History can manifest itself in many forms. Puns aside, this document is a copy of the manifest of the ship my great-grandfather and his family took when coming into Ellis Island in the 1920s. They were jews from Poland (my father's side of the family). The second image is a photograph of the family members listed. My mother was not Jewish, so I grew up with only some religious influence. Still, she was the one to uncover these documents online, print and frame these photocopies. At the time I was 15, living in Minnesota and had never known my grandfather (the youngest son in the photo). I looked at him every day when I returned home from school. Yet now I live in New York surrounded by Jewish friends and I watch my father reconnect with his religion. I am struck by how much my ancestry continues to impact my family. Now, the manifest and photograph hangs in my parent's new house in Cape Coral, Florida. So I know, wherever my family is, that is a place I can call home.

– Bryn Gelbart

Relationship:  unknown unknown