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