Visiting the Tenement Museum here in New York on our first Monday of class was an eye-opening and emotional experience. Actually walking through the building where real immigrants once lived, and talking to someone who was portraying a little girl who really lived in that building brought the whole situation into a very realistic perspective.
If I was an immigrant coming into America today, and the first place that I stepped foot was in the theatre district, I would be completely overwhelmed. The bright lights, the gigantic colorful billboards, some that are even moving and constantly changing, and the overpowering height of the buildings would all intimidate me very much, especially if I could not read the markings on buildings, or understand the street signs, or ask anyone for directions because I do not speak English. Trying to find a place to live would also be very difficult because the area is very expensive now, and dense with people. I think this might discourage me from trying to stay in the area. I know that I would be very intrigued by it all though, and would want to come back and spend time there once I had learned about all of the culture and history of the place. This is what I might see today:
If the situation was a little bit different, and the year was 1900, I might have an easier time finding a place to live. However, the theatre district and the area surrounding “Times Square” (which was not officially given its name until 1901), were somewhat dangerous. It was a seedy area. It may have taken me longer back then to find this out though because I would not have been able to speak to many people at first, but I might have also been interested in seeing what the area would become. The Broadway theatre’s before 1900 were actually focused in Union Square. It was not until the early 20th Century, with the birth of the American musical, that theatres began focusing in and around Times Square. The section of Broadway between 40th Street and 54th Street would soon come to be called “The Great White Way”. All of this exciting hype might actually encourage me to stay as an immigrant in the Theatre district back in 1900. This is what I would have seen in 1900:
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