Immigration & Urbanization at the Turn of the Century

1. European: • 1870-1920, 20 mil • Why? Persecution (ex. Jews), overpop. In Europe, scarcity of land • Asian: • 1851-1883, 300,000 Chinese; by 1920, 200,000 Japanese • Immigration stations: • Ellis Island: New York Harbor; 1892- 1924 to 17 mil immigrants = Europe • Angel Island: San Francisco Harbor = Asia Immigration & Urbanization at the Turn of the Century Immigration • Restrictions: • Restrictions like the Chinese Exclusion Act & Gentlemen’s Agreement began • Aimed at Asians, primarily • Backlash • Immigrant numbers went up, strong anti-immigrant feelings emerged • anti-immigrant groups formed, they pushed for legislation

2. Ellis Island

3. Angel Island

4. Immigration & Urbanization at the Turn of the Century • Services: • Transportation – mass transportation systems are developed to move large masses • Water supply - public water works w/ sources of safe drinking water • Sanitation - sewer lines are developed by 1900, along w/ sanitation departments • Crime - NYC has 1st full time police force • Fire - major fires plagued cities. Chicago - 1871, San Francisco – 1906, NYC (Shirtwaist Factory Fire) - 1911 • Immigrants: • Settled in cities, worked as unskilled laborers • Americanization Movement • Many did not want to abandon their roots Urbanization • Problems: • Tenements - large, overcrowded, unsanitary • Late 1800’s, cities start passing laws to improve conditions

5. Life in the City 5-Cent Lodgings

6. Men’s Lodgings

7. Women’s Lodgings

8. Immigrant Family Lodgings

9. Chicago Fire – October 1871 Post Office & Customs House After the Fire Corner of Dearborn & Monroe Streets Before the Fire

10. San Francisco Fire - 1906 San Francisco City Hall Mission District – San Francisco

11. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, March 25, 1911 Fire started at the factory, most of the doors were locked and there was only one fire escape for the entire building. 145 women were killed.

12. Triangle Shirtwaist FactoryAsch Building, 8th and 10th Floors

13. Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910

14. Inside the Building After the Fire

15. Most Doors Were Locked

16. 10th Floor After the Fire

17. Dead Bodies on the Sidewalk

18. Scene at the Morgue

19. Relatives Review Bodies145 Dead

20. Page of theNew York Journal

21. Protestors March to City Hall

22. Women Workers Marchto City Hall

23. The Investigation

24. “The Shirtwaist Kings”Max Blanck and Isaac Harris These two were put on trial on manslaughter charges. Both were acquitted. However, lost a civil suit and had to pay the $75 to each family.

26. Francis PerkinsFuture Secretary Of Labor

27. Out of the Ashes • NYC created a Bureau of FirePrevention. • New strict building codes werepassed. • Tougher fire inspection ofsweatshops. • Growing momentum of support for women’s suffrage.

28. The Foundations Were Laidfor the New Deal Here in 1911 • Al Smith ran unsuccessfully in 1928 on many of the reform programs that would be successful for another New Yorker 4 years later – FDR. • In the 1930s, the federal governmentcreated OSHA [the Occupational Safety& Health Administration]. • The Wagner Act. [National Labor Relations Act, NLRA]; Employees shall have the right of self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities, for the purpose of collective bargaining • Francis Perkins  first female Cabinetmember [Secretary of Labor] in FDR’sadministration.