Living in retched living conditions. In New York--- cramped, dirty unsanitary conditions. Unventilated apartments with no heating, no running water and no plumbing.
Some people lived in backyard apt. building shacks. Working conditions were worse. Dangerous equipment, poor ventilation in factories-- wage was very little. Sometimes they would lock the factories and once there was a fire and the workers could not get out and they perished. This was in 1913 at the Triangle Waist Company, in New York. On the day of the fire, all of the doors were locked to keep track of the women workers. 800 people were at work--146 people died and many more were injured. The poor immigrants lived in their own neighborhoods separated from the wealthy. Generally run down and dirty. They did not have access to hospitals and many women gave birth with the help of midwives.
Many women faced sexual harassment in the factories and were paid far less then men and were kept from the more highly paid and skilled labor. When immigrant tenants could not afford rent to their dismal apartments they were evicted. One woman spent her own hard-earned money to whitewash (paint) her apt. walls and did a few other minor renovations to welcome home her son-- when the lanlord saw these improvements he raised the rent because it was now worth more. She could not afford the rent and was then evicted. Many times land lords were seen as the enemy. Many immigrant families could not afford education for their daughters-- some women worked day and night to put themselves through school. There were many Americanization and education programs led by American social workers. These social workers were usually upper class women who wanted to change immigrant's lives for the better by teaching them American customs, hygiene and ways of life. Some of the immigrants benefited and others resisted. They set up milk stations (so mothers could get unspoiled milk for their babies) and lobbied for hire food and milk standards. Disease from malnourishment, and unhealthy conditions was rampant.
