| October 27, 2002 |
Previous | Next |
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Between  1870 and 1915, over 10,000 people -- mostly urban immigrants -- lived in one of the 20 apartments at 97 Orchard Street. Visit this site to explore the tenement, which typically housed seven or more people crowded into 325 square feet of living space. Visit a few of the families in the Urban Log Cabin section, which uses dollhouse dioramas to depict the homes of Russian Jews, Polish immigrants, New Yorkers of German descent, Greek Sephardic Jews, and naturalized Yiddish families. Dig under the floorboards to find old milk bottle tops, a Ouija board, cigarettes, and shoes, or peel through 13 layers of wallpaper that date from the 1870s to the 1930s. The QuickTime panoramas of two apartments reveal expressive details about people living under one roof. Look at the decorations a Sicilian family used to make the best of their tiny rooms. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum weaves a colorful tapestry from the backgrounds of these working-class Americans. (in New York) |
|
Email this Pick
Save to del.icio.us
Save to My Web
Digg This
|
|
|
|
|
