At the end of the 19th Century, there were few social programs in the United States. Suffering was the norm for the poor, especially in big cities. During these late 90’s (1890s), coverage of the plight of the poor, along with coverage of the corruption in big business and government was seen more often in magazines and newspapers. These true stories shed light on the previously unreported side of life; the dirtiness, the unpleasant; the muck. The reporters who wrote these stories came to be known as “muckrakers”. There was a lot of prejudice against immigrants and especially the poor. Muckrakers educated and urged the public to help those in need, to put pressure on government and businesses to reform and to demand better living conditions and decent schools for the poor.
Jacob Riis emigrated from Denmark to New York City and was both a writer and photographer. As one of the first “muckrakers”, he used his talents to show readers photos and information the wealthy previously did not know about. Many were angered by what they were learning and joined Riis in his demands for needed reforms. There is a park dedicated to Riis on the northwest side of Chicago that I passed many times before finding out why he had this honor.
President Theodore Roosevelt said of Jacob Riis’ work; “The countless evils which lurk in the dark corners of our civic institutions, which stalk abroad in the slums, and have their permanent abode in the crowded tenement houses, have met in Mr. Riis the most formidable opponent ever encountered by them” -McClures Magazine, 1901
Another famous muckraker was Ida Minerva Tarbell. Ida M. Tarbell is best known for her negative expose on John D. Rockefeller and the business practices of Standard Oil. Using hundreds of thousands of documents, interviews with company executives, government regulators and more she revolutionized investigative journalism. Tarbell did not like the muckraker label. She decries simple attacks and calls for thorough research in an article she wrote;
“…this classification of muckraker, which I did not like. All the radical element, and I numbered many friends among them, were begging me to join their movements. I soon found that most of them wanted attacks. They had little interest in balanced findings. Now I was convinced that in the long run the public they were trying to stir would weary of vituperation, that if you were to secure permanent results the mind must be convinced.”
Ida Tarbell’s house in Easton, Connecticut is now a National Monument. Her name is often a crossword puzzle clue. I like to think it is a tip of the hat to these brave pioneers of truth and progress. Film maker Michael Moore, writer Michael Pollan and Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibi are journalists still working for the ideals of these “muckrakers”.
sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Riis#cite_note-44
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_M._Tarbell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Tarbell_House