Jacob Riis and Jamestown

Photo by Jacob Riis

What is Jamestown's link to the birth of urban social reform?

Jacob Riis -- a Danish immigrant and itinerant laborer -- lived in Jamestown in 1871, a time when the village was growing rapidly and suffering from many of the conditions (overcrowding, poor sanitation) that plagued American cities. Later in life, as a pioneering photojournalist, Riis captured immigrant living conditions in New York on film and had a major influence on housing reform and the emergence of modern city planning.

Read more in The Guardian at: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/dec/01/picturing-place-how-images-shape-our-cities-snow-cholera-corbusier-graffiti.