Lower East Side Tenement Museum
How an Immigrant Family Coped with Tenement Life on Lower East Side
Jul 26, 2008
At New York's Lower East Side Tenement Museum located at 91 Orchard Street, the experience of the Moores, and immigrant family from Ireland, is currently being recounted as part of the museum's series of historical tours. The museum is the first to do an in-depth study of the daily lives of the Irish in New York by opening up a renovated apartment at 97 Orchard Street, complete with period furnishings and artifacts. The exhibit also includes a strong multimedia component, with traditional Irish tunes by musician Mick Moloney playing in the background.
Sanitation and Health Conditions in the Tenements
The tour gives visitors an insight into the lives of New York City's laboring poor during the mid-1800s, while also incorporating public health and sanitation issues that were particularly pertinent to that part of New York.
"The Moore family is both distinctive and typical of the experience of many Irish immigrants to New York," says Steve Long, vice president of the museum's Collections and Education Department. "The story of the Moores provides a window into our city's past while also offering a fresh prospective on the experiences of today's newcomers."
Tenement Life Brings Death and Disease
Joseph Moore, his wife, Bridget, and their three daughters moved into 97 Orchard Street in 1869. Prior to that, they had lived in several different New York City neighborhoods, including the notorious Five Points section.
Within months of their moving to 97 Orchard, however, the youngest child, Agnes, died of marasmus, a severe form of malnutrition due to drinking contaminated milk. Medical records retrieved by the museum show that the child also succumbed to a disease known as scrofula, a form of tuberculosis. This was not an unusual occurrence at the time, as children of immigrant parents died at nearly 10 times the rate of their native-born peers due to living in conditions that were poorly ventilated and overcrowded.
Immigrants Die due to Poor Housing and Health Care
Tour guides explain that the story of the Moores is very different to that of the Katz family, Russian immigrants who lived at 97 Orchard Street during the 1930s, and whose lives are examined in a different interactive tour. Unfortunately for the Moores, poor government oversight on matters such as housing and health care was seriously lacking at the time, and pasteurization had not yet been invented. In comparison, the Katz children learned about the importance of a good diet and were encouraged to drink pasteurized milk.
Changes in Food Production Educates Immigrants
The majority of poor women living in New York City during the early to mid-1800s stopped nursing their babies and adopted the practice of feeding their children cow's milk, believing it was healthier. The change in milk production, storage and consumption from the 19th to 20th centuries helped eradicate disease, and is an important theme throughout the guided hour long tour.
