The American Vision: Modern Times © 2008

"Tenement Life"

Introduction
As you learned in this chapter, millions of immigrants from Europe poured into American cities looking for a new life in a nation full of promise. After days aboard crowded steamships, passengers usually disembarked in New York Harbor. Many immigrants settled in the nation's cities, and most ended up residing in tenements-multi-family dwellings designed to accommodate the cities' surging populations. Tenements were the most affordable urban housing, and they offered many immigrants the chance to make a home in the city. Explore various web sites to learn what life was like in a tenement.

Sample web sites:
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum -- http://www.tenement.org/Virtual_Tour/index_virtual.html
Columbia University -- http://ci.columbia.edu/0240s/global/0243_2_media.html
Jacob Riis Photographs -- http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/davis/photography/images/riisphotos/slideshow1.html

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Read through the information, and then answer the following questions.

1			Describe the living conditions found in most tenements.
2			Describe the layout and interiors of the apartments in tenements.
3			What was life like for women in tenements?
4			Describe how many immigrant children helped their families.
5			Imagine that it is 1876, and you are a newspaper reporter who is preparing a report on the status of immigrants in New York City. A tenement resident has agreed to give you an interview. On a separate sheet of paper, write a set of questions for the interview and the responses that you imagine she will provide. Conclusion Tenement life played an important role in the social history of the United States. Millions of immigrants and other city dwellers spent their lives living in the cramped quarters and unhealthy conditions of urban tenements. What would you have done to make life more tolerable if you were a tenement dweller?