The Tenement Museum has been on our to-do list ever since my 10-year-old came home with lessons on life in NYC as a19th century immigrant. This fall we had the opportunity to join a tour that focused on a Jewish family who immigrated from Poland in the late 1800s.
We stepped inside their extremely tight living quarters to see the space where a family of 7 lived and worked (the adults worked for pennies on fashionable garments that would sell for $15 each).
I was concerned that the tour wouldn’t click with my seven-year-old. But just as he started to get antsy in the cramped apartment our small group continued outdoors on the streets of the Lower East Side.
As we walked the streets past the former tenements, our guide told us all about the price gouging of kosher meat that left many children hungry as garment wages didn’t cover the rising costs of food. The moms organized to cap the prices so their kids wouldn’t starve. (Leave it to moms.)
After the tour, we stopped by the bookstore which is a NYC-centric, history buff’s haven. (There is a great selection of children’s books in these categories, too.) Check it out here.
