http://www.loc.gov/item/00694375

Americanization programs were created for new immigrants so they could get accommodated with American society and life. Immigrants of the same ethnic group relied on one another for support as they were forced to live in the same neighborhoods. The lower east side of Manhattan known for its Russian and Polish Jew immigrants was one of the biggest ethnic ghettos in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Factory jobs and open-air markets made up the immigrants’ source of income. Filmed in New York’s lower east side, this video shows a gathering of push-cart vendors so could sell their goods. The vendors did not have permits, so police officers could arrest them or simply ask them to leave. This video shows the economic disparity that immigrants were living in. While they took initiatives to elevate their economic status, the city was pushing back by crashing these open-air markets, harassing or arresting the street vendors.