Art
In the 1850s, thousands of American families crowded into poorly built tenements—cheap rental housing that prioritized profit over residents' health and safety. This etching by artist James McNeill Whistler documents the cramped, crumbling conditions that ordinary working people called home.
Art · Full story
You climb narrow stairs dark with grime, stepping over debris. The walls lean inward as if the building itself is exhausted. Clotheslines crisscross between windows where children lean out, gasping for air that the cramped rooms won't give them.
Reflect
Where do unsafe housing problems still exist in your community, and what makes them hard to fix?