CPC Literacy Program visits the LES Tenement Museum

CPC’s Workforce Development Division Queens Office for New Americans Literacy Program students visited the Lower East Side Tenement Museum as part of their “Your Stories, Our Stories” project. The LES Tenement Museum tells the story of working class immigrant families in the late 19th and early 20th century and their homes at 97 Orchard Street. The “Your Stories, Our Stories” project asks participants to consider their personal cultural identity by examining and describing object that reflects a part of their family’s immigration story.

CPC’s Literacy Program students, teachers, and staff each chose an object and wrote short descriptions of the object’s importance and personal significance to them.

After choosing their objects, students were invited to the museum to visit the homes at 97 Orchard Street. Students met a costumed interpreter who played the role of a 14-year old girl and visited the apartment of a family of eight from the 1910s. They learned about living and working conditions of the time and asked questions about the families’ histories, travels, and lifestyles.

After their visit, students revised and completed their stories which are now available online on the Tenement Museum’s website.