Dead Horses in American History (XIII)

Children playing next to a dead horse, Chicago, 1893

This is probably my favorite image for teaching in American history. There is so much going on here. The children playing next to a dead horse seemingly uninterested in its existence. The slum where they live is so obvious to the viewer. The condition of the road is so bad. And of course, once you start looking at it, you realize these kids are hanging their feet down in an open sewer.

I have occasionally seen this image cited as being taken in New York, but more often it is Chicago. It doesn’t really matter, but I wanted to mention it in case some of you who are going to spend more time hunting this kind of thing down than I am willing to do sees something suggesting the city or date is incorrect, which of course you should share.

….Our indefatigable commenter-investigators have shown that the image is indeed from New York, between 1900 and 1906.