During the mid-1800 to the early 20^th century, waves of immigrants flooded into the urban areas of New York City. One of the most popular of these areas was Manhattan’s lower east side, where the Tenement Museum now stands.  Last week, we were able to visit this historic neighborhood site to witness the wretched living conditions that European immigrants had to survive through.

Modern-day observers associate tenements with slums or ghettos. While not as bad as living on the streets, we saw that the earliest tenements were far from the standards of apartments today. As visitors, we saw the cramped hallways while maneuvering around the museum, the constant creaking of the staircase, the lighting and ventilation system, and the fear of an imminent fire. The New York State Assembly Tenement House Committee report in 1894 found New York to be the most densely populated city in the world, at an average of 143 people per acre.  Considering what we saw at the museum, this was not too hard to believe.  The first tenement we saw was made up of 2 very small bedrooms, which was a textile “factory” by day and a home by night.  Compared to the standards we have become used to today, imagining such a small and worn apartment housing so many people seemed almost impossible.  Fortunately, laws and reforms were under way by the time the Civil War was over. One of the first legislative actions taken was The Tenement House Act of 1867.  This act defined and set construction regulations on tenements. Of these requirements, it was especially important that there be at least one toilet (or privy) per 20 people.  One of the things that stood out to us was the lack of running water in the tenements.  Even with the Tenement House Act of 1867, having to share a single toilet with 20 other people seems as hygienic as using a public bathroom today (which is, in fact, not very hygienic).  Moreover, legislation was not enforced and conditions would have remained the same had it not been for the muckrakers.  Muckraker Jacob Riis would photograph what he saw in the tenements and have these emotional photos accompany his novel “How the Other Half Lives” which distinctly depicted the living conditions of the urban immigrant population to the rest of the world, especially the rest of America.

Finally, under implementation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the lower east side would begin its final transformation. Many of the low-income housing tenements would be cleared for the building of public housing. We found that it was because of Roosevelt’s New Deal that the tenement at 97 Orchard Street was boarded up in 1935 causing it to remain the same, as if in a time capsule, for the modern world to see.  Although, as our guide Jess told us, the furniture and decorations are not the originals, all of the things we saw in the museum are based on actual tenements through old records and recollections.  Unlike other museums, which allow you to see everything through a glass wall and prevent you from touching the artifacts (though we still do it anyway), the Tenement Museum is a doorway to the 19^th and 20^th centuries where we can walk around and get a taste of actual living conditions of past immigrants.  The museum, which could be described as New York City’s very own Pompeii, gave us the opportunity to visit the past and experience history firsthand.