Travel with Terri
Museums: Summer’s Education Opportunity
By Terri Marshall
Museums are an excellent way to expand your knowledge and New York City is a destination with an unsurpassed variety of museums for exploration. No doubt you are familiar with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim and the American Museum of Natural History, but did you know New York City has a museum dedicated to the transit system, another dedicated to the stories of immigrants on the Lower East Side and even a museum dedicated to sex? Let’s take a look inside these three unique establishments. You never know what you may learn on your summer vacation!
The first subject on the agenda is history. New York City has served as the gateway to America for numerous immigrants and the city’s Lower East Side became the new home of many of these families.
The Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site, located at 97 Orchard Street, is a five-story brick tenement building that was home to an estimated 7,000 people from over 20 nations between 1863 and 1935. Built in 1863, the building initially had no indoor plumbing, no heat or air conditioning and extremely cramped living conditions. However, this is the place numerous families worked tirelessly to build a new life in America. Their struggles to provide for their families, maintain their traditions and religious customs and adapt to the customs of a new world are immortalized in the guided tours provided by the museum.
The Getting By tours illustrates the stories of German, Jewish and Italian Catholic families who immigrated to America during the Panic of
1873. The Moore Family tour tells the story of Irish immigrants dealing with the death of their child as they struggled to keep other children healthy during 1869. Piecing it Together is the story of a Russian Jewish family who not only lived in the tiny apartments but also worked in the garment industry with the family living room serving as the garment factory. Space was non-existent and the challenges were numerous, but the families were determined to keep their heritage alive and provide a new life for their families during these difficult years. This was the original garment district of New York City providing garments for people all over the nation including soldiers’ uniforms for the Civil War. Learn about these families and others and the role their struggles played in American history. Daily tours are provided and can be combined with neighborhood walks to learn more about this unique community in Manhattan. http://www.tenement.org
The second subject in our education this month is science and industry. What would you do with a decommissioned 1936 subway station? Well, if you are New York City Transit you would create a fantastic museum, devoted to preserving the history, sociology and technology of the public transportation systems in the New York metropolitan region. Located in downtown Brooklyn, the New York Transit Museum displays the most extensive collection of urban transportation materials in the United States. Housed in a 60,000 square foot facility,
visitors enter the museum the same way you enter a subway – down the subway steps! On the mezzanine level of the subway station you will find exhibits about the building of the New York subway system – the maze of tunnels that created New York’s underground world and continues to provide transportation to millions of New Yorkers and visitors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year! There is a collection of tokens and turnstiles and an educational center along with an interactive bus exhibit. The station’s platform level is connected to the New York City subway system with a live third rail and houses a spectacular collection of restored subway and elevated cars dating from 1904 through 1963. There is also a working signal tower.
Coming this November the New York Transit Museum will be home to a groundbreaking new exhibit about electricity tentatively titled: 
ElectriCity: How Electricity Powers New York’s Subway. Occupying 2,000 square feet on the mezzanine level of the museum, the exhibit will emphasize engineering and technology through the use of the museum’s extensive collection and science-based interactivies. Through its partnership with Liberty Science Center, the New York Transit Museum’s newest exhibit will spark understanding about the role electricity plays in sustaining mass transit; how electricity is generated, transmitted and put to work; and where electricity comes from today as well as where it will come from tomorrow.
The New York Transit Musuem’s education center has numerous activities for children providing simple to understand concepts about the subway that also provide youngsters with a good time. Throughout the summer the museum hosts “Transit Tots” events, nostalgic rides to Coney Island and activities to make learning fun for all ages! The New York Transit Museum teaches more than science, industry and history – it also illustrates the role of this magnificent system in today’s culture. http://www.mta.info
The next subject in our varied museum based education is not for the children – and maybe not for all adults – but if you can put your modesty aside for the sake of education, The Museum of Sex is definitely something to see! The mission of this truly unique museum is to preserve and present the history, evolution and cultural significance of human sexuality. The museum houses a permanent collection of over 15,000 artifacts comprised of works of art, photography, clothing and costumes and technological inventions – all relative to sexuality.
Celebrating the seduction, humor and shock value of burlesque, The Museum of Sex is currently presenting The Nudie Artist: Burlesque Revived. This American folk art/theater has entertained, engaged and aroused audiences through stage shows which have evolved throughout the centuries. The exhibit will feature close to 100 artifacts and works of arts. Highlights include original photographic portraits of Leland Bobbe, footage of burlesque performances, costumes worn by Dixie Evans and Blaze Starr and personal artifacts from Mara Gaye, a long-time professional showgirl, model, burlesque performer and dancer with the Radio City Rockettes from 1939-1943.
The Museum of Sex store is a destination in itself with a collection of signature products and every game or toy you can imagine! The Museum of Sex is now serving cocktails at the onsite “aphrodisiac cafe”, The OralFix. Patrons can explore aphrodisiacs from over 3,000 years of human history. Yes, there are oysters! http://www.museumofsex.com
Whether your favorite subject is history, science and industry or human sexuality – or maybe all three – you are sure to learn something on your summer vacation with a visit to these unique museums!
Terri is a freelance writer with regular columns on travel, chocolate and bar reviews. She is busy each month visiting new places to bring unique travel destinations and events to you. Yes, it is a sacrifice – but she is willing to do that for her readers! You can see more of Terri’s writing at www.examiner.com where she is the National Chocolate Examiner and at www.barzz.net. You can contact Terri at [email protected]