Tucked away on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Tenement Museum is unlike its New York City counterparts. Instead of a grand building with endless rooms dedicated to showing off historic items, the main artifacts of the Museum are the well-preserved tenements, or buildings, themselves. Units that once housed a family, were divided again and again to accommodate the skyrocketing immigrant population in New York City in the 1800s. Each building, while small on the outside, is full of the hope, perseverance and grit of the countless people that once called it home. The Tenement Museum is a testament to the New American experience in the United States.
Each visit has afforded me the time and space to reflect on the challenges my family and I have overcome since arriving to the United States. At first glance, I wasn't sure I'd take anything away from the process of exploring another family's story. Thankfully, I was wrong.
As I navigated through the re-created humble home of complete strangers, I quickly recalled memories of laughter, anger, hope, and joy that resonated within the warm, yet small, abode my own family called home. I quickly realized that the challenges faced by immigrants in 19th century New York were very similar to those faced by recent immigrants to Seattle, like myself. Just the same, hope served as fuel for surviving and persevering.
Visiting the past and seeing how others fought with resilience has motivated me to continue paving the road for those yet to come. The Tenement Museum serves as a reminder of how far we, immigrants, have come.
Carlos Estrada Alamo is a 2014 Fellow. He visited the Tenement Museum on two occasions with The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans community. Both were part of the Fellowship’s annual Fall Conference, which is a time for current Fellows to get to know one another and explore their immigrant stories.
