Celebrate Victoria Confino’s 123rd birthday with us!
Victoria, a teenager who immigrated to the United States from Greece in 1913, shares how birthdays are different in her new home, America. In this interview, "Victoria," our costumed interpreter, tell us how she adapts her traditions from home to life on the Lower East Side and what her birthday celebration might look like in America.
Go back to 1916 and "Meet Victoria" to learn all about her journey to the United States, and her experience as an immigrant in the Lower East Side in 97 Orchard Street.
Link: https://www.tenement.org/tour/meet-victoria/?tour_date=2025-01-04
Special thank you to educator and costumed interpreter, Caitlin D. for sharing Victoria's story
Victoria Confino, a teenager who immigrated to the United States from Greece in 1913. Today would have been Victoria’s 123rd birthday. In this interview, "Victoria," our costumed interpreter, reflects on how birthdays were celebrated during her childhood In Kastoria before starting her new life in America. Through her stories, discover the family traditions and simple joys that made her birthdays special back home.
Go back to 1916 and "Meet Victoria" to learn all about her journey to the United States, and her experience as an immigrant in the Lower East Side in 97 Orchard Street.
Link: https://www.tenement.org/tour/meet-victoria/?tour_date=2025-01-04
Special thank you to educator and costumed interpreter, Sallie B. for sharing Victoria's story.
Adolpho and Rosaria Baldizzi immigrated to New York from Sicily and lived at 97 Orchard Street with their two children, Johnny and Josephine, from 1928 to 1935. During the Great Depression, when money for presents was scarce, Josephine said that Adolfo, a skilled carpenter, used his resourcefulness to create a Christmas tree. He scoured the city for fallen pine branches and discarded wreaths, bringing them home to craft a makeshift tree. Using a long piece of wood, he drilled holes and inserted the branches to form a scrappy—but cheerful—tree.
In her oral history, Josephine recalled, “He would make his own tree, shape it, tie it to the wall, and then get ornaments and dress it all up.” The family decorated the tree with shiny glass ornaments, lights, and tinsel. On Christmas Eve, Josephine would stay up late, perched on her bed, gazing at the lights on the makeshift tree.
This year, we recreated the Baldizzi Christmas tree exactly as Josephine remembered it, honoring a cherished family memory.
This year we placed a Christmas tree in the Saez-Velez living room decorated with Ramonita Saez’s original ornaments. The tree features the ornaments, garlands, and lights that were left behind at 103 Orchard Street after Ramonita moved out.
Historic family photos, preserved from the apartment, showcase how Ramonita lovingly decorated for the holidays, and we’ve used these images as inspiration to recreate her festive spirit. The display also includes newly acquired Christmas cards and the family’s nativity set, bringing even more of the Saez-Velez family’s cherished traditions to life.
The Tenement Museum purchased a small faux Alpine style Christmas tree for the Schneider Saloon to re-imagine what Christmas might have looked like during that time. Using reference illustrations from 1858-1890 in conjunction with our other primary research, we were inspired to created a Reconstruction-era tree that pays tribute to John Schneider’s service in the Civil War and his fellow “honorable bandsmen.”
Decorated with small candles, reproduction German ornaments, and topped with historical American flags, the Schneider family Christmas tree lights up the room from its perch on a lager beer barrel. The 37-star American flags and brass instrument ornaments recall John Schneider’s military service during the Civil War, a Christmas tradition connecting his service in this country with traditions from back home.
Cellist An-Lin Bardin and pianist Naomi Niskala invited African, Latinx, Asian, Arab and Native American composers to write pieces that incorporate folksongs and children’s songs of the composer’s cultures.
Join us on November 13th on YouTube Live for a special virtual concert where Bardin and Niskala will perform these classical pieces live at the Tenement Museum! Each piece will be preceded by a short video of the composer, sharing their story and exploring the notions of homeland, community, and belonging and on the challenges of navigating life in this country as a bi-cultural, multi-cultural, or minority person.
Link in the bio for more details.
Step into history with Lana Dubin, our Collections Manager, as she discusses the Tenement Museum’s newest exhibit, Union of Hope.
Discover how our curatorial team meticulously recreated the decor of a free Black family’s tenement apartment from 1869, featuring an authentic tintype of Frederick Douglass, the most photographed man of the 19th century.
Peek behind-the-scenes as our Collections Manager, Lana Dubin showcases the latest additions to our ‘Union of Hope: 1869’ exhibit, bringing the story of young Louis Mundy and his family to life.
Check out our tour to learn more about them - link in the bio.
Every building on the Lower East Side tells its own story. On this tour, learn about the architects, artists, and everyday people who influenced the design and use of the neighborhood’s buildings and shaped the streetscape you see today.
Check out the link in the bio for more details on our walking tour “Building on the Lower East Side”.
Where did tenement residents spend their time when they weren’t at home? Join us on a walking tour through the historic public spaces and landmarks that shaped New York’s diverse communities in the 19th and early 20th centuries. From the Daily Forward Building to Seward Park, uncover the vibrant history of identity, advocacy, and cultural exchange.
Check out the link in the bio to know more about walking tour - “Outside the Home”
Discover the rich history of Black New Yorkers in Lower Manhattan on our “Reclaiming Black Spaces” tour. From the 1640s to the 1970s, this neighborhood walking tour takes you to key locations that tell the stories of communities and people that thrived, resisted, and left a lasting legacy in the face of adversity.
Check out the link in the bio for more details.
Through the memories of the Epstein and Saez Velez families, explore their experience as Jewish Holocaust survivors and Puerto Rican migrants and how they adapted to the evolving Lower East Side at 103 Orchard Street.
Learn more about our "Finding Home" tour - https://www.tenement.org/tour/finding-home/?tour_date=2024-08-13