There is this false narrative
that museums are neutral
to political issues
but everything is political.
We're looking at museums
that are pushing boundaries
who are boldly participating in
the conversation around major
issues in the United States of America.
They are reframing these role the institutions play
and helping to shape, define and preserve today for the future.
This is On Display.
♪♪
-Few things have shaped the American identity
as decisively as immigration.
These immigrants literally made New York City
one of the most dynamic and innovative places in the world.
Their stories is that of America's history.
♪♪
We know that the narrative now moves towards
who gets to be an American.
It's important to first remember that this controversy isn't new.
Throughout our history, prior generations
have voiced similar concerns that new waves of immigrants
will somehow make America less American.
♪♪
I think despite the fact that there's all these conversations
around how problematic immigrants are
and how they're not good for the country,
there are organizations like the New York Historical Society
working to combat that narrative.
♪♪
-In 2017, we wanted to figure out a way
to help new Americans or aspiring Americans
become citizens.
Now, we teach 200,000 schoolchildren each year
and have developed curriculum materials
for the 11th-grade Regents.
So we thought, why not marry what we're doing here already
with helping new Americans pass the civics portion
of the naturalization test?
And so the Citizenship Project was born.
-We are trying to educate a group of immigrants
who were not educated here
and have to study 100 questions in English.
So, the museum is offering this novel approach
to learning for them that I think they have enjoyed.
You know, otherwise just sitting at home
reading a card, a flashcard,
you can actually feel, touch, and see some of these things
that you have only thought about on a flashcard.
♪♪
-So, one of the questions on the civics portion
of the naturalization test is,
"What was one of the causes of the Civil War?"
And the simple answer is slavery.
But what we do is we take our class participants
up to our...
and show them a maquette of Harriet Tubman.
♪♪
She escaped from Maryland,
and she returned 13 times to save over 70 slaves.
So, we ask our students, "What does it make you think
about the importance of the role
that she played during the Civil War?"
-Yeah, she was known as a conductor,
so I can also see that kind of --
Probably why she's leaning forward.
She's conducting and leading
people into freedom. -Right.
-And, also, the train tracks, as well, right?
-Exactly.
-Because my family is a first generation to this country,
it was always interesting to see works in the museum
that related to their history.
I work in museums, and this is an issue that is close to me,
and it is an issue that I'm happy to see that museums
are also thinking about and talking about, as well.
♪♪
-And, so, why is this work
important to you, Monique, personally?
-So, for me, personally, I'm an immigrant.
I've been here -- I think this is going to be my 20th year.
And I had to go through the immigration process.
And although I went to college here,
I have a master's degree,
I went into the interview and I was so nervous, you know?
I knew I only had six questions to get correct,
but, you know, it's a daunting process of someone being there,
and you're like, "Oh, God.
Did I memorize all of these questions correctly?"
So for most people who are not college-educated,
are not affluent in, you know, speaking,
you know, it's a nervous experience for them.
♪♪
-I've really been privileged to not know any of these things
because my parents came here to this country
and did all that hard work for me.
I think it's so important,
even though I am an American citizen now,
for me to understand just how hard and difficult it is
to become a citizen now of the United States of America.
♪♪
-I would say, in the last three years,
this administration has made it really tough
for people to even consider becoming a U.S. citizen --
the anti-immigrant message that you're hearing.
Nobody thinks about immigration and the museum
as a place of learning, of helping green-card holders,
so those things -- A program like this
is what is encouraging people to apply.
♪♪
-I think it's really critical that museums
move away from this narrative that they aren't "political."
Any stance that you take,
whether you talk about something or not,
you've taken a political stance.
People often think about museums
as places of the past that tells history,
but we know that history is continuous,
history is ongoing,
and so they also can be a part
of this historical present moment
and the narrative around who immigrants are.
♪♪
The Tenement Museum provides an opportunity
to learn firsthand
about some of our earliest immigrants
here in the United States of America.
There are wonderful objects and documents
that show just exactly how their experience was
here in New York City,
and they also show some of the correlation
between past immigrants and current immigrants today.
♪♪
Why was it important to preserve
the very space where immigrants once lived?
-These are spaces where people were living
and working and cooking and cleaning,
raising families.
For people to be able to really realize
that these were not easy conditions.
And when we're really lucky,
we're able to make the connections to the present.
And so for people to realize
that for immigrants coming today,
often their conditions are not much -- not much better.
♪♪
-As I think more and more about this narrative,
I become more and more proud of my mom and dad.
I don't know how they did it.
I have no idea if I would be able to do it, honestly.
If you put me anywhere with less than 50 dollars...
What? [ Chuckles ]
♪♪
And, so, do you think immigrants who came here 100 years ago
are different from the immigrants that come today?
-Fundamentally, not really.
If we're looking 100 years ago, people would have been --
More of them would have been coming from Europe.
And, so, people are browner now.
But in terms of people coming for opportunities,
those are still reasons that people come today.
♪♪
-I find it so interesting that in the past
you had so many Irish immigrants, Italian immigrants,
the Jewish immigrants, and commentary around
them not being able to be American enough.
And we see that same rhetoric today,
even though it's towards a different group of people.
♪♪
These stories help us to understand
our national identity.
America is an immigrant story.
We know that the entire emphasis and basis
of who we are here in the United States
extends or speaks to the immigrant experience.
♪♪
-For a lot of the immigrants,
to the extent that there already were some people
from within their communities here,
there would be often, like, a mutual-support society
that might help in terms of, you know,
this is how you find a job, some diet advice,
even though sometimes the diet advice was,
you know, make your food blander
because it's too -- What you eat is too spicy.
Which... -No.
-Okay. -Yeah. [ Laughs ]
-Spicy's fine. [ Laughs ] You know.
♪♪
-What we see is that museums are moving towards
what they should be moving towards --
tackling real issues
that people that are coming through their doors every day
are dealing with.
I think when these institutions
begin to talk about them in real ways,
then you get the larger public to really understand it.
♪♪
How do you see museums playing a role
in talking about these issues that relate to immigration?
-History can speak -- you know, can speak for itself,
and museums can be a forum for those conversations.
We have a Tenement Talks series
where we will often invite community leaders,
government officials to talk about issues
that are related to immigration.
But if you're an art museum,
there's the opportunity to share the arts
that are created by immigrants,
to think about the way the art is displayed.
Are you allowing people to tell their own stories?
-I mean, speaking of stories, another thing that we've done
is Your Story, Our Story... -Hmm.
-...where there's an opportunity to really encourage people
to share either their own immigration story,
migration story, refugee story.
And, you know, it's through those stories
that people are able to make connections
to past, to present... -Mm-hmm.
-...to see so many of the common themes that --
you know, like our shared humanity.
♪♪
-We all have an immigration story, as well,
so kind of bringing it back to the present
and not thinking about immigration
as this thing that's far away or thinking about this thing
that, within our national narrative,
that is problematic -- that we all are immigrants.
-The United States is always changing,
you know, so there isn't a point in time
where you, you know, press a button and say,
"Okay. We're done. This is America now."
I think in many ways, you know, people come to museums,
you know, both bringing what they think they already know...
And then, you know, so, sometimes what we share
might support that, but sometimes
it's an opportunity to learn something new.
-Yeah. Yeah. And tell the unvarnished truth.
-Exactly. Exactly. -Yeah.
♪♪
Conversations around social issues
are growing beyond museums' walls,
and I think museums and a lot of museum professionals
have decided that we should also
be having these conversations in our spaces.
So we do see this boiling up of this movement
now becoming a force.
I think museums can and do have the power
to change and shift narratives
and to change and shift, um...
people's experiences here in the United States of America.
♪♪