The object displayed in this picture is my great grandfather’s stamp collection. The stamps were collected in America by my great grandfather Irving Merlin. His family immigrated to Brooklyn, through Ellis Island and settled there. They came from Poland, and moved because of discrimination against Jews. He collected hundreds of stamps from different countries and found a big interest in America. His family was poor, as he had two parents and two siblings. That was a big family at the time to support. He came to America when he was 7 years old and could not be educated because of his family’s circumstances. He got all his stamps from the mail, collections in cheap stores or from trading. Years later, he became a worker in a local food processing factory. He worked with cheesecakes and other desserts. My family doesn’t use it anymore because it is so fragile and important to our history. Most of the stamps are yellow and ripped and also have dates on them from when they were used. As irving grew older, he continued to collect stamps. He later had two children, Cecilia and Mark. He shared a collection with Mark when Mark was young. The stamp collection represents my past. When Irving Merlin, my great-grandfather came to America, he was extremely poor and couldn’t get a good education. Now, I am comfortably wealthy and get an extremely good education.

– Daniel Goodstadt

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