Discover records and interpretive passages that tell stories of the real people and diverse society behind one of history's most notorious unsolved cases.
Setting the Scene
A district on the "East End" of London, in 1888 Whitechapel was well known as a home for the less fortunate of English society. Overcrowding and disease were rampant, as orphans risking their lives for meager wages in workhouses and the unemployed struggled to survive. Life was hard, yet nothing in their brutal day-to-day routine could have prepared these humble citizens for a string of murders so horrific, it would change the connations of Whitechapel's name forever. The subsequent media frenzy and police investigation produced more questions than answers, pointing fingers not only at a gallery of suspects but at the poor and Whitechapel's Jewish population. As panic mounted and the police became overwhelmed with thousands of false leads, the case went cold, leaving a mystery that has captivated the public for over a century. To this day, investigators and Ripperologists from around the globe work tirelessly to put together the various pieces of these horrific crimes. Through their efforts, they hope to achieve something like justice for the five women whose lives were taken by a monster with a name that still lives in infamy-- Jack the Ripper.
