Biography of a Tenement House in New York City: An Architectural History of 97 Orchard Street - Softcover

Andrew S. Dolkart

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1930066708 ISBN 13: 9781930066700

Publisher: Center for Amer Places Inc, 2007

Synopsis

"I trace my ancestry back to the Mayflower," writes Andrew S. Dolkart. "Not to the legendary ship that brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620, but to the more prosaic tenement on the southeast corner of East Broadway and Clinton Street named the Mayflower, where my father was born in 1914 to Russian-Jewish immigrants."

For Dolkart, the experience of being raised in a tenement became a metaphor for the life that was afforded countless thousands of other immigrant children growing up in Lower Manhattan during the past century and more.

Dolkart presents for us a precise and informative biography of a typical tenement house in New York City that became, in 1988, the site for the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. Dolkart documents, analyzes, and interprets the architectural and social history of this building at 97 Orchard Street, starting in the 1860s when it was erected, moving on to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the neighborhood started to change, and concluding in the present day as the building is reincarnated as the museum. This book is a lasting tribute to the legacy of immigrants and their children, who were part of the transformation of New York City and the fabric of everyday American urban life.

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Scott Dolkart is the James Marston Fitch Professor and Associate Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia University in the City of New York.

Review

"Histories of Lower East Side life abound. The architectural historian Andrew S. Dolkart's new book, Biography of a Tenement House in New York City ... is, however, unique.... Mr. Dolkart is without peer among New York's architectural researchers, and it shows in this book's meticulous scholarship. The writing is clear, the illustrations are superb, and well placed within the text. The book is an invaluable addition to Lower East Side and New York City studies.

(Francis Marron, Vice President of Hess, Rosie and Company and Director of Research (1978-99) of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission New York Sun )

"This succinct volume discusses the history and architecture of 97 Orchard Street, placing it in the larger context of tenement house history and construction in New York City. It presents much useful information about a subject that has been mythologized but little studied. Dolkart's book will be an original and substantial contribution to the field.

(Marjorie Pearson, Vice President of Hess, Rosie and Company and former Director of Research of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission )

" Biography of a Tenement House in New York City is a fascinating history, very well written and researched, and lavishly illustrated. The construction of the book as a biography enables Professor Dolkart to discuss the design of the building in relationship to the changing social fabric of the Lower East Side. The book also includes vivid descriptions of the people who built and lived in the building. The book should be a distinguished addition to the Center for American Places list.

(Marta Gutman, The City College of New York )

Edition details

• Publisher: Center for Amer Places Inc
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1930066708
• ISBN 13: 9781930066700
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 142