The other side of the Gilded Age: The Tenement Museum showcases homelife of early 20th century immigrants and the power of a women-lead boycott

The Tenenment Museum in lower Manhattan tells another side of the city's history

The Gilded Age is fascinating in its excesses of the one-percenters of the late 19th century, but there is another side of the story. While the Astors and the Vanderbilts built mansions that could take up a Manhattan city block, scores of immigrants were squeezing their families into 300-square foot tenement apartments in the same city. The Tenement Museum in New York gives a glimpse into the lifestyles of those immigrants, and we took in an eye-opening tour last week.

The Tenement Museum offers different tours that take in specific time periods and highlights a particular family. My choice was the year 1902 which followed the Levines, Jewish immigrants who settled in the lower east side and ran a tailoring business from their three-room apartment. Jennie Levine, a mother and her husband's business support, was a strong woman who would have very likely participated in one of the great protests of her neighborhood.

The parlor/"office" in the apartment. For this family, a tailoring business occupied the space.

Our tour guide explained there was a strong sense of community here. Although living conditions weren't ideal, much pride was taken by these recent inhabitants of New York in what they could now provide to their families, including serving meat regularly - something that would have been a rarity in their native country. There was a butcher in every building and patronage came easily. But, the once affordable commodity was the target of greed and turned the tight-knit locale into a battleground where the mightiest of the protestors were a band of Jewish mothers.

One room faced the outside, all other windows were interior

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gilded Age was coming to a close and the Progressive Era was moving in. However, even with anti-trust laws in place, many of the robber barons still wielded their exploitive business practices in many industries, including railroads, steel and meat. In 1902, the meat industry monopoly instituted a substantial price increase. Initially, Jewish butchers pushed back, but they quickly relented to the powerful trust. 

Kitchen/crib area

A communal bathroom down the hall

Then the Jewish women of the Lower East Side created their own boycott. Strong in numbers and not afraid to use force, this regional revolt gained in momentum. Some of the women's tactics were viewed as questionable, but within a month of the start of their battle, meat prices were reduced.

This boycott paved the way for other social activism in other boroughs of New York and across the country. An incredible story that, until last week, I was unfamiliar with. 

Sewing machine next to outside windo

The museum also showed what many of us can't even imagine:  a family of five (or more) living in rooms barely bigger than closets with only one window to the outside and a communal bathroom down the hall. The apartment was divided into a parlor/workspace, a kitchen and a bedroom - and only 325 square feet in total. It's important to remember that, while many "Captains of Industry" created some amazing innovations, there were many unsung heroes who worked tirelessly to make their life - and future lives- better.

Kitchen area of the NY tenement

This museum was recommended to me by Jenna, my "New York son", Matt's girlfriend and we toured it together. And, while the "one-percenters" exploits of any generation can be captivating, there's always another side of the story. And, certainly at The Tenement Museum, there's plenty of interesting chapters to that other side.