Tag Archives: 1900s

05/24/11

My trip to the tenement museum

A few weeks ago I visited the tenement museum on the lower East Side. I took a tour of two apartments that were used in the early 1900′s. In one of the apartments, there was a micro-sweat shop running, where they would make dresses for women. They would sit in the master bedroom that fit no more than 6 cramped, and would saw, press, and cut the fabrics. Between the fumes and the lack of air circulation, the health department wasn’t so happy with these kind of operations and forced them to shut down. The other apartment we visited was occupied by a family of 8. In that apartment, I saw a copy of the Jewish newspaper from that time, with news of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, something I knew about, and something we discussed in class. After the fire, there was a big strike from all the girls who were working in the garment district and being treated unlawfully and unfairly. The two girls from this second apartment, the Rogarshevsky’s had to decide if they were going to strike and stand up for what they believe in, or if they were going to go to work, and be able to help support the family and pay rent. That was a common problem back in that time, do we say “No! This is the land of life, libery and pursuit of happiness, and I will achieve that!” or do you say “I will do whatever it takes to be able to supply for my family.” Our tour guide of the museum had asked all of us to put ourselves in these girls shoes and asked us what we would do.

Being confronted with that scenario, seeing the apartments, and learning in our class all about the big wave of immigration coming to America, it really made me think about what kind of living conditions were existing in their native countries. If living in a tiny apartment, sleeping head to toe with your brothers and sisters in the living room, working for thieving bosses who overworked you and underpaid you, if all this was an improvement from their home life, its unimaginable how bad they had it. I learned a lot from this class, and one of the things I learned from this class was a greater appreciation for this country that is my home. These people were living in hard times, but they were able to live without religious persecution, and were able to live freely, capable of anything. I have a new appreciation for the country that has their entire pacific fleet wiped out, yet still prevails and triumphs over the enemy. I have a new appreciation for a man named FDR who was able to pull our nation from the trenches of economic turmoil. I have a new appreciation for a man named Johnson, who worked endlessly to help African-American’s gain civil rights and equality. I have a new appreciation for a man named Reagan, who through the hard work of his predecessors and his own hard work, was able to convince a communist country to end its ways and become a democracy.

The tenement museum enables you to see first hand the way people lived less than a hundred years ago. People who would do anything to live in those one bedroom apartments, and if you go and see them, I think you will have a new found appreciation and even more understanding of what it means to be a free American. The life of unions and fair work standards were born in the lower east side and if you see these apartments and hear the stories, you will know why. You should really try to go, you will remember it for the rest of your life.

 

02/28/11

Women’s suffrage

First of all, suffrage means the right to vote. The Women Suffrage Association, which only had about 3000 members in 1893,  had more then 2 million members in1917.  It brought women freedom and more public space. Finally this movement won the protection of women and gave them the right to vote.

02/21/11

2 different reasons, 1 destination

Immigrants look towards Lower Manhattan as their ship approaches their new home. Year unknown. Photographer unknown.

Italian immigrants look towards the Statue of Liberty as their ship approaches. Photographer unknown. Year aprox early 1900's

Both of the photographs above depict immigration to the United States. While both photographs involve immigration, they are different in terms of the focus of the reason for immigration. Two big reason why people decided to come to this amazing country were 1: Freedom and 2: It is the Land of opportunity. Now while the two go together, at the time of these pictures people were immigrating because of religious persecution, and because of poverty. The Italian family above had probably left Italy due to the high taxes of the Government which led many to poverty. They are looking towards the Statue of Liberty and seeing what the United States has to offer: Freedom, Democracy, among many others. That’s what the Statue of Liberty stands for, and that’s why it was so strategically placed next to Ellis Island. To let all immigrants see that first when approaching the US. The first picture shows immigrants looking towards lower Manhattan. They see the big buildings of downtown, they see the opportunity that can come from hard work. In their previous home country, hard work got them nowhere, but they see that in this country hard work gets you everywhere. Both pictures show the last part of the journey of immigration, but tell a different story as to why someone might have immigrated here, and shows us how amazing the United States is and the many reasons why it’s a great place to call home.

02/21/11

Coming to America

This is a picture of the RMS Titanic. It was supposed to bring hundreds of immigrants to America, but sunk right off the American coast in 1912.

Emigrants coming up the board-walk from the barge, which has taken them off the steamship company's docks, and transported them to Ellis Island. The big building in the background is the new hospital just opened. The ferry-boat seen in the middle of the picture, runs from New York to Ellis Island. Taken in 1902.

The biggest differences about the two photographs depicted above is the classes shown. In the first picture, of the RMS Titanic, we see a massive ship that was intended for the upper class. Only the highest class were aboard this ship, and they have a wonderful journey, up until they hit an iceberg. However, if they had not hit an iceberg there travel would have been summed up as luxurious. In the second picture we see middle and lower class people arriving in America. Odds are their journey was much more difficult than the people aboard the Titanic. They look like they just had a hard journey, and they will probably have a hard life here in America as well.

When immigrants came to America it wasn’t easy. Most of them were discriminated against. A few of them came over with a lot of money, but for most it was a hard journey. Many people were even deported back to their home country if America didn’t want to accept them in. This happened if they had diseases, if they were prostitutes, or if they were seen as anarchists.

02/19/11

Immigration To The New World

These two images portray the lives of Italian immigrants in the early 1900s. Both images depict their living conditions in the 1900s. The image on the left shows the bedroom of an Italian family. Judging from the image, the family may be from a lower class because their living condition seems poor, cramped and unsanitary. However comparing this image to the one on the right, they are complete opposites from one another. The image on the right shows a much well off family probably in the middle class. The breadwinner in this family may have been a scholar, allowing him to have a higher paying job compared to other immigrant families with low education back then.