Workshop 1: Rise of the City
by Dr. H - January 27th, 2012
Each of these numbers is a link taking you to a collection of photographs, maps, or a film about American cities in the late 19th century. Working in pairs, apply critical thinking and primary source analysis questions to the source, and use it to expand your working knowledge of the late 19th century city. You’ll receive a handout with ideas and suggestions for how to approach and analyze these kinds of visual image sources (if you miss class – the handout is here).
Work with one number at a time (pick from the basket in the middle of the room). Take your time with the sources. If you only get to one during this class period, that’s fine. This is not a race, it’s an opportunity to explore in depth.
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End of class writing prompt: What did you learn about your city? What did you learn about the sources that historians can use to study the 19th century city?
The city my partner and I learned about was Brooklyn, New York. We learned about the old atlases that were used for the city. The atlas that we looked at taught us many different things about the neighboorhoods and community. We learned that the houses are very close together and there was multiple houses per street. We also learned that an Italian theatre was in the neighborhood, which showed us that a majority of the people living there were probably italian. They was also multiple churches in the area, which showed us religion and going to church had importantce to them. We also learned that the area had multiple trolly lines, which shows us that was a main way of transportation. Finally, we learned that there was many factories and manufactoring companies. This showed us that many of the jobs these families had were more blue collar than white collar.
My partner Mike and I looked at sources #5 and #9. We looked at #9 first, and it was a picture of Bohiamian immigrants in 1890 New York City. Also, #5 was a post card from 1910 advertising South Beach in Staten Island New York. From these two documents I learned two different sides to New York. The first document representing the cramped, tenement housing that most immigrants had to live in and the poor working coditions that in this part of the city that they had to live in. Whereas the other document allowed me to see an area of New York where the more wealthy and financially comfortable people are relaxing and enjoying their city. Both sources where great representations of the opposing sides of New York and the cities within that state. They are also good representations of the caste system between immigrants and non-immigrants.
Using source #16 (timeline map of San Fransisco), I learned about the city of San Francisco, California. I learned about the general urban development of the city, as well as some specific events that happened in San Fransico at the time. I specifically learned about the 1856 crime cleanup that occurred, and about the 2000 .com bust and stock market crash, which lead to approximately 30,000 people leaving the city. I particularly found it interesting to see how the boundaries and borders of the town changed over time. This source would be of particular use to somebody who wanted to study the urban development of San Fransisco, or the culture of San Fransisco at a certain period of time. I personally really enjoyed this resource and would be happy to use it again.
I learned that San Francisco was much different before the earthquake and fires in 1906 than it was after the disasters. San Francisco before the disasters was much more rural and not as busy or congested. After the disasters San Francisco became more of a city becomming more comercialized and congested. This happened because the disasters destroyed everything in San Francisco and they had to rebuild every aspect of their city. The best sources that we can use to study what San Francisco was like before, after, and during the disasters are silent films that documented every aspect of this specific. This is a great way to study this time because it makes you feel like you are living through this moment in history. I had number 15 which was the videos on the American Memory website which I felt was very easy to navigate and the videos were highly informative. Overall I felt like this was a great source of information and gave me great insight into the change that occured in San Francisco before and after 1906.
What I learned about the city of Chicago was that it was a very industrious and prospering city from the years 1900-1914. The expansion of the city’s population as well as the expansion of the railroad system in Chicago were pivotal in Chicago’s prosperity. During this time period it was the 6th largest city in the world, which shows that Chicago was a favorable city for many.
The source we used was directly from the University of Chicago Library and was a very reliable source as it showed many different maps that portrayed Chicago’s growth and expansion such as the population increase over the years, nearby Lake Michigan which was pivotal with port shipping, and the increase in railways over the time period. These maps are very helpful in visualizing how the city of Chicago came about and developed over time as a city.
Amanda Jeznach January 27,2012
The maps that we analyzed in class today paired perfectly with the video we watched in class on Wednesday. The maps ranged in date from the early 1700’s up to the early 1900’s. Through the years we saw the progression of New Orleans from a rural area into an urban area. The more recent maps showed the rise of industrialization and the importance of railways to companies. As time went on the number of railways continued to increase. We also see through the map a number of museums and tourist attractions which became a primary source of income for the city. Before this exercise I thought that a map could only be use to identify location. After having done this exercise I realized that there is much more to a map than location. This map told us a lot about the progression over the years of this rural area into a city.
The city I observed from the 19th Century was New York. Through looking at my source, which was of maps of the city of New York I learned that the city was very industrial due to large amount of factories. For example I found a cork factory. Also, in the city I noticed religion was very important due the number of churches. There were Catholic, Congregational, and Baptist churches I came across. The map also showed many trolly lines, telling me that trolly’s were a major form of transportation. Lastly, I found it interesting when I found an Italian Theatre, suggesting to me the area had a lot of Italians.
The sources we use to study historical maps are really interesting in that to really fully understand them you need a legend, which this map did not have. It had a lot of colors that I were not sure what they represented.
Chicago continued to grow in population and was a profitable industrious city. Had a port city from the Lake of Michigan. Had the most modern city from railrods and the gateway to the west. Adds to the facts about the sources and history of Chicago.
Maps are good in history to show different features of land in a particular period. the maps in 14 were detailed enough to get an idea of how the city of chicago felt and grew during 1900-1914.
New York City is a completely different place back in the 19th century then it is today. I looked at a picture of a concert in Central Park taken in 1912. There were thousands of people gathered around a tiny gazebo and majority was males. Everyone was dressed very properly, suits, dresses, and hats. Something that has not changed about New York City is that Central Park is still one of the biggest gethering points. But everything about the picture has definitely revolved. From the way people are dressed, the prominent male gender, even their manor of just standing at the concert has all completely changed. These sources are very benefitial to learn about our cities, it lets you go back in time and see the reality of what it was all like.
I learned that Chicago was very dense and there was a lot of commotion going on in the streets. There was a horse just standing in the street surrounded by people as if it was just another building in the way, I found that interesting because now a days if I horse was in the street people wouldn’t know what to do. I also learned that around the time that the video was created, the first gas powered car was invented, although there were not many cars in the short film, however there was a trolley that rolled by for a brief moment. I also witnessed that the city was very dense which made it an easy breeding ground for disease. A film is a useful historical source because it shows how actual living people functioned during the day and unlike in a photograph, a film can show a million photos in under a minute. If a photo is worth a thousand words, then I believe a short film is worth ten times that.
I learned by watching the first video on my link, which was 13, that Chicago was extremely cramped. It was not only packed with cars and trolleys, but also with hundreds of people trying to shop. Thomas Edison was behind the camera. His shop created a few important devices in early film making, including the kinetograph and the kinetoscope. Camera men in Chicago could ride the train for free because the conductors thought this was free PR. Being able to see video clips of the streets of Chicago creates much more of an impact than just simply stating that Chicago was crowded.
What did you learn about your 19th century city? Sources we can use to study it?
The photograph that i reviewed was from a pageant in Galveston, Texas called the “Third International Pageant of Pulchritude and Ninth Annual Bathing Girl Revue” that took place over the course of 3 days (June3,4,5,) in 1928.
It was interesting to learn that during this time frame women were partaking in pageantry that was not only revealing, but began to establish a system of competition based on “beauty”. We were able to see how the female body became “sexualized” and became a system in which it could receive rank to award its level of beauty.
The photography used to document this appeared to be a wonderful primary source document in terms of accuracy.
1. what did you learn about your city that you researched?
New York was a booming city. From the docks we see beautiful buildings, many skyscrapers (which for that time has amazing heights) and we see just the how the cities grow in that period. Though we don’t get to see the in-depth look at exactly what is going on in New York, we are able to see the beauty of the city from a distance, which is how an incoming immigrant would have been able to see it.
2. what did you learn about how your source used is a helpful historical source?
From viewing the video, I can conclude that a video definitely gives you more insight into the time period you are looking to study. Historians can see precisely what goes on in that time period and how people carried themselves. That is especially true for a video like that, where the director can not strategically place people and/or things to fit his vision but he is in fact recording just one still movement and everything that we as the viewer see’s is actually what is going on.
My 19th century city was New York, specifically Central Park was my focus. I learned that, unlike today’s culture, concerts were quiet calm and proper… odd to think about. There was also an extreme male presence in society; I did not see one woman at this concert. I also noticed a wide range of social classes based on the clothing of the men as well as the hats they were wearing. Some men wore a formal top-hat-like hat, while others wore a simple, plain straw-like hat. Because of the immense amount of people (it looks like at least 2,000), I concluded that, with my prior knowledge to the time period, that urbanization was at its best. There was a lot of information to soak in with looking at just one mere photo.
The photo that I looked at was taken by Charles Downing Lay, who was nominated the Landscaper Architect for the City of New York. It was interesting that although he most likely took these photos for the sake of admiring his architecture, it actually has provided historians with an immense amount of information to further learn about society during this time. Actually seeing the interaction between people in society and the way culture curbed the way people acted provided great insight.
Photo- 8
New York City.
Shows progress between old and new at a typical New York city intersection. In the foreground is a large double Decker shuttle bus. Horses are also present in the background as a street light. There is also a large six (at least) building in the background.
This images were taken by Jacob Riis a newspapermen and photographer. Utilize this images to introduce to Middle and Upper class American to the living conditions of the new inmigrants. The photographs show the poverty, sadness of many of the newcomers. As I read on the book the gap between rich and the poor people was evident.
What did you learn about your city?
We were able to learn many things about New York City when this picture was taken back in 1896. For instance both motorized vehicles and horses are present on the city street. A tall ornate streetlight shows signs of progress towards a modern world. Light traffic at the intersection suggests maybe the picture was taken during a low in the day. The building at the intersection contains a liquor store on the ground floor, another suggestion leisure was a part of city dwellers lives at the time. We also learned that the turn-of-the-century New York City already contained tall buildings, as this building has at least six stories, before being cut off by the image’s cropping. Also at first glance I thought the streets are paved, but upon closer examination of not quite sure. Although the street looks very clean, I would suspect an unpaved road would be quite dusty. Overall though I get the impression New York New York was already a thriving city at the time this photograph was taken.
What did you learn about the sources that historians can use to study the 19th century city?
Pictures can yield a window to the past for us to interpret later. The still image however is just that, still, a movie has the potential to provide much more information. A movie captures people’s movements and actions within the city. Pictures however focus on one instant in time and allow us to focus on subjects that at first may not be obvious.