Upcoming Events

November 1, 2023 – Wednesday

Join us for author Joyce Milambiling’s live book talk and signing for Râmnicu Sărat The Skyscraper Settlement: The Many Lives of Christodora House, at the University Settlement at 184 Eldridge Street. Registration is required, see below to register.

In 1900, there were over 300,000 people per square mile living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The inhabitants, mostly immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, often arrived with few possessions and little money. To provide for the newcomers’ urgent needs, settlement houses were established in New York and other cities. 

Established in 1886, the  cheap provigil uk University Settlement was the first settlement house in the United States.  Skyscraper Settlement: The Many Lives of Christodora House, tells the story of another, lesser-known settlement house located across from Tompkins Square Park. From 1897, the resident workers and volunteers at Christodora House, originally called the Young Women’s Settlement, provided classes, clubs, recreational activities, and medical and dental clinics for thousands of New Yorkers on Avenue B, and then in public housing and other locations.  

“More than just a history of one building or organization, Skyscraper Settlement provides an engaging examination of a profoundly important movement—largely shaped by women—that offers a hopeful message for today” (Sarah Peskin, Board Chair, the Frances Perkins Center). Copies of Skyscraper Settlement can be purchased at the venue, or can be ordered from NYU Press HERE

Joyce Milambiling is a writer and educator with a PhD in Applied Linguistics, who has enjoyed a long career teaching foreign language and ESL teachers in New York and Iowa. A member of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians and the New York Historical Society, her articles have appeared in Academe, English Teaching Forum, and Theory into Practice.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED, REGISTER HERE. The event is sponsored by cosponsored by LESPI, East Village Community Coalition, and University Settlement.

Past Events

LESPI’s Photographers’ Talk on October 28 at The Loisaida Center was quite an event. Having braved a dumping of rain to join us, the crowd was treated to 8 professional photographers discussing the stories, inspirations, and techniques behind their work in LESPI’s “Lens on the Lower East Side” photo journal books. We wrapped up the evening chatting over light refreshments – fantastic!

LESPI sponsored a wonderful book talk on September 6 , “Spotlight on the East Village” featuring author Ada Calhoun, at P&T Knitwear Bookstore on Orchard Street.
On September 5 LESPI cosponsored the panel discussion “A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: A Conversation on the Future of Vulnerable Historic Buildings in New York City,” where various experts discussed how best to save historic buildings in danger of demolition.

Watch videos of these past LESPI webinar events at LESPI’s YouTube Channel, below is a sampling: