here we are in the kitchen of the gumpertz family. natalie and jules gumpertz immigrated here to the united states as very young people from the part of the world that is now germany. as german-speaking immigrants, they would have been particularly attracted to this neighborhood. during the 1870s, this neighborhood was not known as the lower east side. it was known as klein deutschland, or little germany. it is one of america's first ethnic enclaves. it is one of the first places where immigrants from the same region gathered together and created an intentional community because they share the same language and the same culture. they lived here in this apartment with three daughters, rosa, olga, and nanny. and a young son who, sadly, died in infancy, which was not uncommon at all in those days. julius gumpertz was a shoemaker, going out every day to make what money he could, to put together enough money to pay the rent, which was about $10 at that time. his wife was not earning a paycheck, but she certainly was earning her keep. she would hav

natalie gumpertz is in a tough spot. she's all alone with children to raise and no paycheck coming in anymore. she is left with a few options. she can go to public assistance. more likely she would have turned immediately to her community, which is a close-knit community of immigrants who rely on each other during difficult times. she probably would have asked for help from john and caroline schneider who were also german-speaking immigrants who ran the saloon on the ground floor of this building, schneider's saloon. ultimately natalie sets herself up in business. she sets herself up as a seamstre seamstress. she is making individual things for clients. this is before a large scale growth. pretty soon, natalie was making as much fun in those days, so her daughter grows up and lives a life of her own in the new york city. by the time natalie moves on from 45 orchard street, it's no longer a deutschland and we're starting to see immigrants from europe and immigrants from italy. here we show how we have closed over time. th

bridget moore would have been keeping house just like natalie gumpertz. she's carrying that coal up the stairs and cooking food for her family, trying to keep her children healthy. her husband is going out to work. what we talk about specifically on this tour is some of the discrimination and the hardships that irish immigrants faced specifically in those days. and of course discrimination in the job market was a particular hardship. and joseph moore certainly grappled with that. according to records he worked variously as a bartender and a waiter, depending on the year. he probably would have been able to bring home some leftover food at the end of the shift to supplement whatever it was that bridget had found to feed the family. another issue that we talk about in our discussions of the moores is infant mortality. infant mortality rates were incredibly high in those days. and sadly, the moore family did lose their infant daughter agnes during their time living here. the cause was multiple conditions. but ultimately malnutrition played a very serious rol