Multimedia Collection

Sunshine and Shadow (1865 - 1898)
(New York series)

VHS
120 minutes
F128.3 .N5631 1999 v.3

The third episode chronicles the history of New York during the giddy decades following the Civil War - what Mark Twain called "the Gilded Age." During this period, New York grows at a staggering rate - demographically, geographically, and financially - building on its position as the commercial and cultural capital of America to become the headquarters of an entirely new corporate economy. Along the way, the city takes on enormous physical challenges (including the building of the Brooklyn Bridge), sees the rise of Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed, and finally confronts the terrible conditions of its slums through the stunning photographs of Jacob Riis. By the end of the episode, New York has become home to the world's greatest concentration of wealth, and the greatest concentration of poverty - a vast chasm it is not yet able to address. The episode ends with the consolidation of the five boroughs to form Greater New York on January 1, 1898.

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United States History

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