19 “Civilization’s Inferno”: The Rise and Reform of Industrial Cities

1880–1917

Urban America was full of Dickensian contrasts. The industrial city made possible the enormous wealth that enriched an elite class, built the infrastructure, and endowed the cultural institutions and entertainments that marked America’s urban renaissance. At the same time, many immigrant and working-class families struggled to survive. Factories and sweatshops provided jobs but dangers, too. Few workplace health and safety policies existed until tragedies forced legislators to heed the calls of reformers. Living conditions in the ethnically defined neighborhoods inspired social settlement work and a style of journalism exposing the seedy underbelly of America’s urban sprawl. African Americans faced their own challenges including lynching and mob violence for crimes committed and alleged. In the face of mounting urban challenges, labor and reform activists, including many women who pioneered and led these movements, targeted local, state, and national legislatures, pressuring them to institute reforms to make city living a decent and healthy possibility for the millions squeezed into the small spaces within the very large and bruising world of urban America.