Researching my books is one of my favorite parts of the writing process, and last week I got to do just that. My musician husband, Ken, was performing in New York City, so I flew there with him for a short, five-day trip. Since his concert was in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, we stayed in a hotel just a few blocks from the historic Brooklyn Bridge (completed in 1883 and still used by commuters to Manhattan Island). A nice stroll or drive across that famous bridge offers great views of the city skyline, the new World Trade tower, and even the statue of Liberty.
I grew up in a small town in the Mid-Hudson Valley just north of New York City, so the trip also gave me a chance to visit my sister Peggy, who drove down to spend the day with me while Ken rehearsed. We decided to take the subway to Manhattan to visit the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side and research the American immigrant experience for a future book. Wow! The museum turned out to be a treasure trove of information and experiences, and definitely worth a visit. (www.tenement.org)
The museum is housed in a tenement that was home to more than 7,000 people from over 20 nations between 1863 and 1935. The guided tours through the building and its recreated apartments and shops include a range of topics such as Hard Times, Sweatshop Workers, Shop Life, and Foods of the Lower East Side. Peggy and I had time for only one tour, so we’ll definitely be returning for a second visit.
My sister had accompanied me on an earlier research trip to Ellis Island a few years ago when I was writing Until We Reach Home, and we were amazed by what our great-grandparents must have endured when they emigrated from Germany in the 1870s. We even found the record of their landing on Ellis Island. This time, the tour of the Tenement Museum gave us the next chapter of their story. The Lower East Side was known as “Little Germany” and this tenement building became a home away from home for new German immigrants, a place where they could eat familiar foods, talk with their fellow countrymen, and network for job opportunities.
My great-grandparents must have been relieved to find a German-speaking community to help them adjust to their new country. They eventually moved to rural Pennsylvania where my great-grandfather farmed and worked as a carpenter. But for the immigrants who stayed in New York to live in the tenements and work in factories and sweatshops, life was depressingly difficult. The fact that so many stuck it out and made new lives for themselves and their families is a tribute to their hearty spirits and determination.
I still don’t know when or how my experiences at the Tenement Museum will make their way into a future book—but they will! In the meantime, I’d love to hear your ancestors’ stories of coming to America. You can go to my website, www.lynnaustin.org to share them with me. When my friend Maggie shared her Swedish great-grandmother’s experiences I used some of them in my novel Until We Reach Home. So who knows—your family’s story just might make it into one of my future books, too.
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Thanks for sharing your experience. This was really interesting. I have traveled all over the US but never been to New York City. It is definitely on my bucket list.
I hope you make it to NYC someday, Loraine. It’s a fascinating place.
What a great museum find, Lynn! It sounds fascinating to get a glimpse of so many aspects of 19th century life in that one place. Love the photo!
And I love that the Brooklyn Bridge is still standing and still in use after all these years. Of course, it makes me think of the movie Kate & Leopold. I’ve always thought that Hugh Jackman would be a man worth traveling back in time for. LOL.
Thanks, Karen. And thanks for reminding me of “Kate & Leopold.” I need to watch that movie again!
I’m originally from Canada. My Father originally from England came to Canada in the 1930s . A Farmer sponsored him , paying for his way there from Englad. He agreed to work for the Farmer until his debt was paid off. He received a small wage of $25. A month. He met my mother , who lived in the area at a square dance. My Father would call the square dance which was unusual because of his English accent.
My mother’s family immigrated to Canada from Ireland in the late 1800s. I immigrated to the United States in 1969 when I married my husband. I settled in Fort Thomas Kentucy. We now live in southern Ohio.
Great story, Shirley! It sounds like your family was very adventurous–and you are, too! Even though your parents both spoke English, I’m sure it must have been challenging for them to adapt to a new (and very cold) country. Thanks for sharing your story.
That museum sounds outstanding! I can see why your trip there would stir your creativity and inspire a future storyline. What fun!
The museum was great, Becky. Now if only I could start writing my next book today!
I could get lost in research. Love, love it! Thanks for sharing your trip. But um… Did you eat any ice cream? : )
Thank you for sharing your trip with us. I could really get lost in research. I love to dig around in places I have never been for things that I have never seen.
I am in love with the Tenement Museum and I have only visited it online! 🙂 I came across it as I was researching my first novel Wedded to War, which has an immigrant secondary character. From what I could see from the Web site, this truly is an amazing place to visit, and I can’t wait to see what you do with it in a book someday. I appreciated that the Web site had lectures I could listen to online, too.
A few years ago I went to a Minneapolis museum, and they had reconstructed a version of a single house–an actual address in the city. As we walked through it, the rooms represented the different families, and then renters, who lived in it throughout several decades. That was one of the most fascinating exhibits I’ve ever been in. I’m sure you would have loved it too, Lynn!