A jump into the past

Today I met up with my friend Derek to go check out the Tenement Museum. Derek had to do it for a class assigment and remembered I mentioned wanting to go so he invited me along. After an insane time trying to buy tickets online the night before (we've heard the tours often sell out) we finally got two student tickets for the Piecing It Together tour.

Derek and I got to the museum a little early so after a quick trip to Starbucks (hazlenut hot chocolate, yum!) we roamed around the gift shop for awhile. We learned a few Yiddish words from some playing cards and found a bunch of interesting books including one called I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. Most of the books in the gift shop were about cultural issues or New York through the years. Made for some pretty great browsing.

Right on time, at 2:45, an announcement came over the speaker for our tour to meet up with our tour guide, Max. The Piecing It Together tour focuses on two immigrant families in the later 1800's and early 1900's involved in the garment business in NYC. Before heading off on the tour we had to go around the circle, introduce ourselves and if we had any connection to the NYC garment industry, what it was. I completely forgot until we were halfway through the tour that my great-grandmother, a Norwegian immigrant, was a lace maker in the city! Oh well.


The backside of the Tenement Museum on Orchard Street


Our group headed into the house, which was actually an apartment building, and first saw the residence of the Levine family. Mom, Dad and five children lived in an apartment about 320 square feet. Not only did they live there, it was also their garment factory. The apartment was set up pretty much exactly how it would have been seen close to the turn of the century. I think it was in the 1890's. Eventually the family made enough money to move to Williamsburg in Brooklyn and open a shop out there.

Next we moved into the home of the Rogarshevsky's whom later changed their last name to Rosenthal. They were a Mom, Dad, two daughters and four sons. At this time, the early 1900's, working out of the home was no longer permitted unless you had a specific permit so this apartment was just set up as their home - again, exactly as it would have been in the early 1900's. The daughters slept in a twin bed head to toe and the sons slept with their heads on the couch and their feet on chairs. Not so comfortable! We learned about the strike led by 23 year old Clara Lemlick as well. VERY interesting. It's so crazy to think about people younger than me who really take a stand and make a difference. Pretty inspiring.

There are several other tours offered by the organization and I would love to go back and take another one. They range from an hour to two hours long. Some are inside the actual apartment building and some are walks around the Lower East Side. The tour groups did all seem to be pretty full so if you're going, I would suggest trying to buy tickets ahead of time. They're also a little on the expensive side (our student tickets were $15) but if you're into any immigrant issues and/or history of New York, I do recommend taking one of the tours!