The Trench in Potter's Field

The Trench in Potter's Field is a black and white photograph produced by Danish-American photographer Jacob A. Riis, probably in 1890, depicting a trench used as a mass grave for tenement residents who died during the period of mass immigration in New York. This photograph was part of the larger work made by Riis to depict the conditions of the lower classes of New York in his photographic and journalistic work.[1][2]

The Trench in Potter's Field (c. 1890). The photograph depicts laborers loading coffins into an open trench at the city burial ground on Hart's Island.

Immigrants and economic degradation

In the late 19th century, masses of immigrants took shelter in tenements after passing through Ellis Island. However, due to the large influx of people immigrating to the United States, the tenement plan quickly failed. Immigrants were already faced with many challenges moving to the United States, in addition to the low economic state in which they found themselves. The people, including children, did not have the room, resources, or economic stability that they would need in order to survive. Soon after arriving, many were unable to afford food and other basic necessities, and thus they could afford to pay to live in the already-crowded tenements. The deprived poverty that spread throughout New York caused a great number of deaths.

Poverty and death

One of the many horrors that occurred in the tenements of New York were the trenches that were often found. These trenches were used as unmarked, mass graves for those who died in the tenements. Due to the massive amount of poverty suffered by those who were living in tenements, death occurred at a rapid rate, linking poverty and the trenches closely together. People were not able to afford anything; however, they were able to live inside the tenements. Death spread quickly, affecting people's lives at tenements, and ultimately, leading to their bodies being dumped in the trenches.

Analysis

The picture shows six men involved in the task of burying the dead in the common trench. The picture illustrates the depth in which the trenches were created in order to accommodate the body count-nearly three stories deep. Many of the bodies were stacked on top of one another, illustrating those who cannot afford and survive. Death was a matter of impact to housing towards the immigrants. There was nowhere else to get rid of the corpses once they died, except for trenches, even if they pass away inside the tenements. The trenches were a symbol of not only the government and wealthy people's contribution (or lack thereof) to the state New York was in, but the poverty that was suffered by the other half.[3]

Public collections

There are prints of this photograph at the International Center of Photography, in New York, and at the Museum of the City of New York.[4][5]

References
  1. "The Potter's Field, the Common Trench". Museum of the City of New York. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  2. "West Philadelphia Collaborative History - Potter's Field Burial Trench". collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  3. Jacob Riis, The Art Story
  4. The Trench in Potter's Field, International Center of Photography
  5. The Trench in Potter's Field, Museum of the City of New York
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