Coxey`s Army on the March (1894)… Jacob Coxey, himself a populist

Teacher Handout 5
script for possible use with the final four historical photographs in the multimedia presentation
Coxey’s Army on the March (1894)… Jacob Coxey, himself a populist (champion the rights of “ordinary poor persons”),
lead a march 500+ person march from Ohio to Wash, D.C. to protest the US government. They wanted the federal
government to create jobs for citizens because the US was then (1893) in the middle of the Panic of 1893, the worst
economic depression until that time in US history. Coxey’s “army” sought to rid society of poverty by asking the federal
government to create jobs (building bridges, paving roads, etc.) especially in this financially depressed era. However, there
was very little helpful response from then President Grover Cleveland (his second non-consecutive term) and Congress
(the 1894 mid-term elections was a Republican, known to be financial conservatives, landslide). The wagons, horses,
bikes, and walkers indicate various socio-economic strata, and the women, African-Americans, and kids indicate various
demographics completing the march. The marchers were eventually arrested in D.C. for trespassing on federal lands.
Salvation Army (1907)… The famous Salvation Army Christmas Red Kettles for collecting donation from private citizens
walking the public streets (of Chicago in this case). The Salvation Army is a non-military, overtly religious, Christian
(Methodist) evangelical organization. Its founders chanted “Soap, Soup and Salvation”, and hand a military structure
(generals, uniforms, flags, etc.). After relief efforts after the 1900 Texas hurricane and the 1906 California earthquake, the
Salvation Army grew rapidly. Women were very active in the religion and its charitable efforts. The Salvation Army was
soliciting the general public for charitable, philanthropic contributions.
Italian Immigrants in New York City (1888)… Jacob Riis, a famous muckraking photo-journalist (searching out and
publishing scandalous information) took this photo. Italian depicts Italian immigrants in a yard on the crime-ridden Jersey
Street in New York City. Riis called this the worst slum. “New Immigration” brought Catholics and Jews from Southern
and Eastern Europe who differed greatly from the Anglo-Saxon Protestants of “Old Immigration”. Italian immigrants got a
lot of public attention, partly because they kept coming at such a tremendous rate, and because they chiefly remained in
NYC. US demographic changed considerably, ethnic enclaves in US cities were often larger than major cities in
immigrants’ homelands “new immigrants” were unskilled, illiterate, unaccustomed to American culture, and poor…and
tended to fall into the same situation (life of poverty in a slum) in the U.S. as their situation in their homeland from which
they emigrated U.S. streets being "paved with gold" was not entirely wrong. U.S. poverty may have been better than
poverty elsewhere including: a more vibrant economy, active charitable organizations and federal government that worked
to better the immigrant's situation, state-sponsored education land for purchase, unlike in other nations where land was
controlled by the landed-aristocracy, and space to move around in to find new work, a new community, and perhaps a new
home
Shorpy Higginbotham (1910)… Lewis Hine, also a famous muckraking photo-journalist, took this photo. Remember him
from the 1st photo? He actively sought change in child-labor laws, by using his camera to educate the mass public to the
injustices of unfettered capitalism. These children and adults carrying bucket of grease to slather the train-tracks and make
smooth the ride for cars of coal moving from these Alabama mines to other parts of the nation. Poor children who formerly
worked on family farms were (due to industrialism) put to work in these mines. African-Americans and Southerners were
also affected by poverty, although not all poor and needy people were coal miners. Because of rapid industrialization and
urbanization, the coal-mining lifestyle affected most segments of society. Birmingham, Alabama was the industrial center
of the South home to major industries: coal, iron, and steel. Again, not all poor and needy people were coal miners. Again
we see why there seem to be so few parents at home with their children, they too are at work in the factory or
mine…sometimes with their children. The American idea of family structure is changing.