Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

The Museum has documented such details for 1,300 former residents of the tenement, bringing their stories to hundreds of thousands of visitors annually— both on site and online. Authentically decorated apartments—the look, the lighting, the clothing, even the smells— help highly trained docent educators to humanize this American narrative, pursuing the Museum’s mission “to promote tolerance and historical perspective through the presentation of the variety of immigrant and migrant experiences on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a gateway to America.”

Tolerance and historical perspective are promoted by many other Museum programs. Current immigrants learn English in classes that use memoirs, diaries, and letters of earlier newcomers; graduates develop guides for other participants. Native-born audience members are invited to tell the stories of their immigrant ancestors to improvisational actors, who turn anecdotes into on-the-spot theater presentations. Collaborations with other institutions engage immigrant youth in writing and performing original plays and offer training in the museum profession for immigrant adults. The Lower East Side Community Preservation Project, launched by the Museum, brings together diverse residents to select, preserve, and interpret local historic sites.