This prayer book was my great-grandfather’s, Harry Lerner. Harry was born in 1902 on the Lower East Side and grew up on Hester Street. I was born exactly 100 years after him in 2002 only about three miles from where he grew up. His parents were immigrants from Eastern Europe. At some point in his life, he used this prayer book not only to practice religion but, to record important dates such as, births, marriages and deaths. I was looking through it, and I saw he had written down the day my dad and his brothers were born. As you can see from the picture, the book is practically falling apart but, it's really interesting to know that this book was so important to him and now my family gets to have it. Ever since my Grandpa Harry has passed away, my dad has kept this book in our house. We can tell by the way the book looks, it was heavily used and must have had a lot of meaning for him and his daily life.

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more