{"word_count": 175, "character_count": 1237}
BURNSTEIN, Daniel Eli. Next to godliness, Confronting Dirt and Despair in Progressive Era New York City. University of Illinois Press, 2006       &#34;To many Progressive Era reformers, the extent of street cleanliness was an important gauge for determining whether a city was providing the conditions necessary for impoverished immigrants to attain a state of &#34;decency&#34;--a level of individual well-being and morality that would help ensure a healthy and orderly city. Daniel Eli Burnstein's study examines prominent street sanitation issues in Progressive Era New York City--ranging from garbage strikes to &#34;juvenile cleaning leagues&#34;--to explore how middle-class reformers amassed a cross-class and cross-ethnic base of support for social reform measures to a degree greater than in practically any other period of prosperity in U.S. history. The struggle for enhanced civic sanitation serves as a window for viewing Progressive Era social reformers' attitudes, particularly their emphasis on mutual obligations between the haves and have-nots, and their recognition of the role of negative social and physical conditions in influencing individual behaviors.&#34;  Abstract University of Illinois Press , read more ... 