Tenements—cheap, densely packed apartment buildings—housed millions of working Americans from the 1800s onward. Often dark, cramped, and poorly maintained, they were how most ordinary people afforded to live in growing cities. This archival record traces how these buildings shaped family life, health, and the daily struggle to survive.
You climb a narrow staircase, breathing air thick with cooking smells and coal smoke. Five families live on this floor alone, sharing a single toilet in the hall. Through paper-thin walls, you hear your neighbor's baby cry, a couple arguing, someone coughing—all night long, always.
Reflect
What would you sacrifice in privacy or space if it meant you could afford to live in the city?