Each Room Tells A Story: Exploring New York City’s Tenement Museum

Post written by Laura Cococcia. You can follow Laura on Twitter.

Recently, my good friend and I spent a wonderful weekend soaking up New York City culture.

One of my favorite stops along the way: The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, a place full of rich and inspiring history, just a few neighborhoods away.

Since I’ve promised to share my cultural experiences here, I thought I’d offer a short snapshot of what I learned from our walking tour. I could list out every fact and figure I jotted down, but today, let’s go with some key themes:

1. The word “tenement” meant something different then. Officially, the word refers to housing with four or more families and originates from the Latin root ‘tenere’ (to have or hold). In the mid-1800s, tenements provided a sense of community and security for immigrant families. Today, we might refer to such a setup as a  condominium.

As the tenements grew, though, the concept and meaning of the word changed – squeezing in 2 million people into such a small neighborhood can only produce inevitable downsides.

As a result, the word ‘tenement’ has taken on a different meaning; when asked what we think of when we hear the word, one participant said “crowded slum.”

Unfortunately, many of us hold that perception, but the actual meaning behind the word – during that time – meant something much more positive.

2. We define our space as much as our space defines us. My flat dictates my life just as much as my still unpacked boxes reflect a bit of my struggle with domestic organization. Yes, I’m organized at work, but a domestic goddess I am not.

People living in the tenement housing were proud of their space and city, full of new possibilities and admitted struggles. But their resilience kept them going through a time of major transformation, world wars and across cultural differences.

3. Tours are an instant classroom. What I love about tours, even in my own city, is that I learn from the facts shared as well as the sights, sounds and other people’s questions. I always take at least one “off the beaten path” tour in each place I visit – from a food tour with a personal guide in Budapest to a large tour hiking the glaciers of Patagonia where everyone on the tour was required to tell a joke at some point in the hike.

For me, it’s like a class without a syllabus and homework. Can’t get much better than that.

Big shout out to Kamau, our knowledgeable Tenement Museum guide, who encouraged questions, admitted he didn’t know everything (all good tour guides do this) and learned from the group around him.

How do you like to learn about history? Is there a time period that inspires you? All thoughts are welcome – feel free to share in the comments section below.

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Laura’s note: Huge thanks to Josh Hanagarne, brilliant creator of World’s Strongest Librarian, for including The Journal of Cultural Conversation and Christa in New York: Curating a Creative Life in his list of “Six Blogs I Love” post a couple of weeks ago.

Josh, many thanks. We love you too. We’re honored.

Tagged as: Cultural Anthropology, History, Laura Cococcia, Learning Moments, Lower East Side, New York City, Tenement Museum