Wednesday, May 1st: Defining American: Past & Present
Defining American: Past & Present Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 7pm Free The Daily Show recently took Bill O’Reilly to task for lamenting the rise of a new America, where immigrants are the majority and “traditional Americans” fight for cultural survival. Elliott Kalan, who wrote the sketch, joins Hasia Diner and Annie Polland to [...]
Tuesday, April 16th: Lower East Side: Then & Now
Lower East Side: Then & Now Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free The LES is one of America’s oldest and most historically significant neighborhoods. Though gentrification displaced many multigenerational immigrant families and businesses, the district retains its character. Kevin Baker leads author David Bellel in conversation about his new book on our legendary [...]
Tuesday, April 2nd: A Generation of Architects
A Generation of Architects Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free New York’s cityscape is world renowned and many of the characteristic buildings lining our streets were designed and constructed by graduates of the Hebrew Technical Institute. Andrew Dolkart, Director of Columbia’s Historic Preservation Program, provides insight on how HTI’s legacy is represented through [...]
Wednesday, March 27th: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Remembered
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Remembered Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free On March 25th, 1911, a landmark disaster killed 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women. 102 years later, Kevin Baker talks with descendants of the fire’s survivors, commemorating the lives lost and honoring the labor rights achievements emerging out of tragedy. Co-sponsored with [...]
Wednesday, March 13th: Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House that Herring Built
Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House that Herring Built Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Mark Federman, in conversation with editor Altie Karper, tells the story of his immigrant family’s journey from a pushcart in 1907 to what the Times calls “New York’s most hallowed shrine to the miracle of [...]
Tuesday, March 5th: Six Weeks to Adapt to America
Six Weeks to Adapt to America Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free NY Times journalist Kirk Semple leads a panel discussion on the Refugee Youth Summer Academy, an NYC summer program created in 1999 by the International Rescue Committee to help recently arrived refugees and asylum recipients find their footing in their new [...]
Monday, February 25th: ‘Old Jews Telling Jokes’
Old Jews Telling Jokes Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free A variety show based on the hit web series, this Broadway production has entertained knee-slappers of all ages. Between punch lines, creators Peter Gethers and Daniel Okrent discuss the intimate relationship between humor and Jewish culture. Click here for more free New York [...]
Tuesday, February 19th: Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in New America
Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in New America Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Judith Sloan leads a panel of students from EarSay Voices partnership with the International High School at LaGuardia Community College in conversation on immigration policies that shape attitudes toward diversity. The night includes student performances. Click here for [...]
Tuesday, February 5th: ‘Jews Without Money’ by Mike Gold
Jews Without Money by Mike Gold Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Published during the first terrible year of the Great Depression, this fictionalized autobiography has long been considered the exemplary proletarian novel and an unrelenting indictment of “the system.” Part of the Immigrant Novels Series, hosted by Vivian Gornick in conversation with [...]
Tuesday, January 29th: Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year
Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free David von Drehle sets his sights on 1862, the crucial year that transformed our sixteenth president into a singular leader. Sally Jenkins leads the author in conversation about our nation’s darkest hour and what we can learn [...]
Wednesday, January 23rd: Shop Life: Immigrants & the Entrepreneurial Spirit
Shop Life: Immigrants & the Entrepreneurial Spirit Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free The museum’s newest exhibit, Shop Life, explores immigrant businesses that once occupied 97 Orchard. VP of Education & Programs Annie Polland hosts Jeremy Robbins, Nancy Foner and immigrant CEO Miguel Zabludovsky in a discussion about our city’s economic and cultural [...]
Tuesday, January 15th: ‘Bread Givers’ with Anzia Yezierska
Bread Givers Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Enter the world of the 1920′s Lower East Side through Anzia Yezierska’s semi-autobiographical novel. Engage in conversation with essayist & critic Vivian Gornick, Yezierska scholar Alice Kessler-Harris and Professor Miriam Cohen as they touch on issues surrounding immigrant women’s transition to life in America. Click [...]
Wednesday, December 19th: ‘Meat Hooked!’
Meat Hooked! Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Suzanne Wasserman screens Meat Hooked!, her documentary on the rise and fall and rise again of butchers and butchering. The film examines 200 years of the industry’s history, featuring local purveyors Jeffery Ruhalter, a fifth generation master butcher on Essex Street, and Jacob Dickson of [...]
Tuesday, December 18th: ‘The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution’
The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free By the 1820s, America was already the most intensely commercialized society in history and the world’s leading manufacturer. Paul E. Steiger of ProPublica and author Charles Morris work to contextualize this early creative surge. Click here for more [...]
Monday, December 10th: Integration Discussion with ProPublica
ProPublica Tenement Talk Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Should the government compel communities to integrate? Nikole Hannah-Jones, ProPublica reporter, Betsy Julian, President of the Inclusive Communities Project, Adam Steinberg, Tenement Museum Education Associate and Colby Hamilton, WNYC reporter, discuss this issue. Click here for more free New York City events & things [...]
Wednesday, December 5th: Jewish Radicals: A Documentary History
Jewish Radicals: A Documentary History Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Editor Tony Michels and historians Hasia Diner and Daniel Soyer explore the intertwined histories of Jews and the American Left, illuminating the immigrant population’s efforts to refashion themselves in the face of poverty, anti-Semitism, nationalism and war. Click here for more free [...]
Tuesday, November 27th: In Search of Sacco and Vanzetti
In Search of Sacco and Vanzetti Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Author Susan Tejada and documentary filmmaker Peter Miller offer their expert takes on the infamous 1927 murder trial and execution of two Italian immigrants. This case remains controversial and acts as a window into the turbulent background of immigration reform, radicalism, [...]
Monday, November 12th: The College Debt Crisis
The College Debt Crisis Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free This conversation will focus on what schools, students, families and the government can do to help people get a good education without incurring too much debt. Click here for more free New York City events & things to do.
Thursday, November 8th: Eleanor Roosevelt’s ‘Tomorrow is Now’
Eleanor Roosevelt’s Tomorrow is Now Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free In her 1963 manifesto, Roosevelt declares: “It is today that we must create the world of the future.” Allida Black discusses the First Lady’s pressingly relevant effort, presenting a firm stance against fear, timidity, complacency and national arrogance as America struggled to [...]
Wednesday, October 24th: My American Revolution: Crossing the Delaware and I-78
My American Revolution: Crossing the Delaware and I-78 Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Robert Sullivan investigates the invaluable roles played by New York and New Jersey during the Revolution. Writer Peter Quinn engages Sullivan in conversation, recounting the author’s quixotic quest to reenact many of the period’s events, including retracing the Battle [...]
Tuesday, October 23rd: Your Day is My Night: Film Excerpts and Live Performance
Your Day is My Night: Film Excerpts and Live Performance Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Join director Lynne Sachs for a conversation with her cast and crew as they present excerpts from their upcoming film-performance exploring immigrant life in a shift-bed apartment in Chinatown. Presented in conjunction with the University Settlement. Click [...]
Thursday, October 18th: A Difficult Woman: The Challenging Life and Times of Lillian Hellman
A Difficult Woman: The Challenging Life and Times of Lillian Hellman Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free Mary McCarthy said “Every word [Lillian Helman] writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.’” Tenement Museum President Morris Vogel hosts historian Alice Kessler-Harris in conversation on the controversial woman and successful playwright who straddled political [...]
Tuesday, October 16th: ‘The World Without You’
The World Without You Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free In his third novel, Joshua Henkin offers a portrait of the repercussions of faraway wars on people who usually consider themselves to be spectators. He discusses this theme with Josh Lambert, contributing editor and comedy columnist at Tablet Magazine and academic director of [...]
Thursday, October 11th: When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail
When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St., Manhattan) 6:30pm Free, RSVP requested Eric Jay Dolin provides insights into everything from pirates, the world-changing impact of the silk trade, the British-Chinese Opium War of the 1840s and the fearlessness (and [...]
