements has been deficient?

Mr. Moscowitz – Yes, sir; in the summer-time very often the water supply is deficient, and people are deprived of water for half a day. I have known that to be the case in two instances of my own knowledge, and the particular water supply is deficient in tenements which have closets in the hallways. This is a fact which is general. From my own observations in the tenements where the closets are situated in the hall, the stench is very noticeable, and the reason, I believe, is because there is not a sufficient flush in the closet. I do not know whether it is compulsory for the landlord to supply a certain thickness of pipe, but I surely think it ought to be because I have noticed that the water supply is not sufficient in the closets situated in the hallways.

The Secretary – Have you noticed the practice of people sleeping on the roofs and in the street in the summertime?

Mr. Moscowitz – Yes, sir, I have, because I myself have done so.

The Secretary – Why?

Mr. Moscowitz – Because it is too hot to sleep in the room in the summer-time.

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“The most familiar sound in the streets is the click of the sewing machine; the most familiar sight; men, women, and children staggering along under the weight of huge packs of half-finished clothing.” Jewish people commonly worked in the garment industry, holding 90% of the jobs by 1900.