FOR REAL was conceived in response to The Lower East Side Tenement Museum's
mission To promote tolerance and historical perspective through the
presentation and interpretation of the variety of immigrant and migrant
experiences on Manhattan's Lower East Side, a gateway to America. The heart
of the Museum is its landmark tenement building, home to nearly 7,000
immigrants from more than 20 nations between 1863 and 1935. The Tenement
brings the experiences of some of these residents to life through guided
tours of the building. Along with tours of the building and neighborhood,
the Tenement also hosts art installations, readings and online programs
dedicated to issues that faced urban immigrants both past and present.
Today, although most citizens trace the beginnings of their American
journeys to the urban rather than the rural environment and most descend
from immigrants, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum's landmark tenement building at 97 Orchard Street is the
first homestead of urban working class and poor immigrant people preserved
and interpreted in the United States. Located on Manhattanıs Lower East
Side, an immigrant portal for almost two centuries, 97 Orchard Street was
home to an estimated 7,000 people from more than 20 nations between 1863 and
1935.
