Early Life
Jacob Riis's Home [1]
Jacob Riis was born on May 3rd, 1849 in a small coastal town in Denmark: Ribe. It is attested as the oldest city in Denmark. In his autobiography, Riis described the town’s tendency to resist change, saying that when he bought some “Pennsylvania oil,” it was regarded as a “doubtful domestic experiment.” The town still used quills and tinderboxes instead of metal pens and matches, and steamboats and railroads were non-existent. The town in the past was full of fighters, fighters of invaders and fighters of change — in fact, the town used to be the battlegrounds for a German invasion. [1]
It was in this humble town, Jacob Riis witnessed his first tenement, a place he called Rag Hall. Rag Hall was a decrepit, two-story building that sat in the shadows of a Valdemar castle. The gutters were infested with rats and the building was stuffed with ragged children. According to Riis, this “annoyed” him, and challenged him to help; during Christmas he received money as a present, and he in turn then gave it to the inhabitants of Rag Hall, on the condition that they fix up the place and attempted to lead better lives— though later on the man returned it, not sure whether it was right to take the money. The revelation of these horrible conditions, as well as his self-ambition as a “fighter”, was the force that drove Jacob Riis into the rest of his life.
It was in this humble town, Jacob Riis witnessed his first tenement, a place he called Rag Hall. Rag Hall was a decrepit, two-story building that sat in the shadows of a Valdemar castle. The gutters were infested with rats and the building was stuffed with ragged children. According to Riis, this “annoyed” him, and challenged him to help; during Christmas he received money as a present, and he in turn then gave it to the inhabitants of Rag Hall, on the condition that they fix up the place and attempted to lead better lives— though later on the man returned it, not sure whether it was right to take the money. The revelation of these horrible conditions, as well as his self-ambition as a “fighter”, was the force that drove Jacob Riis into the rest of his life.
Riis was the son of Niels Riis, a schoolmaster in the school in town. His father had dreams for Jacob Riis, hoping that he would follow in the same footsteps and take on a professional career. Jacob Riis however was more interested trade, and eventually became an apprentice for the town carpenter. Driven by ambition, and his need for money to win the girl he loved, Riis moved to Copenhagen, and then eventually across the Atlantic to New York for more opportunities. [2]