And more info on these studios and lithographers: www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/pse-5.htm

Amazing thank you! Seems like a really fascinating lead, potentially a chain of studios across the Russian empire: lusadaran.org/artists/mikh...

Oh gosh, no wonder I was having such a hard time with it. Thank you!

But maybe the wildest thing of all: because of how many people are in this 120-130 y/o portrait, thousands of other Jews alive today can potentially trace their ancestry back to this one photo in my family’s collection. It made it to America when a lot of people didn’t. I’m very lucky to have it.

The young man in the uniform and cap is especially interesting because it’s not military. It’s likely a “real school” uniform, a kind of science and mathematics school that would have prepared students to enter technical trades, engineering, medicine, etc. More accessible to Jews than ex: Gymnasia.

Many of the boys in this photo (brothers) immigrated to the US as young men, or attempted to. One was turned back at Ellis Island as an “unfit immigrant” due to an eye problem, and decided to stay in the port he was turned back to: London. During WWII, my Zeyda, an American GI found him again!

The Yiddish on the upper left says something like “Family of ______” and I don’t know enough Yiddish spellings of surnames to make out the context. The right says I think Sarkin, Linz, Blazkov. I have no knowledge of any extended family with these names. Mysterious!

The stamp of says something like “Photo studio of Libkin/Zalkin.” One of the little boys in front is my great great grandfather, who like many in my family is maybe misremembered as coming from Russia because of how empire moved back and forth over places like Belarus. Wish I could find the studio.

Being American Slavic Jewish is weird because your ancestors might be from what are today 3-4 different countries, but got together bc they all spoke Yiddish on arrival and lived in same neighborhoods.
We’re from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and maybe Hungary. Got hard to tell because, well, you know.

This is specific to my county, a result of a public records request for the search data.

I’m beside myself. We all have to be the presences in our own abortion networks telling people don’t talk to the press just like we don’t talk to cops. I know it feels like it’s supposed to be different, but it’s not. You are gonna get all your people and the people you’re helping in deep shit.

There are no benefits to giving an interview about your community abortion pill networks. I can count on one hand the number of journalists or outlets who would have any clue how to protect a source of that nature and none of them would ask you these questions or photograph/film you. Please stop!!!

Snitches are how 99% of FBI cases work, or someone talking when they shouldn't. It's almost never breaking encryption.

So, keep using signal because its the best option we have. Do not switch to telegram which is DEMONSTRABLY less secure.

I like this! Thank you