[applause] ♪ ♪ everyte house rewind runs sunday at 10 a.m. eastern. for the next several weeks, we will feature highlights from the democratic and republican conventions back to 1948. this is american history tv only on c-span three.

you are looking at a time has video recorded by the library of congress showing the process of constructing the exhibition jac ob riis. revealing how the other half lives. next on the market history tv. we exhibit b exhibit to learn more about the life of the danish born journalist, social reformer and photographer. i wrote the complete collection of catalog of the photographs that were published on the occasion of this exhibition. began inment was -- the 1980's when i was looking at photographs the city of new york riis's photographs. a great paradox to his photograph. he was a journalist and a celebrity and he saved all the documentation that he wanted to

remember for posterity. he created set books and manuscripts. every scrap of paper. he abandoned his photograph because he did not think they were of any value apart from his work, apart from his argument in his article. s and publications. the way they were discovered is a fascinating story. 1914 was a photographer in , in the 1940's, a photographer noticed in his book how the other half live that on the title page, it says, with illustrations after photographs by the author. he said to himself, where are these photographs? after several years of searching, he tracked down riis's son and with much coercing he got his son to find

the pictures which turned out to be in the attic of the family's home in queens, new york. it was about to be turned down. his son discovered a box filled with 400 negatives, 300 lantern slides and almost 200 paper prints. and delivered them to alexander land's photographer. taking a couple years, he created an exhibition from the negatives making beautiful with thed working curator at the museum of the city of new york to put out an exhibition called battle with the slums named for one of bruce's books. -- riis's books. is as anlished ris important photographer and that is how we enter the history of photography. the paradox about him is that he

himself said he was a photographer after a fashion. he was not a real photographer according to himself. he used the camera for a few years. less than 10 years. pictures.ok about 300 about a third of which work-family snapshots and other things. not of historical importance. is most famous picture today bandit's roost. which shows a couple italian wler hats.ing bo the picture was copied by barton scorsese in the movie "gangs of new york." when he first had the idea to use photographs, he reached out to a friend was a photographer and found two photographers who flash.terested in

flash photography was the reason he had the idea to even use photographs at all. it a writer, journalist, writing in daily newspapers. writing about the conditions in the slums. he read in the newspaper in 1887 that there was this the invention using flash powder that could eliminate the darkness and he said, ok. he worked with two other photographers who were serious amateurs who are interested in flash. they were interested in the technology. , this wasphotographs scopicwith a stereo camera. two lenses. there are two images. it is the right side that has the hot. that is the famous image. >> the exhibition revealing how the other half lives can begin online at the library of

gov.ress website, loc. >> our road to the white house coverage continues in cleveland with live coverage of the republican party platform committee. monday on july 11, starting at 10 p.m. eastern. -- 10:00 a.m. you can. the committee is possible for drafting and improving the party's platform and submitting it to delegates. live coverage on c-span, the c-span radio app and c-span.org. now author and historian craig shirley. he was a guest on washington in an hour, you can watch extended portions of the 1976 republican convention. washington journal continues.