Tenement Museum

The Tenement Museum is a museum housed across 2 old tenement building. The goal of the museum is to bring to light the lives of the people who lived in the building. Each apartment is designed in the style that it would have been inhabited. They have some original artifacts but no recreations. There are chairs in each room to sit on while the tour guide talks about the lives of the people. You cannot just wander through the museum, you must take a guided tour.

There are several different types of tours to do, each last from an hour to 2 hours. You cannot tour the museum without a guide so keep that mind before going. I do think this would be a hard tour for toddlers or yonder kids who want to move and touch things. There was an 8 year old who did wonderful in our tour so it all depends on the kid.

We chose the 100 Years Apart tour which took us to 2 different apartments where Natalie Gumpertz and Mrs. Wong lived. Natalie Gumpertz’s husband disappeared in 1873 and she became the breadwinner for herself and her children. She used her sewing machine to keep them afloat. Mrs. Wong was a union worker for the New York garment district in the 1970s. 

first apartment is set up the way the Gumpertz would have had it when they lived there. You’ll see the old fashioned stove, how they would have ironed, the table they would have sat at and how they would have set up the two rooms they lived in. The room is sparse with little furniture but well maintained. The tour guide walks you through the stories of Mrs. Gumpertz, her children and their lives when they lived there.

I personally love history and we know so little about women’s lives as it was mostly men who knew how to read and write so that’s the history we have. Mrs. Gumpertz was an immigrant who settled at 103 Orchard St. At some point her husband died or left, there is no record of him after some years. She is left with 2 daughters in a time of history where she couldn’t hold a bank account let alone own her own property. She managed to make money as a seamstress and take care of her daughters while maintaining a home.

The Wong Apartment

The second apartment was very different. You walk into the first room and it looks like a sewing factory. The second room is set up like a bedroom with bunk beds and a desk. The second room is where you sit while the tour guide speaks to you. In the first room you get to see what a garment district sewing shop would have been like in the 1970s. There are sewing machines, boards, and even toys. All of these are interactive and you can listen to the stories Mrs. Wong told. There is also a brief video on how 9/11 changed the New York garment district. This section was a lot more interactive but I would say not as much about the building or about what the people who lived there did. It was really focused on the garment district and the unions which was very interesting, just unexpected.