For Immediate Release: February 21, 2007





                 Seton Hall University to host Ruth Abram,

             President of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum,





Seton Hall University’s Graduate Program in Museum Professions is pleased

to announce its annual museum lecture on Wednesday, March 21, 7:30 – 9:00

PM.  This year’s speaker is Ruth J. Abram, President and Founder of the

Lower East Side Tenement Museum.  Abram is one of the pioneers and

advocates of the concept that museums have a social function in the

community they serve - a function that she sees as primarily educational

and consciousness-raising. One of her main interests is the promotion of

tolerance, which, she feels, is best achieved by presenting a historical

perspective on the best and worst of human relations.  The topic of the

lecture at Seton Hall is  “Museums and Social Conscience.” It will be

followed by a question and answer period.  The lecture is free and open to

the public.



The Tenement Museum, founded in 1988, has the mission “to promote tolerance

and historical perspective through the presentation and interpretation of

the variety of immigrant and migrant experiences on Manhattan’s Lower East

Side, a gateway to America.”  The museum is undertaking the nation’s first

effort to preserve and interpret a 19th  Century tenement building.  Its

building at 97 Orchard Street is the first tenement to be designated a

National Historic Landmark.  Using the building and its Lower East Side

neighborhood, the Museum has pioneered the interpretation of the home and

community life of urban, immigrant, working class, and poor peoples, and it

has set precedent in using history as a tool for addressing contemporary

social issues.  Visitors to the museum gain an appreciation of an aspect of

the immigrant experience, which has been shared by numerous ethnic groups

in the past and is shared by others to this day.



In recent years, Abram has been instrumental in the formation of the

International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Consciousness, a

growing network of organizations and individuals dedicated to teaching and

learning how historic sites and museums can inspire social consciousness

and action.  The work of the coalition takes the ideas of the Tenement

Museum one step further in that its goal is not merely to promote tolerance

and understanding but also to spur museum visitors on to social action.



For additional information on this lecture, please contact the Museum

Professions Department at Seton Hall University at 973-761-7966 or e-mail

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For 150 years, Seton Hall University has been a catalyst for leadership,

developing the whole student, mind, heart and spirit. Seton Hall combines

the resources of a large university with the personal attention of a small

liberal arts college. Its attractive suburban campus is only 14 miles by

train, bus or car to New York City, with the wealth of employment,

internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities the city offers. Seton

Hall is a Catholic university that embraces students of all races and

religions, challenging each to better the world with integrity, compassion

and a commitment to serving others. For more information, see www.shu.edu.