Homelessness, Down-and-Out, Broke
Reportage
Description
Among the most common of poses: journalists who elect to live as tramps, the homeless, or the abject poor.
Reporters
Media History
The reporting was intended for these media types: Magazine, Newspaper, Book
Additional Resources
- "Crossing Class Boundaries" - Toby Higbie - Social Science History
- "Youth on the Road: Reflections on the History of Tramping" - Judith Adler - Annals of Tourism Research
- "Undercover Explorations of the 'Other Half,' or the Writer as Class Transvestite" - Eric Schocket - Representations
- Jacob Riis' "How the Other Hald Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York"
Articles, Books, Video/Film
I-"Exploring the World of the Urban Derelict" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
April 27, 1980
In this first installment of Neil Henry's series "Down & Out" where he lived as a bum in Baltimore and Washington, ...II-"The Bum's Life in Baltimore" - Neil Henry - Washington Post | Street People Share Secrets of Survival
April 28, 1980
In this second article in his "Down & Out" series, reporter Neil Henry writes about his daily routine while living ...III-'Work!' Brings Cheers at Local 194's Hiring Hall" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
April 29, 1980
In the third article in "Down & Out," Henry writes about the difficulties of finding work for Baltimore's homeless.IV-"Learning the Tricks of Walking a Md. Throwaway Paper Route" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
April 30, 1980
In the fourth article in "Down & Out" series, Henry writes about Johnny, a dignified man who helped him secure a job ...V-"Money Brings a Taste of 'Real Living" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
May 1, 1980
Neil Henry describes how the bums at Helping-Up mission let loose at the Edison hotel and frequent local peep shows ...VI-"All-Night Cafe: A Classroom on How to Survive" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
May 2, 1980
Neil Henry writes about the challenges of finding shelter on a freezing night in suburban Baltimore.VII-"Snug Haven But No Sleep at Crisis Center" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
May 3, 1980
In the seventh installment of his "Down & Out" series for The Washington Post, Neil Henry writes about the night he ...VIII-"In D.C., Raw and Threatening Things" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
May 4, 1980
Neil Henry arrives in Washington D.C. from Baltimore and soon realizes that he must constantly guard against scams ...IX-"A Washington Winter's Tale: Fear Hunger, Loathing, Abuse" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
May 5, 1980
In the ninth article in the series "Down & Out," Henry spends a night on heating vent in downtown D.C., only to be ...X-"Tapping 'The Bank'" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
May 6, 1980
In the tenth article in the series "Down & Out," Henry reveals all the different ways D.C.'s homeless make ends ...XI-"'What's in It for Me?' in Washington" - Neil Henry - Washington Post
May 7, 1980
In the second to last installment of the "Down & Out" series, Neil Henry writes about the strategies and cons of ...XII-"The Music Man" - Neil Henry - Washington Post | Mozart-Playing New Yorker Learns a Secret and Laughs
May 8, 1980
This final article in the "Down & Out" series is a profile of Allie, a bright, multilingual young man Henry met in ...Jack London's People of the Abyss
1904Review: Jack London's "People of the Abyss" - Edward Clark Marsh - The Bookman
February 1, 1904
An article that is highly critical of Jack London's account of poverty in London's East End as depicted in his book ...Review: Jack London's "People of the Abyss" - Unsigned - Current Literature
April 1, 1904
A very positive but unsigned review of Jack London's "People of the Abyss." The author applauds the book for its ...I-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail | Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius
March 12, 1892
Kathleen "Kit" Coleman traveled overseas in 1892 to go undercover as a male to report for The Toronto Mail to ...II-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail | Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius
March 19, 1892
Kathleen "Kit" Coleman traveled overseas in 1892 to go undercover as a male to report for The Toronto Mail to ...III-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail | Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius
March 26, 1892
Kathleen "Kit" Coleman traveled overseas in 1892 to go undercover as a male to report for The Toronto Mail to ...IV-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail | Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius
April 2, 1892
Kathleen "Kit" Coleman traveled overseas in 1892 to go undercover as a male to report for The Toronto Mail to ...V-"Woman's Kingdom" - Kathleen "Kit" Coleman - The Toronto Mail | Kit's Gossip and Chit Chat: Tramps With the London Genius
April 16, 1892
Kathleen "Kit" Coleman traveled overseas in 1892 to go undercover as a male to report for The Toronto Mail to ...I-"An Experience Meeting in Water Street" - Helen Campbell - Sunday Afternoon
January 1, 1879
This article consists of Campbell's ethnographic account of one particular Sunday afternoon she spent in the ...II-"Sunday in Water Street" - Helen Campbell - Sunday Afternoon
February 1, 1879
A continuation of Campbell's January article in Sunday Afternoon, where she recounts her experience spending a ...III-"The Tenement House Question" - Helen Campbell - Sunday Afternoon
April 1, 1879
This article recounts a meeting between a group of New York City's social reformers as they discuss how to best to ...V-"An Experiment and What Came of It" - Helen Campbell - Sunday Afternoon
June 1, 1879
In this article, Campbell takes it upon herself to teach the daughters of a family how to cook a high quality, but ...VI-"Max" - Helen Campbell - Sunday Afternoon
July 1, 1879
Campbell relays her conversation with Max, a lifelong resident of the Lower Manhattan's tenements. Campbell's ...IV-"Six Stories in One" - Helen Campbell - Sunday Afternoon
May 1, 1879
In this article, Campbell discusses the housing conditions and crime rampant in the tenements of Lower Manhattan ...Helen Campbell's "The Problem of the Poor: A Record of Quiet Work in Unquiet Places"
1882I-"Prisoners of Poverty: Women wage-workers, their trades and their lives" - Helen Campbell - New York Tribune | "Worker and Trade"
October 24, 1886
This first installment of Campbell's "Prisoners of Poverty" series for the New York Tribune provides an overview of ...II-"Prisoners of Poverty: Women wage-workers, their trades and their lives" - Helen Campbell - New York Tribune | "The Case of Rose Haggerty"
October 31, 1886
In her second "Prisoners of Poverty' installment, Campbell tells the story of Rose, a fourteen-year-old girl who ...III-"Prisoners of Poverty: Women wage-workers, their trades and their lives" - Helen Campbell - New York Tribune | "Some Methods of a Prosperous Firm"
November 7, 1886
In this installment of her "Prisoners of Poverty" series, Helen Campbell explores the double-edged sword of the ...IV-"Prisoners of Poverty: Women wage-workers, their trades and their lives" - Helen Campbell - New York Tribune | "The Bargain Counter"
November 14, 1886
This fourth installment of "Prisoners of Poverty" focuses on women who run garment manufacturing sweatshops. ...V-"Prisoners of Poverty: Women wage-workers, their trades and their lives" - Helen Campbell - New York Tribune | "A Fashionable Dressmaker"
November 21, 1886
An account of the shoddy and deceptive practices employed by a popular Union-Square-area dressmaker. Campbell ...I-"Lived Three Months on Five Cents a Day" - Charles H. Garrett - New York Evening World | Strange Experiences of Charles H. Garrett, Who Was Forced to Live in New York Cheaply; Nickel a Day for Three Months; A Wonderful Story of Local Life Simply told -- What the Unemployed May Have to Endure
July 18, 1898
Garrett's description of how he experienced life on an actual budget of a nickel a day. His series ran in the ...I-"Girl Toilers of the Great City" - Catherine King - New York Evening World | Evening World Woman Reporter Seeks Work at Living Wages; Catherine King in Department Store; Treated Kindly by Everybody, but the Hours Are Long and Pay Small for Beginners
July 26, 1898
"How can a woman, suddenly thrown upon her own resources, become a bread-winner in New York City? It is not a new ...II-"Five Cents a Day for This Man's Living" - Charles H. Garrett - New York Evening World | The Second Chapter of an Amazing True Tale of Existence in New York
July 19, 1898
From the editors precede: "There's not a line of imagination or exaggeration in the story of his five-cents-a-day ...II-"Girl Toilers' Work and Wages" - Catherine King - New York Evening World | Catherine King's Second Trial for a Place Was a Big Restaurant; Adjured Not to Loaf; She Learns How to Fill Mustard Pots and to Balance Big Tray of Dishes
July 27, 1898
"The first chapter of an Evening World newspaper woman's experiences in investigating the work and wages of New ...III-"FIve Cents a Day, No Work, No Play" - Charles H. Garrett - New York Evening World | Mr. Garrett Continues the Thrilling True Story of His Fight for Food in New York; First Trip to a Pawnshop; Too Weak--Looking to Get a Job on a Ship--Students Respect his Cheap-Living Ideas
July 20, 1898
From the editors' precede: "How to live on five cents a day is what Charles H. Garrett is telling the people of New ...III-"Girl Toilers With the Needle and Their Pay" - Catherine King - New York Evening World | Catherine King Works in Stylish Modiste's as a Beginner; Little Pay for a Year's Work; Fixes Society Woman's Gown at Redfern's and Sews with the Tired Workers
July 29, 1898
Catherine King goes on to her third day of trying different jobs. Today she is a dressmaker.IV-"Five Cents a Day; A Man's Life" - Charles H. Garrett - New York Evening World | Mr. Garrett's 4th Chapter on His Hard Experience in New York Living; He Does His Own Laundry; News from Papers Picked Up in the Parks -- Wisdom Gained from Accidents -- What He'll Tell To-Morrow"
July 21, 1898
Fourth chapter in Charles Garrett's tell of living on a nickel a day, not as a newspaper pose but because he really ...IV-"Girl Toilers' Chance at Selling Books" - Catherine King - New York Evening World | Catherine King Does Not Find Them to Be the Most Encouraging; The Women's Rebuffs Hurt; A Tip on Working Office Buildings, Despite Rules, but It Didn't Work for Sales
August 1, 1898
Catherine King's fourth day investigating different kinds of jobs. Today she is in an office.V-"Living Upon Five Cents a Day" - Charles H. Garrett - New York Evening World | Mr. Garrett Goes on Showing How He Found It Possible but Often Very Painful; Gold Collar Button, 1 Meal; The Narrator Mends His Own Shoes -- Sells a Story, Good LUck, and Hears of a Sick Mother, Which is Grief.
July 22, 1898
Chapter Five in Charles H. Garrett's tale of how he managed for months on almost no money, not for a newspaper ...V-"A Day as a Cloak Model" - Catherine King - New York Evening World | Catherine King Works in a Big Mercantile House on Broadway; The Buyer and His Luncheons; Girls Must Have Fine Figures and Wear Garments So They Sell Readily
August 3, 1898
Catherine King's fifth day investigating different kinds of jobs.VI-"New York Life at Five Cents a Day" - Charles H. Garrett - New York Evening World | Not a Cheerful Proposition, as Mr. Garrett's Story Goes on to Show Very Plainly.
July 23, 1898
Penultimate chapter in Charles H. Garrett's recounting of how he lived in utter penury in New York City.VII-"From Five Cents a Day to a Waldorf Feast" - Charles. H. Garrett - New York Evening World | Mr. Garrett Departs from His Cheap Living for a Special Occasion.
July 25, 1898
From his five cent meals to a fifteen-cent feast to a fifteen dollar revel for Charles H. Garrett after months of ...VI-"The First Steps in a Chorus Girl's Life" - Catherine King - New York Evening World | Catherine King, After Much Tribulation, Gets a Position at Weber & Fields's; Such a Long Chase For Work; Though Snubbed by Some Managers, Others Were Kind and She Succeeded
August 8, 1898
Catherine King's sixth and final day investigating different jobs in New York City.II - "Where Can a Girl Alone in New York Find Assistance?" - Emmeline Pendennis - New York Evening World | "Second Day's Experiences of a Young Woman in Quest of Shelter and Work in the Great City Told to Evening World Readers"
February 6, 1905V - "Where Can a Girl Alone in New York Find Assistance?" - Emmeline Pendennis - New York Evening World
February 9, 1905III - "Where Can a Girl Alone in New York Find Assistance?" - Emmeline Pendennis - New York Evening World
February 7, 1905IV - "Where Can a Girl Alone in New York Find Assistance?" - Emmeline Pendennis - New York Evening World
February 8, 1905VI - "Where Can a Girl Alone in New York Find Assistance?" - Emmeline Pendennis - New York Evening World
February 10, 1905I - "Where Can a Girl Alone in New York Find Assistance?" - Emmeline Pendennis - New York Evening World | "Story of a Young Woman's Quest of Shelter and Work on Finding Herself Stranded in the Great Metropolis Without Any Friends; Her Status Akin to an Alien Immigrant Who Should Be Deported -- An Experience at the 'Maggie Lou'- 'Go Home' - Ever the Cry"""
February 4, 1905I- "How Jobless, Hungry Girls Live Told by Adela Rogers St. Johns" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | Famous Writer Pens Vividly Dramatic Story of Hardships, Rebuffs and Suffering Endured in Battling Wolf
December 20, 1931
Adela Rogers writes a series in the LA Examiner about her experience posing as an unemployed, poor and friendless ...II-"'Penniless Woman' Fed by Stranger, Sleeps in Auto" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | Adela Rogers St. Johns Relates How She Spent First Night as 'Depression Victim', Tramps Street Fearing Man Would Accost Her
December 21, 1931
Adela Rogers writes a series in the LA Examiner about her experience posing as an unemployed, poor and friendless ...III- "Any Woman Can Eat, Sleep if She Knows How to Do Housework, Writer Finds" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | 'Mother's Helper' Jobs Always Open, but Hard Tasks – Pay Little – Most Unfortunates Steer Clear of Family 'Slaving'
December 22, 1931
Adela Rogers writes a series in the LA Examiner about her experience posing as an unemployed, poor and friendless ...IV- "Suspicion's Gulf Separating House Worker, Employer" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | Writer Takes Job as Mother's Helper in Small Family – $15 Month – Tasks Prove Hard, but Kindness Shown Her Brings Joy
December 23, 1931
Adela Rogers writes a series in the LA Examiner about her experience posing as an unemployed, poor and friendless ...V- "Writer Forced to Charity; Meets Bar as Transient" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | Refused Help by Community Chest After Long Wait, Finally Sent to Christ Faith Mission Where All Received With Equal Kindness
December 24, 1931
Adela Rogers writes a series in the LA Examiner about her experience posing as an unemployed, poor and friendless ...VI- "Jobless Women Hunger Also for Cleanliness" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | Shabbiness Breaks Their Morale, and Soap Is Precious – Hard Road – Writer Penetrates Further Into Grimm Reality
December 25, 1931
Adela Rogers writes a series in the LA Examiner about her experience posing as an unemployed, poor and friendless ...VII- "$2 By Six o'Clock Cost of Avoiding Charity Maelstrom" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | Writer Tells How She Begged Money for Her Flowers - Rebuffs - Trials and Troubles of Girls Selling to Public Revealed
December 28, 1931
Adela Rogers writes a series in the LA Examiner about her experience posing as an unemployed, poor and friendless ...VIII- "Present Facilities Can Aid Women in Need, Says Writer" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | 'Chest Should Have Central Bureau to Direct Help' - 'War Times' - 'Agencies Not Awake to Desperate Need of Jobless'
December 29, 1931
Adela Rogers writes a series in the LA Examiner about her experience posing as an unemployed, poor and friendless ...IX- "Associated Group of 100,000 Women Best Bet for Idle" - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles Examiner | Writer Finds It Provided 55,000 Hours Work - Many Helped - Financial Aid Urged for Committee by Miss St. Johns
December 30, 1931
In the last part of Adela Rogers St. Johns' experience posing as an unemployed woman, she concludes what one major ...Edwin Brown's "Broke: The Man Without a Dime"
1913George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London"
1933"An Experiment in Misery" - Stephen Crane - New York Press
April 22, 1894"An Experiment in Luxury" - Stephen Crane - New York Press
April 29, 1894"Begging as an Avocation" - Viola Roseboro - New York World | An Adventurous Woman Goes Out Asking Alms in the Street; She Borrows Some Old Clothes; Sneaks Out of the House and Faces the World; Sixty-three Cents for a Half Day's Toil; Not a Very Hard Business; Men Didn't Contribute but Women Were Victims
December 11, 1887
Viola Roseboro spends half a day in the guise of a beggar asking alms on New York's streets."Just Another Night on Crack Street" - Philippe Bourgois - New York Times and his book, "In Search of Respect" | An Anthropologist on Fieldwork Leave from San Francisco State University Is Writing a Book About Street Culture in East Harlem
November 12, 1989
An anthropologist does ethnographic research on East Harlem street culture."Girdles the Globe Without a Cent" - Harry A. Franck - New York Times
March 20, 1910"Undercover Reporter Gains Dh150 in 20 Minutes by Begging" - Staff Report - Gulf News | Dubai Police Arrest 131 Beggars During Campaign Against Begging Since July 17
August 6, 2012
In Dubai, a reporter goes undercover as a beggar with the permission of the police.I-"In the Guise of a Beggar" - E.M.S - New York World | A Young Woman's Nervy Exploit for the Sunday World; The Poor Who Befriend the Poor
March 16, 1890
Journalist goes undercover to exploit the poor.III-"A Woman in the Steerage" - S. J. Stevenson - New York World | What a Young Lady Experienced on the Adriatic - Wretched Food and Quarters
March 16, 1890
S. J. Stevenson observes the conditions in steerage while traveling on the White Star Steamer Adriatic."Bottled Dreams" - Dick J. Reavis - Dallas Observer | A Tale of Street People
December 17, 1992
Dick J. Reavis goes undercover to report about how winos live and being homeless."I Was a Bum" - Dick J. Reavis - Texas Monthly | Skid Row, Where the Good Things in Life Are a Fresh Bottle, a Soup Kitchen, and a Sunny Street Corner
May 1, 1978
Dick J. Reavis posed as a homeless man to experience Houston's Star of Hope Mission.Adam Shepard's "Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream"
2008Paul Gohre's "Three Months in a Workshop: A Practical Study"
1895Charles Rumford Walker's "Steel: The Diary of a Furnace Worker"
1922"Four Years in the Underbrush: Adventures as a Working Woman in New York"
1921"Panhandling Undercover" - Raymond Rendleman - Lake Oswego Review
January 30, 2014
Report on the undercover investigation of David P. Spears, who studied the profitability of panhandling by standing ..."A Night in a Model Lodging House" - John Stanley James - Argus
April 15, 1876
John Stanley James, writing as "Vagabond" spends a night in a lodging house for the down and out.