The Making of an American

The Making of an American, by
Jacob A. Riis

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Making of an American, by
Jacob A. Riis Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure
to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or
redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: The Making of an American
Author: Jacob A. Riis
Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6125] [Yes, we are more than one

year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on November 14,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE
MAKING OF AN AMERICAN ***

Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

[Illustration: "The MM Co."]
[Illustration: Jacob A. Riis]
THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN
BY JACOB A. RIIS
AUTHOR OF "HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES," "A TEN YEARS'
WAR," "OUT OF MULBERRY STREET," ETC.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
To LAMMET

TO THE READER
The papers which form this autobiography were originally published in
The Outlook, the chapter telling of my going "home to mother" in The
Churchman, and parts of one or two others in The Century Magazine.
To those who have been asking if they are made-up stories, let me say

here that they are not. And I am mighty glad they are not. I would not
have missed being in it all for anything.
J. A. R.
RICHMOND HILL, N.Y., October, 1901.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE MEETING ON THE LONG BRIDGE
CHAPTER II
I LAND IN NEW YORK AND TAKE A HAND IN THE GAME
CHAPTER III
I GO TO WAR AT LAST, AND SOW THE SEED OF FUTURE
CAMPAIGNS
CHAPTER IV
WORKING AND WANDERING
CHAPTER V
I GO INTO BUSINESS, HEADLONG
CHAPTER VI
IN WHICH I BECOME AN EDITOR AND RECEIVE MY FlRST
LOVE LETTER
CHAPTER VII

ELIZABETH TELLS HER STORY
CHAPTER VIII
EARLY MARRIED LIFE; I BECOME AN ADVERTISING
BUREAU; ON THE "TRIBUNE"
CHAPTER IX
LIFE IN MULBERRY STREET
CHAPTER X
MY DOG IS AVENGED
CHAPTER XI
THE BEND IS LAID BY THE HEELS
CHAPTER XII
I BECOME AN AUTHOR AND RESUME MY INTERRUPTED
CAREER AS A LECTURER
CHAPTER XIII
ROOSEVELT COMES--MULBERRY STREET'S GOLDEN AGE
CHAPTER XIV
I TRY TO GO TO THE WAR FOR THE THIRD AND LAST TlME
CHAPTER XV
WHEN I WENT HOME TO MOTHER
CHAPTER XVI

THE AMERICAN MADE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Jacob A. Riis
Our Stork
The Meeting on the Long Bridge
Ribe, from the Castle Hill
The View the Stork got of the Old Town
The Domkirke
Within the Domkirke
Mother
The Deserted Quay
Downstream, where Ships sailed once
A Cobblestone-paved Alley
Father
My Childhood's Home
Down by her Garden, on the River Nibs
The Picture her Mother gave me
Brady's Bend as I knew it
"I found the valley deserted and dead"

"The dead were much better company"
Lunching at Delmonico's
The Fight on the Police Station Steps
"There I set my traps"
Our Old Pastor
When I worked in the Buffalo Ship-yard
"One end of the town was burning while I was canvassing the other"
"I went to hear Horace Greeley address an open-air meeting"
"The wide world seemed suddenly a cold and far-off place"
"Hard Times"
Brother Simmons (the Rev. Ichabod Simmons)
The Letter
Elizabeth's Mother
Elizabeth's Home--"The Castle"
Elizabeth as I found her again
"I was face to face with my father"
Bringing the "Loved-up" Flowers
"Out into the open country, into the wide world,--our life's journey had
begun"
Mulberry Street
Tribune Police Bureau

"In which lay dying a French nobleman of proud and ancient name"
Our Office--my Partner, Mr. Ensign, at the Desk, I in the Corner
"About that interview, now," he drawled
"The carriage went on"
"The General said never a word"
Dr. Roger S. Tracy
General Ely Parker (Chief of the Six Nations)
The Lodging-room at the Leonard Street Police Station
The Church Street Station Lodging-room, in which I was robbed
The Yellow Newspapers' Contribution
The Mulberry Bend as it was
"The tenants bolted through the windows"
Lodgers at Five Cents a Spot
Bandits' Roost--a Mulberry Bend Alley
Bottle Alley, Mulberry Bend. Headquarters of