Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date __________________
Immigrants and Urban Life
Section 3
MAIN IDEAS
1. Crowded urban areas faced a variety of social problems.
2. People worked to improve the quality of life in U.S. cities.
Key Terms and People
Jacob Riis journalist and photographer who exposed the horrible conditions in
New York City tenements
settlement houses neighborhood centers in poor areas that offered education,
recreation, and social activities
Jane Addams founder of Hull House
Hull House Chicago’s most famous settlement house
Florence Kelley Chicago reformer who worked to pass child labor laws
Section Summary
URBAN PROBLEMS
Even with new technology, many cities were not
ready for the population growth of the late 1800s.
There was a shortage of affordable housing which
led to overcrowding and poor living conditions.
Many poor families were squeezed into tiny
tenement apartments. Jacob Riis became famous
for his articles and photographs that exposed the
horrible conditions in the tenements.
The overcrowding caused sanitation problems
and unsafe living conditions. Garbage collection
systems were not efficient, so garbage piled up in
the cities. Indoor plumbing was scarce, and water
supplies became polluted. Fires could spread
rapidly, but fire escapes were often blocked.
These conditions caused the spread of diseasecausing bacteria. There were outbreaks of diseases
such as typhoid, cholera, influenza, and
tuberculosis. As a result, about half of the babies
born died before the age of five. The overcrowded
living conditions and the manufacturing industries
also caused serious air pollution problems.
What did Jacob Riis do to
help change conditions in
tenement apartments?
_______________________
_______________________
Underline the sentences
that describe the sanitation
problems caused by
crowded conditions in
cities.
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Guided Reading Workbook
Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date __________________
Section 3, continued
City governnments worked to reduce these
problems by hiring firefighters and police officers.
New sewage and drinking water purification
systems helped reduce the sanitation problem.
IMPROVING CITY LIFE
Reformers worked to improve living conditions in
the tenements. In 1901, new laws in New York
State required better ventilation and running water
in new buildings. Other states followed New York’s
lead.
Private organizations also helped the urban poor.
Some people developed settlement houses in
neighborhoods to provide education, recreation, and
social activities. These settlement houses had
professionals and volunteers on staff, including
educated women from wealthy families. Some of
these houses are still active today.
Jane Addams founded Hull House in Chicago,
the most famous settlement house. Addams and
Ellen Gates Starr moved into a rundown building
and turned it into Hull House. The staff served the
needs of immigrant families. It provided English
classes, day care, cooking and sewing classes, and
other services.
The Hull House staff also worked for reforms to
improve conditions for poor families. Florence
Kelley visited sweatshops and wrote about the
problems she saw there. She helped convince
lawmakers in Illinois to pass a law limiting work
hours for women and preventing child labor. She
later became the chief factory inspector for the state
and helped enforce the law.
What did cities do to
relieve the health and
safety problems caused by
crowding?
_______________________
_______________________
Were the settlement
houses founded by public
or private organizations?
_______________________
_______________________
CHALLENGE ACTIVITY
Critical Thinking: Analyze As the cities grew
rapidly, crowded conditions created many
problems. Why didn’t the people just move away
from the cities to find better conditions?
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Guided Reading Workbook
Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date __________________
Section 3, continued
settlement houses
Jane Addams
Hull House
Jacob Riis
Florence Kelley
tenements
DIRECTIONS On the line provided before each statement, write T if a
statement is true and F if a statement is false. If the statement is false,
write the correct term on the line after each sentence that makes the
sentence a true statement.
_____ 1. Jacob Riis became famous for exposing the horrible conditions in New
York City tenements.
___________________________________________________________
_____ 2. Settlement houses were neighborhood centers in poor areas that offered
education, recreation, and social activities.
___________________________________________________________
_____ 3. Few to no windows, little to no running water or plumbing, broken or
blocked fire escapes, and unclean water were typical of most settlement
houses.
___________________________________________________________
_____ 4. An important reformer at Hull House who visited factories and wrote
about the problem of child labor was Florence Kelley.
___________________________________________________________
_____ 5. The most famous settlement house, Hull House, was founded by Jacob
Riis and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889.
___________________________________________________________
_____ 6. Jane Addams received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 for her work with the
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
___________________________________________________________
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228
Guided Reading Workbook