Notes

In an effort to control the spread of disease, NYC began to screen schoolchildren for contagious diseases, provide visiting nurses to mothers with young children, and establish public health clinics.
Yet disease wasn't the only threat to city life. Poverty in the cities led to crime as well. Orphaned and homeless children sometimes resorted to committing minor crimes in order to survive. Gangs roamed the poor neighborhoods.
The problems of the cities didn't go unnoticed. Many dedicated people worked to improve urban life and help the poor. Some of this help came from religious groups that ran orphanages, prisons, hospitals, and recreation centers. The poor also received assistance from establishments called settlement houses. One of the most famous settlement houses was Chicago's Hull House, founded by Jane Addams in 1889.
The Changing City
Urban growth led to new departments. In the late 1800s, the look and feel of American cities changed with the introduction of skyscrapers, new kinds of public transportation, new bridges, and public parks.
Building Up-Not Out
Because of the limited space in cities, imaginative architects began building upward rather than outward. In the 1860s, architects started to use iron frames to strengthen the building walls. Iron supports- together with the safety elevator that Elisha Otis invented in 1852- made taller buildings possible.
In 1884 William LeBaron Jenney constructed a 10 story office building in Chicago. Supported by an iron-steel, it was the world's first skyscraper. Louis Sullivan was one of the first to design skyscrapers. Soon architects were designing higher structures. New York's Woolworth Building, completed in 1913, soared an incredible 55 stories-792 feet high. People called the building the Cathedral of Commerce.
New Designs
Some people looked to reshape the urban landscape. A group known as the "City Beautiful" movement believed city dwellers should be able to enjoy the beauties of nature. Frederick Law Olmstead, a leader in the movement, designed New York's Central Park as well as several parks in Boston.
Olmstead designed the fairgrounds for the world's Fair held in Chicago in 1892 and 1893. The fair revealed that American architecture was dynamic and original. The best architects thoroughly understood European styles and adapted them for modern use.
New Forms of Transportation
As cities grew, people needed new means of transportation. Streetcars, which horses pulled on tracks, provided