When ‘Slumming’ Was the Thing to Do |
In 1884, a headline in The New York Times proclaimed: “A fashionable London mania reaches New-York. Slumming parties to be the rage this winter.” |
It was one of the early indicators of what grew to be an entertainment phenomenon that lasted decades: well-off white New Yorkers exploring black, Chinese, gay or poor working-class communities. Popular neighborhoods for this voyeuristic pastime included Chinatown, Harlem and the Lowest East Side tenements, home to the “Hebrews.”
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Many were inspired by Jacob Riis to see how the other half lived, to the point that people would go into tenements unannounced, knock on doors and push their ways into the living spaces. “They masquerade as charity workers,” said Chad Heap, an American studies professor at George Washington University, whose book “Slumming: Sexual and Racial Encounters in American Nightlife 1885-1940″ was released last month. |
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