I am excited to start my life in America.

Last Thursday, we traveled back in time to meet one of the inhabitants of 97 Orchard Street in 1916, Victoria Confino. To better understand her story, we put ourselves into the perspectives of two families, one Russian and the other Italian, who had just passed inspections on Ellis Island and were looking for a new home on the Lower East Side. Here are some personal journal entries describing that experience:

From Bo:

Today my family and I finally finished inspections at Ellis Island. It took a surplus of time and I am hoping we can settle down soon. We got on a ferry and landed in a place called Manhattan.

We met a teacher who said she was from uptown, which I think is a part of Manhattan a little farther up the streets but I am not sure. We had so many questions to ask her: Where to eat? How to make friends? Where to live? How much do things cost? She said she was not sure.

Next she said she would bring us to a girl named Victoria Confino. She also said she taught Victoria three years ago and Victoria lives downtown and she might be able to help us. So off we went to a building called a tenement. We walked down a long hallway and the teacher knocked on the door.

All of a sudden a girl walked out. I think she is about 15 years old. The teacher said, “This is an Italian family who just moved here and I think maybe they want to ask you some questions.” Victoria said, “Oh, um okay, it’s a bit messy. I am sorry if I knew you were coming I would have fixed it up a bit but I guess if you don’t mind, you can come in.”

We all walked into this small little room, actually, three small rooms connected. She said we could sit down on the bed and on some chairs. I sat down on the bed and she said we could ask questions. I asked about a photo in the room. She said that it was a family photo and we should get one soon when we get an apartment. One of my sisters asked if it’s hard to make friends. She said, “It is medium hard but I am very popular.”

Next I asked about what her family does to make money. She said her dad makes aprons. And they found a shoe shining kit. As I looked around the room I could see she had a big black thing. I asked what it was. Victoria said that it was an oven and that she cooks with it. She explained that it burns on coal and she let us put some in. She also said that there was an interesting story to tell about the shoe shining kit. She said her brother was on the street and some police were walking down the street and the police sometimes pick on random people. So all of the shoe shiners on the street ran and one left their kit. And as they say in America, “Finders keepers losers weepers.” That is how she got the shoe shining kit.

At the end of the visit, we thanked her for her time and I think we might get a tenement apartment in the building. So, today was a big learning day for me and I learned a bit about living in New York City and I got to meet someone who told me about it. I am excited to start my life in America.

From Palma:

In her old home, there was a lot of greenery and you could see the blue sky, but here the sky is filled with buildings.

1/18/1916

Victoria is a Turkish girl who lived in Turkey that is now part of Greece. She then moved here with her brothers and her mother. Victoria came to America and had to go into Kindergarten at first because she couldn’t speak English even though she was about 10 years old. Then she skipped to second grade when she was about 11 years old.

For entertainment and fun Victoria loves going to the movies. The movies are a nickel for two people. I think that’s because people never go to the movies alone. Victoria has a three room tenement. She has a kitchen which doubles as an entrance. To the right when you walk in there is a sink, then a door to another room and then a table with spices and other things on it. There is a stove in the kitchen that Victoria had to buy because tenements don’t come with stoves. There is also a sink which is used to wash babies or young children. Then there is a door to the parent’s bedroom. Their bedroom is very small. It only has room for a bed and clothes in it.

In her old home, there was a lot of greenery and you could see the blue sky, but here the sky is filled with buildings. My family did try to get a tenement in that building because hers seems nice compared to may pictures (from Jacob Riis) I’ve seen.

From Macy:

We completed the first step of starting a new life in America.

1916

We walked into the house. It was nothing like home. All the walls were brown and the ceiling was chipping. The small two lights dimly lit the hallway. We went into Victoria Confino’s room, their house looked so different than the outside. All the colors blended into each other. And there she was, a girl with long braided hair and she was really tall.

Everything in her house was awesome. The stove she had was the coolest thing, it had an oven and a stove built into it. I wondered how much money this house would be. Victoria was a very nice girl. I think her life was hard because her mom had a baby and now she had to take care of the whole house. After we looked around my family agreed this would be our first home in America. We rented the apartment because we weren’t going to find great places with friendly friends in it everywhere. We completed the first step of starting a new life in America.