Aim: To relate images of life on the Lower East Side to literary descriptions of the neighborhood.
Materials: Books about the Lower East Side, paper and pencil, illustration materialsProcedure:
1. Look at images showing life on the Lower East Side. See, for example, works by Ben Shahn, Weegee, Arnold Eagle, Andreas Feininger, Simpson Kalisher, and Rebecca Lepkoff below. Discuss:
- Collectively, what kind of picture do these images create of the Lower East Side?
- How do the different images complement each other?
- Which images make life in the neighborhood look hard? Which make it look fun or happy? Why do you think different artworks depict the same neighborhood differently? Do you think everyone who lived on the Lower East Side experienced the community in the same way?
- What questions about life on the Lower East Side do these works raise for you?
2. Have students read narrative accounts of life among New York City’s immigrants. Many suitable books are included among the resources on this website, such as East Side Story (Bonnie Bader) and All-of-a-Kind Family (Sydney Taylor) for younger students. Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl (Lasky) or selections from A Bintel Brief (Metzker) would be appropriate for students in middle and high school, respectively.
3. Ask students to compare the literary representations with the visual depictions of life on the Lower East Side. Which images, for example, most closely fit your impression of the Lower East Side, based on your reading?
4. You might ask students to create their own illustrations of the stories they have read about life on the Lower East Side.
Weegee (born Arthur Fellig) (American, b. Poland, 1899-1968)
Max Is Rushing in the Bagels to a Restaurant on Second Avenue for the Morning Trade, c. 1940
- Gelatin silver print
- 14 3/4 x 18 7/8 in. (37.5 x 48 cm)
- The Jewish Museum, New York
- Purchase: Joan B. and Richard L. Barovick Family Foundation and Bunny and Jim Weinberg Gifts, 2000-72
- © Weegee/International Center of Photography/Getty Images
Max Is Rushing in the Bagels to a Restaurant on Second Avenue for the Morning Trade
Max Is Rushing in the Bagels to a Restaurant on Second Avenue for the Morning Trade
Andreas Feininger (American, b. France, 1906-1999)
- Gelatin silver print
- 11 3/8 x 9 3/8 in. (28.9 x 23.8 cm)
- The Jewish Museum, New York
- Gift of Jack and Judy Stern, 1998-88
- © Estate of Andreas Feininger, Courtesy of Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
Not on view Photographs
Jewish Store, Lower East Side
Jewish Store, Lower East Side
Simpson Kalisher (American, b. 1926)
- Gelatin silver print
- 14 1/16 x 16 7/8 in. (35.7 x 42.9 cm)
- The Jewish Museum, New York
- Purchase: Photography Acquisitions Committee Fund, 2005-41
Not on view Photographs
Untitled (Schechter Furriers)
Untitled (Schechter Furriers)
Arnold Eagle (American, b. Hungary, 1909-1992)
- Gelatin silver print
- 7 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. (18.1 x 23.5 cm)
- The Jewish Museum, New York
- Purchase: Lillian Gordon Bequest, 2000-79
Not on view Photographs
New York
New York
Ben Shahn (American, b. Lithuania, 1898-1969)
- Gelatin silver print
- 6 x 9 1/8 in. (15.2 x 23.2 cm)
- The Jewish Museum, New York
- Purchase: Photography Acquisitions Committee Fund, 2002-33
- Art © Estate of Ben Shahn/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Not on view Photographs
New York City (Merchant, Bleecker Street)
New York City (Merchant, Bleecker Street)
Rebecca Lepkoff (American, b. 1916)
- Gelatin silver print
- 8 5/8 x 7 3/8 in. (21.9 x 18.7 cm)
- The Jewish Museum, New York
- Purchase: Photography Acquisitions Committee Fund, 1998-11
Not on view Photographs
East Broadway and Canal Street
