Class Warfare, Black Gotham and Much More: A First Look at 2012 Tenement Talks

Another exciting year of Tenement Talks is here! We're thrilled to present Tenement Talks in our newly expanded space (to read about our new shop opening click here) and we've got a dynamic schedule of authors, journalists, chefs and architects for 2012.  Here's a sampling of what's coming up.

Thursday, January 19th – Class Warfare with Steven Brill
Award-winning journalist Steven Brill takes an uncompromising look at the adults who are fighting over America’s failure to educate its children—and points his suggested way to reversing that failure.

Tuesday, January 24th – Behind the Scenes: The Hebrew Technical Institute and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum with Dave Favaloro
Founded in 1883, the Hebrew Technical Institute (HTI) offered an industrial arts education to young Jewish boys in NYC. Director of Curatorial Affairs and HTI Research Fellow, David Favaloro, will discuss the relationship between HTI and our historic tenement, 97 Orchard Street.

Thursday, January 26th – New York Diaries: 1609-2009 with Teresa Carpenter
New York Times best selling author, Teresa Carpenter curates this collection of journal entries, selected from four centuries of writing from the 1600s to the present day allowing New York natives and visitors, writers and artists, thinkers and bloggers, to reach across time and share vivid snapshots of life in the city.

Tuesday, February 7th - Behind the Scenes: A Biography of 103 Orchard Street
Explore the 123 year history of 103 Orchard Street, the Tenement Museum’s new visitor and education center. How has the building been altered over time? Who lived and worked here? What stories have Museum researchers uncovered?

Monday, February 13th - Investigate This: Conversations with ProPublica
Eyes on the Stimulus: Money Well Spent?
ProPublica reporter Michael Grabell will discuss his investigation of the 2009 stimulus project and his new book Money Well Spent?

Wednesday, February 29th – Black Gotham: A Family History of African American in Nineteenth-Century New York with Carla Peterson
Carla Peterson challenges many of the accepted "truths" about African-American history, including the assumption that the phrase "nineteenth-century black Americans" means enslaved people, that "New York state before the Civil War" refers to a place of freedom, and that a black elite did not exist until the twentieth century.

Thursday, March 1st Jews and Booze with Marni Davis
Marni Davis delves into the history of making and selling liquor, wine, and beer— revealing that alcohol commerce played a crucial role in the Jewish immigrant experience and the growth of Jewish communities in the United States.

Monday, March 12 Investigate This: Conversations with ProPublica
Women in Media
In honor of Women’s History Month, a trio of ProPublica’s female journalists will share their thoughts on working in the male-dominated news business.

Thursday, March 15: Highline: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the SkyWith: Joshua David and Robert Hammond
The Highline attracted more than 300,000 people in the first 6 weeks it was open. Since then, it attracts close to 20,000 a weekend in the spring and summer months. Designers, founders, and architects Joshua David and Robert Hammond discuss the radical transformation of a derelict elevated railway into a grand-and beloved-open space.

Tuesday, March 20: Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York with Richard Zacks introduced by Kevin Baker
Richard Zacks tells the story of the era when Theodore Roosevelt was appointed New York City police commissioner and eagerly tried to shut down brothels, gambling joints and after-hour saloons. However, he was never successful and learned the hard way that New York loves its sin much more then its salvation.

Thursday, April 5: UNTERZAKHN with Leela Corman
Leela Corman presents a graphic novel of immigrant life on the Lower East Side at the turn of the twentieth century as seen through the eyes of twin sisters whose lives take radically and tragically different paths.

For the most up-to-date talk listings please visit www.tenementmuseum.org/vizcenter_events.

If you would like to attend any of our events please email events@tenementmuseum.org

Finally, it you are unable to attend Tenement Talk you can watch it live online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tenement-talks

Don’t forget to also follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tenementmuseum

-Posted by Kathryn Hennessy

Attention Lovers of Trivia!

Please direct further questions to events@tenement.org.

Pox: An American History by Michael Willrich

Late one evening in New York, vaccinators and policemen raided a tenement home in Little Italy, vaccinating everyone they could find with the smallpox vaccine.  Michael Willrich stumbled upon this article, published in 1901, as he searched The New York Times archive with plans to write a book on the aftermath of September 11 and civil liberties.  Instead, this 1901 New York Times article led Willrich on an exploration of the seldom-explored history of smallpox vaccinations and its impact on civil liberties at the turn of the twentieth century.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, a deadly smallpox epidemic spread throughout America.  With advances and optimism in modern medicine, the government called for a universal compulsory vaccination.  To enforce the law, health officials relied upon pesthouses, quarantines, and "virus squads."  Virus squads often consisted of doctors and policemen with billy clubs.  These governmental measures sparked a wave of resistance by Americans who felt a risk to both their health and to their civil liberties.

A professor of history at Brandeis University, Willrich examines the debates surrounding smallpox vaccination in the early twentieth century.  He also poses questions that continue to be a concern in the contemporary public health field.  Pox: An American History explores concerns and debates that affected Americans 100 years ago, and that continue to be relevant today.

Join Tenement Talks on Tuesday, June 7 at 6:30 PM to hear Michael Willrich discuss Pox: An American History.  Please RSVP to events@tenement.org.

Rainy-day Rugelach

Here in New York, it looks like we're in for another damp, dreary day. Since it feels more like fall than spring, why not bake something delicious while waiting for the sun to return?

Below is a delicious recipe for rugalach, a traditional Jewish pastry, courtesy of  Jane Ziegelman, author of 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. Jane served these cookies at a recent Tenement Talks event--needless to say, they were a huge hit!

4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ pounds butter
1 yeast cake or 2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
3 egg yolks
½ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
1 lemon (juice and rind)
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 cups walnuts, chopped
½ cup yellow raisins, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
cinnamon to taste
apricot jam

Mix flour and butter thoroughly; add yeast which has been dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm milk; add egg yolks to the rest of the milk and add to the flour mixture. Now add the lemon juice and grated, sour cream and salt. This should be thoroughly blended until it forms a ball. Put in refrigerator over night.

Let dough come to room temperature. Combine walnuts, raisins, sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. Divide dough into four even pieces. Roll into a long narrow rectangle, ¼ inch thick. Spread lightly with apricot jam, then sprinkle evenly with nut mixture. Roll up, jelly roll style, brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Bake 30 minutes in moderate oven (350 degrees) or until nicely browned. When cool, slice in diagonal slices.

--adapted from the Jewish Centinel Cook Book, 1936

Goodbye Mr. Ball Goodbye!: A Tribute Song to Hank Greenberg

On April 27, 2011, Mark Kurlansky and Kevin Baker joined Tenement Talks to discuss the life and times of Hank Greenberg, an Jewish-American professional baseball player from the 1930s and 1940s.  Greenberg is best known for his refusal to play baseball on Yom Kippur in 1934.  Audience member, David Bellel from the Lower East Side History Project, brought a special treat for the audience, a song written by Bill Coryn and Harold Smith about Greenberg's ability as a power hitter.  Listen to the song here and follow along with the lyrics!

Goodbye Mr. Ball Goodbye

Written by Bill Coryn & Harold Smith
Performed by Groucho Marx, Bing Crosby & Hank Greenberg

Courtesy of the Philco Radio Show

We’ve heard about those old time dangerous pirates

of Captain Kidd and Silver John the Long

but we prefer those modern dangerous Pirates

as our victims walk the plank we sing this song

Oh, goodbye, Mr Ball, goodbye

You are going to see an awful lot of sky

don’t hang around for Richard to open up that door

when Hankus Pankus hits you where you’ve never been hit before

Oh, goodbye, Mr Ball, goodbye

You had better kiss your relatives good bye

when Hank comes to the plate, Ball,

you’re gonna to be out late so

Oh, goodbye, Mr Ball, goodbye

Oh, goodbye, Mr Ball, goodbye

Say hello there to the sun up in the sky

a plate is mighty handy to eat the lean and fat

but not when Hank the Greenberg serves it up with his big bat

Oh, goodbye, Mr Ball, goodbye

Go fly ‘til the blue has met the dawn up in the sky

when Hank gets home run itch, Ball,

you’re going to drop a stitch
so goodbye Mr ball, goodbye

Oh nothing could be finer

than a partner like Ralph Kiner

in the outfield

and I am confirmin’ that I’ll work for Billy Herman

in the infield

Oh goodbye, Mr Ball, goodbye

you had better kiss your relatives goodbye

Wait a minute, when the count is 2-0 and I let that third one go,

what happens then?

You’re out

Oh Goodbye Mr Hank goodbye

And furthermore,

when I think I've got a hit and it winds up in Slaughter's mitt

How about that?

Too bad

Oh goodbye Mr. Hank Goodbye

Oh, Mr. Greenberg

Goodbye Mr. Hank Goodbye

Lyrics courtesy of hankgreenbergfilm.org

The Archaeology of Home with Katharine Greider

Next Thursday, April 28th, Tenement Talks will welcome Katharine Greider, who'll discuss her book The Archeology of Home: An Epic Set on a Thousand Square Feet of the Lower East Side. One of our stellar interns, Patricia Pforte, recently interviewed the author by phone.

Tenement Museum: Your story starts when you were told to leave your house [on East 7th Street in Manhattan] or risk it falling down. Do you remember that day?

Katharine Greider: It was a surreal experience. There were darkening clouds for a few years and they burst one evening. There had been troubling signs along the way - the roof would leak, there were sinking places in the basement, and cracks in and outside the building. Bad things were happening. We and our co-owners hired an architect and he was going to tell us how to fix it. Instead he called and said we needed to get out ASAP. Although we knew there were problems we never thought it would be that bad. And we had no idea if we were going to come back or how long we would be away. Our kids were small; it was a time in our lives when we were focused on establishing a home.

As part owner of a building that's in a state of decay, of course, you're responsible. The Red Cross doesn't show up with coffee and sandwiches. Instead a buildings inspector comes and gives you a ticket.

Tenement Museum: Have you always wanted to write a book like this?

Katharine Greider: I was actually sort of reluctant to write my own story. But I was fascinated with the history and ideas of home and I knew I would need to bring in my own voice and share the experience or the rest of the story would seem disembodied. It is not traditional history, it is about ordinary people chosen by a kind of lottery--people who happened to have lived at this spot. It actually exalts ordinary people, which we all are. In any memoir I think the writer hopes that people will recognize their own humanity in the writing. That's true of most literature.

Tenement Museum: Your story is sort of like the private home version of what the Tenement Museum is about. We all uncover the layers of stories, histories, lives beneath the surface to gain insights to the ways things were and how they are now. Do you agree?

Katharine Greider: I think it comes from a similar impulse as the Tenement Museum. There's a place in the book when I talk about the museum and the feeling in those rooms that the walls are closing in. You wonder how people found a sanctuary for the body there or space for the self.

The other message that comes out of the Tenement Museum is about being a newcomer, especially a poor newcomer. That may be a hardship, but it is not a disgrace. That's a key lesson of New York City's history. It teaches that of course a Bronx housing project can produce a Sonia Sotomayor. New York and the Lower East Side in particular represent that idea for America.

Tenement Museum: Your discussions of home are deeply moving. Do you have a different sense of home now, and how do you feel about the fact that a new apartment building now exists where yours did?

Katharine Greider: The building on 7th Street was the first ever built on that spot. But I know that spot has to be used by people, and the building as it was just couldn't serve that purpose any longer. It was at the end of its useful life. As I started to see some of the stories that unwound there, I felt that so much was passing away with the building. I wanted to make a vessel that could hold some of those memories.

Why Architecture Matters with Paul Goldberger

“Like the best art criticism, the education of Goldberger's eye explains much of what one feels but had not fully understood in looking at them.” -- John Berridge

We all need a place to sleep; it seems like one of the most basic needs—shelter.

Paul Goldberger discusses the places in which we shelter, work and play. He discusses when architecture is necessary and aesthetic, and goes beyond necessity to architechture’s function, sustainability, beauty and effect on our emotions. So we all need, want and like architecture—but do we need criticism?

Right before the Tenement Talk with Paul Goldberger, and as guests streamed in and took their seats Paul looked carefully at the Tenement Museum’s books, toys and cultural objects. He stood in front of the shelves, diving into the details and continued that scrutiny until right before the Talk began. Mr Goldberger is known for this detailed observation as a writer and architecture critic, from his work at the New York Times to his “Skyline” column in The New Yorker. The Talk began. There was laughter and detailed answers to complex questions related to his work as a critic. As he spoke, the detail and description he provided about buildings like those at Astor Place or Columbus Circle displayed a never-ending search for the specific ideas embedded in architecture and which his criticism aims to illuminate.

Architecture matters for a variety of reasons: because of need, function, beauty and even emotion. The discerning and critical eye of writers like Goldberg bring those reasons to the forefront and draw our attention inward to the ways architecture makes us feel and upward to the buildings themselves.

Criticism comes in many forms, including humor. In the clip below from The Colbert Report, Paul Goldberger and Stephen Colbert trade criticisms, and jokes about Why Architecture Matters.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Paul Goldberger
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Posted by Patricia Pforte

Commemorative Events for the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

On March 25, 1911, as employees of the Triangle Waist Company finished their workday in the Asch Building (now known as the Brown Building; located on Washington Place and Greene Street), a fire broke out when a cigarette was thrown into a pile of lawn, an extremely flammable fabric used to make shirtwaists. As a result of poor safety conditions and a lack of emergency protocol in the Triangle factory, 146 men and women died tragically.  The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was a climatic moment in labor history because it spurred the United States government to pass legislative reforms that would protect workers' rights.

Wednesday, March 25, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire. There are countless forms of commemoration occurring throughout New York City and even across the country. The following are events, resources, and websites that can help one learn about and become involved with the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

Official Commemoration on March 25, 2011
Workers United will sponsor the official commemoration of the Triangle fire at the Brown Building in New York City
11 am: Music
12 pm: Speakers
4:45 pm EST: Join churches, schools and fire houses across the country to ring a bell at the exact time the first alarm was sounded

Programs at the Tenement Museum
March 22, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Fire Escape: A Commemorative Performance
America-in-Play memorializes the 100th anniversary of the fire with a performance that honors the victims of this tragedy.
Located at 108 Orchard Street

March 23, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America with David Von Drehle
The author of the definitive social history discusses American labor conditions before and after the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of our city.
Located at 108 Orchard Street
Visit Tenement Talks 

“Piecing it Together” Tour
See the homes and garment shop of Jewish families who lived in the tenement during the “great wave” of immigration to America.
Tours Given Daily

Comprehensive List of Events at the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition
Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition is supporting organizations and the collaboration between communities across the country by spearheading the creation of commemorative events.
Visit the Remember the Triangle Fire's Online Calendar of Events

Online Resources
Triangle Fire Open Archive
The Triangle Fire Open Archive is an online archive being created by community contributions to tell the story of the Triangle Fire and its relevance today.
Visit the Open Archive 

Remembering The Triangle Factory Fire 100 Years Later Online Exhibit
Cornell University's IRL School Kheel Center honors the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire through a detailed online web exhibit.
Visit the Triangle Fire Online Exhibit

American Experience: The Triangle Fire Documentary
PBS created a documentary on the deadliest workplace accident in New York City.
Watch the Triangle Fire Documentary

Next week the Tenement Museum blog will be solely focused on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Please stay tuned.

T.J. English and The Savage City

Visitors to the Tenement Museum often ask us if it’s safe to walk in this neighborhood. We laugh and tell them they’ll be fine; this is not the Lower East Side of 15 years ago, and it’s certainly not the New York City of the 1960s. The Savage City is the history of the city my parents were afraid of, all of the grit and none of the glory.

T.J. English’s newest book draws a viscerally detailed portrait of a city strained to the breaking point: murders, drug deals, institutionally corrupt cops, muggings in broad daylight, the gap between the very rich and the very poor is starkly obvious. Add to this racial tensions and the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, and New York City becomes a powder keg ready to blow.

On August 28, 1963—the very day Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC—two young, rich, white women were brutally murdered in an Upper East Side apartment. The murder went unsolved for months, until an intrepid detective from Brooklyn used the notorious crooked cop methods of the third degree to extract a false confession from a young black man. Although George Whitmore, the accused, was cleared of this charge after the real murderer was convicted, he spent more than ten years in the penal system for two other murders he did not commit.

The Savage City is not only a nuanced history of this seminal case; it is a snapshot of the dark heart of our city. Get in on the conversation between T.J. English and Daily News reporter Michael Daly at Tenement Talks this Tuesday night at 6:30.

Posted by Katherine Broadway

Tenement Talk of the Day: Chiamanda Adiche

In June we were thrilled to welcome the award-winning Nigerian author of  Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Adichie, to Tenement Talks. Ms. Adichie read from her latest book, The Thing Around Your Neck, a collection of short stories targeting the complexities of immigration in the 21st century. We are pleased to be able to bring you  the recording of this event in this blog post.

In the following lively discussion with Tayari Jones, Adichie discusses her experiences upon moving to the United States, and about the concept of home.

Interested to know more?

Listen again to Adichie's conversation at Tenement Talks here:

The Tenement Museum's Alana Rosen's piece on Adichie's visit in June is available here:
http://tenement-museum.blogspot.com/2010/07/keeping-your-writing-true-to-yourself.html

Link to Adichie's TED talk is available here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

New York’s reputation as amoral and debauched began far before the 21st Century. One newspaper clipping from the 1900s notes New York City as “a den of bootleggers, rum-runners, owners of speakeasy property, wet newspapers, underworld denizens, alcoholic slaves and personal liberty fanatics."

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum explores the history and chemistry of toxicology at the turn-of-the-century. Cold blooded murder, sex, corruption, booze – The Poisoner's Handbook has it all. I sometimes find myself bemoaning nonfiction as dry and uninteresting. But isn't real history often more interesting than fiction? This book is certainly no exception.

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Deborah Blum dissects the most popular poisons of choice, organizing each chapter by the designated venom. Including glamorous and exciting stories of poison laced pie crusts, faked car crashes and government bootlegging conspiracies, Blum begins by describing headline grabbing events and goes on to analyze the physical components of each poison.



Alexander Gettler, right, and colleagues in the first toxicology laboratory of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, City of New York, in a photo from 1922 or 1923.
Photo by justonly.com

The Poisoner’s Handbook focuses on the careers of Manhattan’s first professional medical examiner, Dr. Charles Norris, and its first toxicologist, Alexander Gettler, who together developed forensic science in New York City.

Join us on March 8th as Deborah Blum will speak about her newest book. Come and enjoy intriguing conversation and have a glass of wine. But keep your cyanide at home, won’t you?

Posted by Amy Ganser

The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on Edge with T.J. English

For the first time, the New York Times bestselling author T. J. English reclaims the story of this volatile period in our history through the eyes of three desperate men—an innocent man wrongly accused of murder, a corrupt cop, and a militant Black Panther.  All three men are alive and able to tell their story.

Watch as T.J. English discusses The Savage City

The Savage City begins with a horrifying double murder on the day on which Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and declared “I have a dream.”  Two young white women were murdered in their apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The murders marked the start of a ten-year saga of racial violence and unrest that ravaged the city.

English explores this traumatic decade through the stories of three very different men:

George Whitmore Jr., a 19-year-old black man, half-blind and destitute, who was railroaded for the  Career Girls murders—a living symbol of the inequities of the system.

Bill Phillips, a gleefully corrupt New York City cop who plundered the city through graft, extortion, and brutality—until he was caught and eventually turned state’s evidence in the famous Knapp Commission hearings.

Dhoruba bin Wahad, a founder of New York’s Black Panther Party, whose militant actions against the NYPD made him a target of virtually every local and federal law enforcement body in the city.

Visit Tenement Talks on March 15 at 6:30 PM for The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on Edge with T.J. English

Heart of the City: Nine Stories of Love and Serendipity on the Streets of New York with Ariel Sabar

Anyone could tell you I’m not really into love stories. I like funny movies and depressing books. I love New York because I’m single more often than not, and because New York is the greatest place in the world to be single. So naturally, my first reaction to this year’s Valentine’s Day event, as every year, was an eye roll. Love in New York, sure, great.

I was more shocked than anyone to find myself drawn against my will into the premise of Ariel Sabar’s new book Heart of the City: Nine Stories of Love and Serendipity on the Streets of New York. Sabar, inspired by his parents having met in Washington Square, “set out to find the invisible forces at play in great public places.”

In a city of more than 8 million, the chances of two people finding each other seem slim, and Sabar admits that only a tiny percentage of couples report having met in a public place. Sabar details nine real-life love stories in narrative, novelistic form, introducing each character just before they run into each other (sometimes literally) on the subway, in a park, in the Met, on the street, or in a park.

The book’s introduction was a surprise pleasure; a fascinating discussion of how city planners use the built environment to draw people together, from Gilgamesh to Jane Jacobs’ New York and beyond. People need places to gather, and people, it seems, attract more people. No matter the location, Sabar is right in insisting that “there is an undeniable poetry to love born of chance.”

Join us tonight, February 15th as Ariel Sabar waxes philosophical on love and urban planning. I’ll be in the back, pretending not to enjoy it.

--Posted by Kat B.

Love or Loneliness in New York City?: Ariel Sabar and the Heart of the City


 New York City is often described as ‘real’ with its streets pocketing communities and entire cultures. Passing strangers on the sidewalk, one attains glimpses into the most personal details of other people’s lives. National Book Critics Circle Award winning author Ariel Sabar writes, “New York City demands engagement with strangers. The sidewalks and subways are so crowded that we have no choice but to overhear private conversations and see faces at distances normally reserved for intimates.”



 

Photo from aestheticsofjoy.com



The city is so often the proponent and muse for incredible ideas and events. In his newest book Heart of the City: Nine Stories of Love and Serendipity on the Streets of New York, Sabar shares stories of chance meetings and serendipity in New York. He notes, “It seemed like a quintessential New York story: two vastly different people brought together by chance in America’s greatest city. It said a lot about our country, I thought. It showed how immigrants here could leap borders of culture and class in ways unthinkable back home. It showed how in a society as fluid as America’s, any two people could fall in love, anywhere.”

In a city so bustling and alive with people both young and old, the idea of urban loneliness is frequently being challenged. Sabar recently pointed out an interesting New York Magazine article on the subject called “Alone Together.”

Does a place so full of life perpetuate isolation or does it bring people together? What do you think?  Do you have a story of serendipity in the city?

Ariel Sabar will present his new book on Tuesday, February 15th at 6:30 PM at Tenement Talks. Come and share your own thoughts and stories.


--Posted by Amy G.

Tenement Talk of the Day: Pete Hamill

Today's featured Tenement Talk is from Pete Hamill.  The author of eleven novels, a memoir, four works of nonfiction, countless articles and columns as a reporter, editor–in-chief of two city newspapers, and November’s recipient of the Louis Auchincloss Prize, Pete Hamill can in our opinion shed light on almost anything.

We were delighted in December to welcome the Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University to share his thoughts on the contributions of immigrants to New York City.  Listen again to Pete Hamill's Tenement Talk below:

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Tenement Talk of the Day: Kenneth Jackson, The Encyclopedia of New York City, 2nd Edition, December 8, 2010

As part of the weekly Tenement Talks series at the Tenement Museum, we were delighted to welcome Kenneth Jackson in December to discuss the 2nd Edition of The Encyclopedia of New York City. 

Kenneth Jackson is the Jacques Barzun Professor of History at Columbia University, where he has chaired the Department of History. The author of the prize-winning Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States, he has taught New York City history for four decades.

Ken Jackson with President of the Tenement Museum, Morris Vogel

Sam Roberts wrote in the New York Times that this is an “encyclopedia sure to please and irritate.” Much has changed since the first edition appeared in 1995: the World Trade Center no longer dominates the skyline and a billionaire businessman has become an unlikely three-term mayor. Ken Jackson addressed these changes and shared highlights from the second edition—now updated with 800 new entries, including one on the Lower East Side. Ric Burns, Mike Wallace and Bill Moyers all agree that this award winner is the definitive reference book about New York City.

Ken Jackson's Tenement Talk on the Encylopedia of New York City is available to listen again to here:

Tenement Talk of the Day: New Perspectives on Italian American History, with Nancy Carnevale in conversation with Jennifer Guglielmo. Moderated by Joanna Clapps Herman.

Last week, we were delighted to welcome to Tenement Talks two leading scholars to speak about the history of women within the context of the larger Italian immigrant story, exploring language, gender and resistance.  Nancy Carnevale specializes in the history of immigration, race and ethnicity in the U.S. Her most recent book is A New Language, A New World: Italian Immigrants in the United States, 1890-1945.  She is also Assistant Professor of history at Montclair State University.  Jennifer Guglielmo, U.S. history professor at Smith College, is the author of Living the Revolution: Italian Women’s Resistance and Radicalism in New York City, 1880-1945.

We were also glad to welcome back Joanna Clapps Herman to moderate the discussion.  Joanna is a veteran to Tenement Talks, this was her third visit, and she’ll be back in April with her forthcoming book Anarchist Bastard.  Joanna teaches creative writing at Manhattanville College and at the Center for Worker Education.  She is the co-author of Wild Dreams: The Best of Italian Americana and of Our Roots Are Deep with Passion: Creative Nonfiction Collects New Essays by Italian-American Writers.

Listen to the Tenement Talk here:
 

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Tenement Talks - Holiday Stories

Those of you who are regulars at Tenement Talks probably remember our storytelling series, which ran from 2007-2009. Curated by storyteller H.R. Britton, the series offered up-and-coming performers the chance to tell a New York-themed tale. Last December, we hosted a "Holidays in New York" show with Suzie Sims-Fletcher, DJ Hazard, Raj Varma, Martin Dockery, James Braly, and Rob Hollander. Today seems like a good day to revist it. Happy holidays, all!

Tonight at Tenement Talks: Comedy with a Serious Side

If you’ve visited the Tenement Museum, you may have been lucky enough to enjoy a tour led by Raj Varma. Raj moved to the States from New Zealand a few years ago. By day, he is one of our spirited and knowledgeable educators, helping visitors explore the history of 97 Orchard and the streets of the Lower East Side. By night, Raj is still exploring the story of immigration, but through a very different media. Raj is the co-writer and soul actor in New York’s showing of D’Arranged Marriage a comedy about Sanjay, a young man of Indian descent living in New Zealand who faces a pending arranged marriage. Raj plays all eight characters in the show, which is currently at the Triad. Tonight, those of you attending Tenement Talks will get to see Raj in action as he performs parts of the show for us.

Checking out clips of  D'Arranged Marriage proves that this week's program is sure to be a lot of laughs, but many of the themes—generation gaps, culture clashes, ambition, community, family and belonging—are similar to those we explore here at the museum. Raj told me a little about how his work at the museum, his comedy, and even his personal story relate.

I wanted to know if he saw any parallels between the characters of D'Arranged Marriage and the people whose lives are represented at the Tenement Museum:



We got serious about comedy and Raj talked about the role artists and other members of the entertainment community play in breaking through stereotypes and prejudices:





I know D’Arranged Marriage is going to be a lot of fun. Moreover, I expect we'll get some insight into more recent waves and experiences of immigration. I hope to see you there!

Join us tonight at 6:30 pm at 108 Orchard Street. Doors open at 6:00 pm. As usual, this Tenement Talk is free and open to the public.

- Posted by Julia with special thanks to Joe Klarl

Books on the Bowery

The Bowery has a long and celebrated history. Known as one of the greatest entertainment capitals in the country, this American street has inspired countless authors and historians. Tonight, November 16, David Mulkins, the co-founder and chair of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, joins Tenement Talks to discuss the rich and diverse history of the Bowery (6:30 pm, 108 Orchard Street).

Can’t make the Talk? Read about the present-day Bowery on Bowery Boogie, our co-sponsor for the evening's event, or pick up some of the following books, favorites of both Tenement Talks and the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors.

Banished Children of Eve by Peter Quinn
Set in New York during the Civil War years, this historical fiction traces stories of immigration, gangs, prostitution, performers, war, draft riots, strikes, and racism. Using these issues as a backdrop, Quinn follows the intertwining experiences of common New Yorkers, such as minstrel actors, soldiers, and domestic servants, while emphasizing the lives of Irish Catholic immigrants in the city.

Low Life by Luc Santé
This social history focuses on the messy underbelly of New York City from the 1840s up until World War II. From opium dens to the Bowery’s suicide saloons, Santé illuminates the disease, crime, and corruption that erupted in post-industrial Manhattan.

Five Points by Tyler Anbinder
Anbinder illustrates the history of Five Points, a neighborhood exists today only as a commemorative plaque in Columbus Park. At its height, Five Points was home to more riots, prostitution, corruption, and drunkenness than any neighborhood in America. Anbinder uses letters, bank records, newspapers, and diaries to piece together the slum's history.

The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury
This book is an anthropological study in its own right. Written in 1928, Asbury examines the 19th-century history of the Bowery and Five Points. Asbury describes colorful criminals and gangs that ran rampant in the neighborhood at that time. Like the other books on this list, The Gangs of New York explores the more grisly history of New York City.

No Applause, Just Throw Money by Trav S.D
While some critics view vaudeville as crude, Trav S.D. argues that it was “the heart of American show business” in the years of 1881 to 1932. The author follows the cultural history of vaudeville, including matters of diversity and race in the theater.

- Posted by Alana Rosen