US History

American Literature

The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)

The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)

This collection uses primary sources to explore the urbanization of Chicago through Theodore Dreiser&#39;s work, including his novel Sister Carrie.

An excerpt of the opening pages from the novel *Sister Carrie*, 1900.

In the opening pages of the novel, Dreiser sets the scene for Carrie’s arrival and adaptation to urban life. She first encounters Charles Drouet, a traveling salesman, on her train ride from Waukesha, Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois. 

Theodore Dreiser’s new foreword to his novel *Sister Carrie*, 1917.

Dreiser explains the difficulty he had getting his novel published due to fears about its supposed immorality.

A photograph of crowds outside the Chicago department store Marshall Field & Co., 1910.

This photograph features large crowds of men and women filling the sidewalks outside Marshall Field & Co. on State Street in downtown Chicago. The firm was founded in 1852 but became a destination shopping emporium by the late 1880s. The firm pioneered retail innovations such as revolving credit accounts, personal shoppers, the bridal registry, and elaborate window displays at the holidays.

A photograph of the beautiful interior of Chicago department store Marshall Field & Co., 1900.

This photograph of the interior of Marshall Field & Co. illustrates the grandeur of the space. The ceiling featured Tiffany stained glass mosaic tiles. This department store was a destination for local shoppers and tourists alike. Its gorgeous displays of merchandise were designed to encourage conspicuous consumption, and its open layout put shoppers on display.

A photograph of the downtown Chicago shopping district, 1905.

This photograph features large crowds of people filling the sidewalks outside of Marshall Field & Co. on State Street in downtown Chicago. Marshall Field & Co. was one of the great department stores at the turn-of-the-century, in a dense shopping district in Chicago. The firm was founded in 1852, but became a destination shopping emporium by the late 1880s. The firm pioneered retail innovations such as revolving credit accounts, personal shoppers, the bridal registry, and elaborate window displays at the holidays.

A photograph of young children working in a bottle factory in Chicago, ca. 1900.

This photograph shows very young children sorting bottles, under the supervision of two adult men, in the warehouse space of a bottle factory in the Little Italy section of Chicago. In this era, child labor was common, and there were few protections for the health and safety of workers. In this context, “survival of the fittest” was a common attitude.

An excerpt from essay by undercover journalist Bessie Van Vorst about working women’s labor conditions, 1903.

Bess Van Vorst’s investigative journalism article, “The woman that toils,” features text and illustrations detailing the challenges of women’s factory work and tenement life in Chicago. Van Vorst and her sister-in-law Marie Van Vorst posed as working women to experience these conditions firsthand. The authors were frequently criticized for having a condescending attitude toward their subjects.

An excerpt from Jane Addams’s book, *Twenty Years at Hull-House*, 1910.

Addams’ memoir recounts the first twenty years of the [settlement house](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sets/settlement-houses-in-the-progressive-era) she co-founded with Ellen Gates Starr in 1889. This chapter focuses on the lack of labor laws in the period. Hull-House settlement workers pushed for the eight-hour workday, the end to child labor, and other important occupational and safety protections.

An excerpt from D. M. Thompson’s report on urban development and  public improvements of US cities, 1889.

The data included shows the rapid development of Chicago throughout the nineteenth century, representative of national demographic shifts from rural to urban areas, with significant effects on per capita income, public space, and land values. Reports like this provided useful data for reformers, activists, and public officials to use to advocate for new government policies and programs to plan for future growth.

A clip from a film on urbanization by the Bureau of the Census, 1960.

This clip discusses the steep population growth of cities like Chicago from 1800 to 1980, and the country’s transformation from predominantly rural to predominantly urban.

An excerpt from Enrico Ferri’s *Socialism and Positive Science*, 1906.

Ferri explains principles of Herbert Spencer’s theory of social Darwinism, often reduced to the mantra of “survival of the fittest.” This theory sought to apply Darwinian evolution and natural selection to human behavior.

An essay about Theodore Dreiser excerpted from a book titled *Theodore Dreiser, America’s Foremost Novelist*, 1917.

This essay by Harris Merton Lyon, a journalist, short story writer, and colleague of Dreiser’s, describes Dreiser’s personal characteristics and major features of his novels.

An excerpt from Augustin Daly’s melodrama, *Under the Gaslight*, first produced in 1867.

This is the play Carrie acts in to great acclaim in *Sister Carrie*. Carrie fills in for the role of Laura Courtland, a beautiful young woman whose impending marriage to Trafford is stopped by mistaken identity and the dastardly Byke. In this scene, Laura rescues a kindly ex-soldier named Snorkey from the villainous Byke, who has tied him to railroad tracks to die.

An illustration from Augustin Daly’s melodrama, *Under the Gaslight*, first produced in 1867.

 This illustration is from Augustin Daly’s melodrama, *Under the Gaslight*, a play in which Carrie performs in Sister Carrie. Carrie plays the role of Laura Courtland, a beautiful young woman whose marriage is prevented by a case of mistaken identity and a villain named Byke. In this scene, Laura rescues a kindly ex-soldier named Snorkey from Byke, who has tied him to railroad tracks to die.

Questions

1. Carefully read the [opening pages of *Sister Carrie*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1634), focusing on how Dreiser introduces Carrie Meeber and Charles Drouet on a railroad car. How does each character understand the idea that clothes make the man (or woman)? How does Dreiser set up the role of luck versus the role of fate in shaping the future of modern American young people?
2. Throughout his career, Dreiser was accused of “immorality” and his works were subject to censorship. Read [Dreiser’s new foreword](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1635) to *Sister Carrie* and consider the novel’s treatment of Carrie’s relationships with various men. What do you think was so scandalous about this in the early twentieth century? (You might also compare his treatment of extramarital sex to other novels, such as [Nathaniel Hawthorne’s *The Scarlet Letter*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sets/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne) or [Kate Chopin’s *The Awakening*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sets/the-awakening-by-kate-chopin).)
3. Review the photographs of the Marshall Field and Co. department store’s [exterior](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1636), [interior](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1637), and [shopping district](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1638) in downtown Chicago. Compare to Chapter III of *Sister Carrie*, when Carrie seeks work at a department store. How do the elaborate displays of material goods shape Carrie’s behavior in the novel? How do these beautifully designed shopping palaces shape consumer activity? How do they shape the character of Chicago as a city?
4. Carefully read chapter IV of the novel, when Carrie looks for work. How are her experiences as an unskilled laborer similar to, or different from, those of the turn-of-the-century women and children in the [photograph of young children](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1639), the [excerpt from Bessie Van Vorst’s essay](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1640), and the [excerpt from *Twenty Years at Hull-House*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1641)? 
5. In the [excerpt from a report on urban development](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1642) and the [clip from a film on urbanization](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1643), we see how rapidly urbanization and industrialization transformed the United States, including previously small cities like Chicago. Review these sources, as well as the [excerpt on social Darwinism](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1644) and consider how these changes created new opportunities for anonymity, as some people reinvented themselves, while others become lost. What does Dreiser suggest accounts for some people’s success and others’ failures in this environment? Locate passages in *Sister Carrie* that demonstrate some of the tenets of social Darwinism.
6. In the [excerpt from *Theodore Dreiser, America’s Foremost Novelist*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1645), Harris Merton Lyon quotes William Marion Reedy as saying “Thank God Dreiser hasn’t got *style*. If he ever gets a style, it’s good-bye.” Randolph Bourne describes Dreiser as “complicated, but in a very understandable American way, the product of the uncouth forces of small-town life and the vast disorganization of the wider American world. As he reveals himself, it is a revelation of a certain broad level of the American soul.” Read the [opening pages of *Sister Carrie*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1634) and analyze it with these quotations in mind. Do you think Dreiser’s text lacks *style*? Discuss whether *Sister Carrie* tells its story with or without literary or artistic flourishes. How does Dreiser’s particular style or lack of style function to drive the storytelling? 
7. Read the [excerpt](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1646) and analyze the [illustration](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1647) from Augustin Daly’s melodrama *Under the Gaslight*. Closely read the scene from the novel when Carrie performs in this play to great acclaim (Chapter XVI). What kind of part is it that Carrie is playing? What makes her particularly effective in the role? 

Activity

1. Have a classroom debate on the role of literature in reflecting versus enforcing morality. Have one side represent Theodore Dreiser defending his novel, and the other side represent outraged community members who want to ban or censor his books.
2. Ask students to create posters advertising Carrie’s performance in *Under the Gaslight*. They should review the [excerpt](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1646) and the [illustration](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/sources/1647) from *Under the Gaslight* for ideas, as well as Chapter XVI of *Sister Carrie*.
3. Ask students to create a modern social media profile for Carrie Meeber. They should imagine a text message exchange between Carrie and Hurstwood at the end of the novel, as their fates diverge.

Teaching Guide: Exploring Theodore Dreiser’s *Sister Carrie* and Chicago

Resources

1. [Biography of Theodore Dreiser](https://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/rbm/dreiser/tdbio.html), Penn Libraries.  
2. [A Tour of Sister Carrie’s Chicago](http://airshipdaily.com/blog/tour-of-sister-carrie-chicago), The Airship.  
3. [Metropolitan Growth](http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/821.html), Encyclopedia of Chicago. 
4. [City Life in the Late 19th Century](http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/city/), Library of Congress. 


Overview

Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser, an influential and at times infamous author of literary naturalism, was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1871. The eleventh of thirteen children, he had an unhappy childhood shaped by poverty. At age fifteen, he left home. After several years of menial labor and some college, in 1892 he started as a journalist at the *Chicago Globe*. Interested in the work of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, Dreiser began writing fiction that explored ideas of social determinism and the “survival of the fittest,” particularly during a period of intense urbanization across the country. 

*Sister Carrie* (1900) was Dreiser’s first novel, and it reflects the ideas of literary naturalism through its attitude of scientific objectivity toward human behavior. The novel centers on Carrie Meeber, a young woman from rural Wisconsin who moves to Chicago to earn money. First seduced by a traveling salesman on her train ride into the city, Carrie quickly adapts to her new environment, where she learns to make use of other men and the opportunities she encounters. The novel shows the attractions and dangers of big city life in the late nineteenth century, with its glittering department stores, theaters, dance halls, and other opportunities to mingle with the opposite sex without supervision. The novel ends with Carrie becoming a successful stage actress in New York City, while one of her lovers spirals downward and commits suicide.

Dreiser’s frank treatment of sex and materialism, and his refusal to punish characters for their behavior, shocked readers. *Sister Carrie* was attacked by censors for its immorality, and the book was banned in New York City and Cincinnati in 1916. Dreiser continued to court controversy throughout his career. In 1929 he was subject to an obscenity trial for his bestselling novel *An American Tragedy* (1925). He was increasingly drawn to social justice efforts in the 1930s, including letter-writing campaigns as an anti-war activist, supporting the American Communist Party, and fighting racial injustice in the Scottsboro Boys case.

English

Theodore Dreiser’s *Sister Carrie* and the Urbanization of Chicago

theodore-dreiser_03_b39aeec0850b54c5d0328697897c5207.jpg

Courtesy of Chicago History Museum via Illinois Digital Heritage Hub.

Barnum, W.T., “Crowds outside Marshall Field & Company,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/219c6b12b27e24d333b5f9becb7c44fc.

A photograph of crowds outside the Chicago department store Marshall Field & Co., 1910.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 3 of 14 in the Primary Source Set Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and the Urbanization of Chicago