Organization Details

Jacob A. Riis was the founder of the Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House. He was a native of Ribe, Denmark, and came to New York City in 1870. Riis's book, "How the Other Half Lives" exposed conditions previously thought not to exist in America. He used photography to bring unprecedented public awareness to pressing social problems through a relatively new medium.

In 1888, Jacob A. Riis collaborated with The King's Daughters, an organization of Episcopalian church women, to establish a Settlement House to help newly arrived immigrants. In the 1940's and 50's, Riis Settlement began to offer programs for residents of public housing developments in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. At the same time, the original Settlement House building in the Lower East Side was sold; in 1950, Jacob A. Riis Settlement House moved all of its activities to the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, Queens.

Address

1025 41st Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
(718) 784-7447 x129

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