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NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - Few have done more to draw attention to New York's poor than Jacob Riis. Revealing New York's Other Half, a Museum of the City of New York exhibit, highlights his work.
When he arrived from Denmark, Riis spent years failing, much of it homeless. Eventually he found work as reporter.
Informed by his experiences and using his skills as a writer, lecturer and eventually photography, Riis is credited with changing dialogue on urban policy, housing and education. Guest Curator Bonnie Yochelson says he was the first person to do that. In 1890 he wrote the book "How the Other Half Lives."
After his death a box of photos were found in the attic of his family's Richmond Hill, Queens, home. They became the collection.