On Tuesday, January 17th, our class went to the Tenement Museum to simulate what it would have been like to be tenement inspectors. Below are some news articles describing the experience.
Houses These Days!
By Bailey Wolfman
NEW YORK- Today inspectors were looking at 97 Orchard Street. On 97 Orchard Street there are 5 floors and around two to three families on each floor. There were around two to three rooms in each tenement.
“The houses are filthy. They have cockroaches and mice everywhere! There is so much trash in the hallway that people were tripping down the stairs from it,” said an inspector. “The building is a disaster, with so many people breaking the laws,” said another inspector.
When the inspectors visited the first house there was a pregnant woman named Rachel. She told the inspectors that she hasn’t had running water for three weeks! She also exclaimed that her child would not use the bathroom because she was getting knocked down the stairs by people tripping over garbage.
The inspectors had a talk with the owner of the building. She is having a very hard time because she is spending so much money on all the problems in the building. She has heard chickens and has asked the apartment people if they had a chicken. She still has not seen the chicken, but she does hear it. As the inspectors left the building a inspector said, “How bad can houses get these days?”
Chicken Inspectors
By Makeda Brodie
NYC- The landlady of 97 Orchard Street said, “I am thinking I am hearing chickens.” Many immigrants have complained over time about the tenements that they are living in. The government has tried to fix them over time but we still have not found those chickens.
Most of the landlords or landladies have been no help at all. Telling people, “If you don’t like it, move.” But most immigrants have to suffer the consequences of a tenement
The government has tried to help but they have not been much help. They have passed laws about this but not enforced them. This does not take note of the rude landladies and lords that will not do any for the building. The government finally decided to send out inspectors to inspect the building. The inspectors talked to ladies and lords and the tenants staying there to see if the building passed inspections based on the laws.
One of the tenants that the inspectors talked to was Rebecca an immigrant from Russia. She says, “The lights go out easily and when my daughter goes out in the hall to go to the bathroom people walking down the stairs fall on her.” There are many disturbing things in this quote but one is that the bathroom is in the hallway. Some people get so fed up with the long lines and the ones that constantly don’t work that they use a bucket. So don’t leave your clothes hanging outside because they throw them out the window.
One of the inspectors said, “We are here to help but I have to admit it is pretty horrific.” Hopefully the inspectors can help improve the tenements. For now hope the tenants don’t see any chickens running around.]]>
Tenement Inspectors at the Tenement Museum
Reply
On January 12th, Harriet Lieber, LREI First and Second Grade Learning Specialist, visited to share her family’s immigration story. Her great-grandparents came through Ellis Island in 1905 and 1898 from Lithuania and Romania. Harriet took us through their stories with primary source documents, a timeline of her family history, and inherited family heirlooms.
In preparation for a trip to the Tenement Museum to meet a recent (historical) immigrant, Victoria Confino, fourth graders spent some time looking at primary source documents. Using the documents, they started to build an understanding of who Victoria was and what her life was like. This also led to more questions.
