Researching Poverty in the United States

Riis, a Danish immigrant, produced this pioneering work of photojournalism while working as a police reporter. Similar works followed, including The Children of the Poor, Children of the Tenements, The Battle with the Slums, and Out of Mulberry Street.

Unlike the other titles in this list, The Grapes of Wrath is a novel, perhaps the most famous fictional account of American poverty. It explores the experiences of a migrant family during the Great Depression. This link is to the record of the first edition owned by the UMD Libraries Special Collections. This copy does not circulate, but the LIbraries own other copies that can be borrowed.

This link is to the record of a later edition of the work owned by the UMD Libraries Special Collections. The UMD Libraries do not own a circulating copy of the book, but it can be borrowed from another library.

This book is widely regarded as inspiring the War on Poverty of the 1960s.