Minutes 27 March 1903
Item
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Title
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Minutes 27 March 1903
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Description
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[Page 1] March 27th
Every member responded to the roll call 27th of March at the house of Mrs. Sloan. This meeting had been anticipated with much interest and pleasure as its subject was Jacob A Riis and his book the Making of an American. Mrs. Sloan having just returned from N.Y. where she visited and investigated the scenes of Mr. Riis early struggles and subsequent improvement, (reforms), could speak with refreshing interest of the work he has done around the region of Mulberry Bend. Jacob Augustus Riis was born in Ribe, Denmark a delightfully quaint old Dutch town. From his earliest youth he seemed possessed with a zeal for reform. His first
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[Page 2] being against the rats in the sewers of his own home. The story of his love for his wife, a romance began in t he times of barefooted boyhood is the power, the golden cord through his life which binds and holds him, and draws him upward through all his trials and difficulties. He came to the country in 1870 because he was not thought worthy of the woman of his choice. He came with a knowledge of carpentering, no money and a determination to make himself worthy and equal to his lady love. After three years of vicissitudes in which he knew the depths of poverty and suffering, he gained the first round on the ladder leading to success, he became Police Reporter in the slums of N.Y. and hence in touch with the horrors of the city which stirred
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[Page 3] as never before in him the need of reform in sanitary conditions. After stupendous effort he gained the ear and interest of the powerful ones, and little by little the Reform in tenements, improved schools and small parks in crowded districts showed for his untiring labors. The work goes on, the end is not yet, and many may rise up to call Jacob Riis “Blessed.” Mrs. Dupuy spoke of his book, the Making of an American, which is really a story of his life- and he expressed the opinion that his natural affections and human sympathy were the qualities which raised him from the low estate into which he fell when he first arrived in this country. His natural affection was shown by his consistent
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[Page 4] devotion of his lady love, and his human sympathy by his absorbing sympathy for the children in the slums. It is good the know that this man is rewarded by a comfortably home in Richmond Hill, N.Y., where, surrounded by his wife and children, he is still, with pen and tongue advocating and advancing better conditions Reform for the poor in the cities. The minutes would be incomplete without reference to the noble array of current events furnished by Mrs. Smith and the first strawberries and ice cream of the season by our hostess. Mrs. O. [?] Edwards was the guest of the afternoon, and fresh from Washington could give us many hints of interesting events. The date of our next meeting was indefinitely postponed as Mrs. Smith expected to be absent from home.
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Subject
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Women-North Carolina-Davidson-Societies and clubs.
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Books and reading.
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Women-Societies and clubs.
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North Carolina-Davidson.
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Creator
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BookLovers Club
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Publisher
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Davidson College
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Date
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27 March 1903
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Rights
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For permission to reproduce image, contact archives@davidson.edu
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Language
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eng
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Type
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Text
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Identifier
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bl-023
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Coverage
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1903
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4049696
