This mandolin belonged to my great grandfather Leibush Gluck. He immigrated to the United States in 1922 from what's now the Ukraine to escape from the anti-jewish pogroms after his parents died. After a 9-year long journey to the United States with his sister and cousin, Leibush arrived through Ellis Island and began his new life. He had always loved music but had been too poor in Europe. So after working as a jeweler and other odd-jobs for a few years he was able to save up enough money to buy a mandolin from a landsman(meaning someone from his home town). The mandolin for him represented American success in the face of his troubled past. My family has kept the instrument in memory of our ancestors from Europe.

– Isaac Gluck

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant