Muckrakers
investigative journalists who published exposes of political scandals and industrial abuses.
Tenements
a high-density, cheap, five or six story housing unit designed for working class urban populations.
Jacob Riis
author and muckraking journalist of the book, "How the Other Half Lives"
Progressivism
the cause of political reformers who worked to improve the political system, fight poverty, conserve environmental resources, and increase government involvement in the economy.
Triangle Fire
a devastating fire that quickly spread through the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City in 1911, killing 146 people.
Beautiful City Movement
a turn of the 20th century movement that advocated landscape beautification, playgrounds, and more and better urban parks.
Margot Sanger
American birth control activist, author, nurse. Founded the first birth control clinic that would later evolve into Planned Parenthood.
political machine
a highly organized group of insiders that directs a political party.
mutual-aid society
an urban aid society that served members of an ethnic immigrant group, usually those from a particular province or town.
Yellow Journalism
a derogatory term for newspapers that specialized in sensationalistic reporting.
Hull House
one of the first and most famous social settlements, founded in 1889 by Jane Addams.
Pure Food and Drug Act
a 1906 law regulating the conditions in the food and drug industries to ensure a safe supply of food and medicine.
Florence Kelley
social and political reformer that worked against sweatshops, for minimum wage, 8 hour workdays, and children's rights. First General Secretary of the National Consumers League.
social settlement
a community welfare center that investigated the plight of the urban poor, raised funds to address urgent needs, and helped neighborhood residents advocate on their own behalf.
Upton Sinclair
author of "The Jungle" , muckraker who exposed the labor and unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking industry.