New York City Museum Brings Tenement Experience to Life

by Colette Connolly

Want to take your kids on a fascinating journey back in time? Then visit 97 Orchard Street, the nation’s first official archive of the tenement experience in New York City.

My husband and I are history buffs and so is our 12-year-old daughter. We wondered, however, if our 7-year-old son would take to the animated history lesson, but we need not have worried, because, as it turned out, we chose one of the museum’s most child-friendly tours.

“The Confino Living History Tour” reflects the lives of the Confino family, who came to the United States from Kastoria (once the Ottoman Empire, now Greece) in 1914. The hour-long tour is one of several conducted by the museum, designed to promote tolerance and give an historical perspective to the immigrant and migrant experience on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

The museum describes this home as a “living history” apartment, and like the other five apartments in the building, visitors can view furniture and other artifacts from the period and try on clothing if they wish.

Before climbing its narrow, wooden staircase, the docent chose four people from the group to take on the role of a newly arrived immigrant family. In an effort to familiarize ourselves with this new environment, we were to ask the costumed guide playing the role of 15-year-old Victoria Confino questions pertaining only to the time period. Modern day references would be ignored, we were warned.

The Confino home was particularly interesting to the older children in the group. My daughter had just read a book about the life of a young Jewish girl growing up in this very neighborhood, and so she found Victoria’s story a fascinating one.

Were we familiar with the nickelodeon (the old movie houses)? Had we tasted the latest soda drink, Coca Cola? And had we been to the Coney Island rides, a favorite destination? The guide enthusiastically interacted with the children, encouraging them to ask questions, and playfully tried on a cap on my son to illustrate the popular attire of the day.

Sitting in the Confino’s cramped living room, it was hard to believe that an entire family could live in such small quarters. Yet, they and many others like them did just that. We were told that life in New York was difficult for this Sephardic Jewish family. The Confino’s religious customs often clashed with the ways of the more prevalent Eastern European Jews, and in addition to eating different food, they also spoke another language.

We also discovered that at least 10 people lived in this three-room apartment at one time, most of them sleeping in an 11 by 12-foot, 6-inch area known as the “front room.” A tiny bedroom in the back of the apartment accommodated Victoria’s mother, father and youngest sibling.

Beyond the front room was the kitchen, which consisted of a stove and a gas light, a relatively new convenience at the time. The guide gave us a quick lesson on how to switch on the lights and use the meter, and the children in our group were encouraged to try out the “agitator,” which was used to wash clothes.

Before we knew it, our time with “Victoria” was up. Like many visitors, we had stepped into 97 Orchard Street not knowing what to expect, yet to our surprise, we had discovered a place that not only revealed the history of tenement life, but stood as a testament to the courage and tenacity of this city’s urban poor.

If you go

Other excursions offered by the museum include the “Piecing It Together Tour,” “Getting By Tour,” “Lower East Side Stories: Walking Tour,” and “Post-Tour Kitchen Conversations,” which allows visitors to reflect on the tours they’ve taken and to discuss immigrant issues of the past and present.

Tours cost $17 for adults; $13 for students and seniors. Same-day tickets are available for purchase at the Museum Visitors Center and Tenement Shop, which is located at 108 Orchard Street (at Delancey Street) after 11:00 am weekdays and 10:45 am on weekends. Tickets can also be booked in advance by visiting Ovationtix at http://www.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/62.

Colette Connolly is a freelance travel writer living in the New York City area. Photos courtesy of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The Confino family portrait was donated to the museum by the Confino family.