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Primary Source Sets
Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and the Urbanization of Chicago
A photograph of young children working in a bottle factory in Chicago, ca. 1900.

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.

Citation Information
“Men and children at a bottle factory,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/963cc2c3c5be94b344feb6c9bb6b5f32.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of University of Illinois Chicago via Illinois Digital Heritage Hub.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 6 of 14 in the Primary Source Set Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and the Urbanization of Chicago

Previous ItemNext Item
An excerpt of the opening pages from the novel Sister Carrie, 1900.
Theodore Dreiser’s new foreword to his novel Sister Carrie, 1917.
A photograph of crowds outside the Chicago department store Marshall Field & Co., 1910.
A photograph of the beautiful interior of Chicago department store Marshall Field & Co., 1900.
A photograph of the downtown Chicago shopping district, 1905.
A photograph of young children working in a bottle factory in Chicago, ca. 1900.
An excerpt from essay by undercover journalist Bessie Van Vorst about working women’s labor conditions, 1903.
An excerpt from Jane Addams’s book, Twenty Years at Hull-House, 1910.
An excerpt from D. M. Thompson’s report on urban development and public improvements of US cities, 1889.
A clip from a film on urbanization by the Bureau of the Census, 1960.
An excerpt from Enrico Ferri’s Socialism and Positive Science, 1906.
An essay about Theodore Dreiser excerpted from a book titled Theodore Dreiser, America’s Foremost Novelist, 1917.
An excerpt from Augustin Daly’s melodrama, Under the Gaslight, first produced in 1867.
An illustration from Augustin Daly’s melodrama, Under the Gaslight, first produced in 1867.

These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee. Explore resources and ideas for Using DPLA's Primary Source Sets in your classroom.

To give feedback, contact us at education@dp.la. You can also suggest a primary source set topic or view resources for National History Day.

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