The Tenement Museum tells the stories of 97 Orchard Street. Built on Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1863, this tenement apartment building was home to nearly 7,000 working class immigrants. They faced challenges we understand today: making a new life, working for a better future, starting a family with limited means.

 

In recognizing the importance of this seemingly ordinary building, the Tenement Museum has re-imagined the role that museums can play in our lives. The Tenement Museum preserves and interprets the history of immigration through the personal experiences of the generations of newcomers who settled in and built lives on Manhattan's Lower East Side, America's iconic immigrant neighborhood; forges emotional connections between visitors and immigrants past and present; and enhances appreciation for the profound role immigration has played and continues to play in shaping America's evolving national identity.

 

Their work includes: tenement tours, neighborhood walking tours, teaching immigrant experiences and tenement talks, eg, readings, discussions, performances and screening about NY’s history, people and culture.