During our visit to the Tenement Museum, something strange occurred to me. First, though, I must clarify that I have always associated tenements with cramped living, little to no food, and all around suffering. So when I heard the Baldizzi daughter talk fondly about her time living in the Baldizzi family tenement, I realized that perhaps the tenement and its close quarters brought families closer together. Perhaps tenements forced families to make up for their lack of money and space with a wealth of familial love.

With that said, however, I feel like our tour on Wednesday did not do the darker aspects of tenement living, justice. I have been on another tour there a couple years ago and I remember it being overwhelmingly grim. I remember the tour guide showing us this innocent looking box, then proceeding to explain that it was a baby’s coffin.

Overall, our tour guide was informative and extremely competent. The most intriguing part of the whole experience was the photos and documents that she had with her. This gave the tour an exciting, voyeuristic nature, and a more human feel. These documents and photos also  helped me become more invested in the families the tour guide was talking about.