Tenement Museum

08/27/2026

If the books in the Tenement Museum Shop were songs, this is what they'd be 🎵

Can you think of any other songs?

🛒 Come by our shop or visit shop.tenement.org to find more of these books.

Books shown:
Yellow by Frank H. Wu
Subway by Anastasia Suen and Karen Katz
New York City by Paula Hannigan and Shannon Chandler
Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity by Yoni Appelbaum
Freedom's Prophet by Richard S. Newman
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Museum in a Book by Hervé Tullet
Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez
Stayin' Alive: the 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class by Jefferson Cowie

08/26/2026

Today is Women’s Equality Day, and we’re celebrating by highlighting a pivotal moment in history: the ratification of the 19th Amendment. While many other obstacles restricted women for this key facet of citizenship, the 19th Amendment marks a milestone and was the result of decades of relentless organizing of marches, lectures, lobbying and acts of civil disobedience by generations of suffragists.

Learn more about how the Amendment affected one of the women who lived on 97 Orchard Street in this post below.

In 1919, Sarah Burinescu was among the first women living at 97 Orchard Street to register to vote after New York State awarded women’s suffrage in November 1917. This would have enabled her to vote locally in that year, and in nationwide elections after the ratification of the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote on this day in 1920.

We can only imagine what it felt like for Sarah to vote for the first time at the age of thirty-six.

📸 Sarah Burinescu and 4 of her children, c. 1915. Collection of the Tenement Museum.

08/24/2026

Maintaining a museum is no easy task, so here is what we do on a monthly basis to preserve the historic buildings and prevent future damage.

Collections Manager Lana wants to gently remind all our visitors that gum is not allowed on our tours! ❌

08/20/2026

What’s in YOUR bag?

🛒For all the essentials (or cute non-essentials ☺️), visit the Tenement Museum Shop in-person or at shop.tenement.org

08/19/2026

On this World Photography Day, we’re turning back time to 1970s.

🔍 If you could go back in time, what would you want to explore?

📷 Edmund V. Gillon Collection, ca. 1975–1979.

08/18/2026

In 1919, Sarah Burinescu was among the first women living at 97 Orchard Street to register to vote after New York State awarded women’s suffrage in November 1917. This would have enabled her to vote locally in that year, and in nationwide elections after the ratification of the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote on this day in 1920.

We can only imagine what it felt like for Sarah to vote for the first time at the age of thirty-six.

📸 Sarah Burinescu and 4 of her children, c. 1915. Collection of the Tenement Museum.

08/07/2026

Looking for a book to read? 📚

Our Visitor Experience Associate Tareshma recommends Antiman by Rajiv Mohabir, a powerful memoir exploring identity, ancestry, and resilience.

🛒 Pick up a copy at our store or order online at shop.tenement.org.

08/06/2026

On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, one of the most significant pieces of Civil Rights legislation in U.S. history. Designed to break down legal barriers that kept African Americans from voting, it outlawed discriminatory practices, like literacy tests, and provided federal oversight in areas where voter suppression was widespread.

The Act followed years of dedicated activism and organizing across the country which is now known as the Civil Rights Movement. While many textbooks focus on the events, actions, and figures in the South, northern cities like New York were also important battle grounds in the fight for racial equality and justice during the Civil Rights Era.

On the Lower East Side, organizations like the Congress for Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) participated in national mobilizations such as the March on Washington, while organizing local protests against segregated schools and housing. In 1961, Puerto Rican activist and educator Dr. Antonia Pantoja founded ASPIRA to advocate for underserved Spanish speaking students in the city’s public school.

Both of these organizations would unite on February 3rd, 1964, for the Freedom Day boycott, a mass demonstration demanding integration of the racially segregated school system and better funding for minority majority school districts. This event drew over 460,00 students and 4,000 teachers to join activists and supporters and was the single largest protest the entire Civil Rights Era.

📖 To learn more about the fight for civil rights in the L.E.S. Join our walking tour W3: Reclaiming Black Spaces or our Apartment Tour 8A: Epsteins and Saez Velezes!

📷 Freedom Day boycott participants walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, Bettmann Archives, Getty Images.

08/05/2026

Have you ever wondered what Coney Island was like in the 1910s? 🎢🎡

Come meet Victoria Confino, a Sephardic Jewish teenager who immigrated to the US from Kastoria (part of modern-day Türkiye) in 1913 and immerse yourself in this special experience at the Tenement Museum!

Visitors of all ages can journey back in time to 1916 for an immersive experience with an actor portraying Victoria.

Each tour is shaped by visitors’ questions and evolves with the seasons. This summer, visit the Confino family’s recreated apartment and discover how Victoria spends the warmer months in the city—like exploring Coney Island. Ask Victoria about her home in Kastoria, her journey to the United States, and life on the Lower East Side.

🗓️ Book tour 6A: Confinos and meet Victoria every day of the week through Monday, August 31!

07/21/2026

Charles Lewis Reason—born on this day, in New York City—was a pioneering Black educator, abolitionist, and civil rights advocate. Reason was the son of free people of color who immigrated as refugees after the start of the Haitian Revolution. Reason dedicated his life to expanding educational opportunities for Black New Yorkers.

A student of the African Free School, he was classmates with Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian Church and a prominent abolitionist. Reason began his teaching career at Colored School No. 2 and went on to co-found the Society for the Promotion of Education among Colored Children in 1847. In 1849, he became the first African American professor at a majority-white college in the U.S., teaching at New York Central College.

He spent much of his life in Manhattan’s 8th Ward, living at 118 Laurens Street, during the 1860s and 1870s—just a block north of Joseph and Rachel Moore, whose family story we explore on our 4A: Moores tour. In 1873, Reason successfully lobbied for the law that integrated New York City’s public schools. Through his work as an educator and advocate, he helped lay the foundation for a more just and inclusive future.

📷 Charles Reason, Griffiths, Julia, ed. Autographs for freedom. Alden, Beardsley & Co., 1854.