For more than two decades, the Tenement Museum has fulfilled its distinctive mission: to make tangible the profound role immigration plays in shaping American identity; to forge powerful emotional connections between visitors and immigrants past and present; and to evoke unforgettably the history of immigration on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, America’s iconic immigrant neighborhood.

Two historic tenements on Orchard Street, home to an estimated 15,000 people from over 20 nations between 1863 and 2000, represent the heart of the Museum. Visitors view restored apartments and retail spaces in the buildings, explore the surrounding neighborhood’s history and culture, and powerfully experience how immigrants weathered hard times and built new lives.