Vietnamese identification card and money (1975).
Gift of Nguyen Cong Khanh. (2" x 2-7/8") V.89.158; (3" x 5-3/4") V.87.184; (3" x 6") V.87.185; and (1") V.87.186.1&2.
The donor was one of a group of Vietnamese refugees who arrived in 1975 at the Indiantown Gap resettlement center in central Pennsylvania, a former military barracks converted by the federal government to temporary housing for southeast Asian refugees.
Sewing machine (c. 1907).
Gift of Vladimir Shatalow. (13-1/4" x 18-1/2" x 10-1/4"). RU.86.95
A treasured and practical possession, this sewing machine was bought in Moscow in 1907 by Vladimir Shatalow's mother, Kateryna. It accompanied the family when they fled Russia in the 1920s and moved to Poland, and then Slovakia, during World War II. After the war the family reunited in a German refugee camp with Vladimir, who had been separated from them. After his father died, Vladimir and his mother moved to Augsberg, Austria. They brought the sewing machine with them in 1951 to Philadelphia, where the donor's mother died in 1981 at age 104.
Passport pouch (c. 1905).
Museum Purchase. (6-1/2 x 4). GR.82.42. Identification badge (1891). Gift of Emma Stark Smith. (1-1/2). CZ.81.77.
Transatlantic shipping agents such as F. Missler often issued customers souvenirs such as this passport pouch from Bremen, Germany. The identification badge shown here was worn by the donors mother, Elizabeth Paller of Bubendorf, in Austria-Hungary, (now Czecho-Slovakia), when at age sixteen she sailed on the Maria Theresa from Hamburg to Ellis Island. A portrait of the shipping agent is on the obverse; the reverse shows the ship. Each passenger was required to wear one of these badges.
Irish jewelry box (c. 1900).
Gift of Mary Nolan. (7-1/2" x 5-1/2" x 2-3/4"). IR.83.87.
The worn condition of this jewelry box attests to its long usage. It was brought from Ireland by an immigrant ancestor of the donor about 1902.
Slovak blouse (c. 1900).
Gift of M. Mark Stolarik. (23" x 35"). S.88.10.c. This embroidered blouse from L'ubina, Nitra County, western Slovakia, then in Austria-Hungary (now in Czecho-Slovakia) typifies traditional Slovak dress. It was brought to the United States by a member of the Harustiak family.
Russian Jewish evening coat (1897).
Gift of Ethel Steiger. (32" x 20"). RU.82.16.
This coat was made in Kiev for the trousseau of Fannie Soifer (b. 1877), the donor's mother. After their wedding she and her husband settled in a small town near Odessa. They came to Philadelphia on the ship Frederic the Great in 1903 to escape the pogroms.
Slovak apron.
Gift of Mrs. John Kocis. (24-1/2 x 26-1/2). S.88.33.
This apron, from Pudmerice, in Austria-Hungary (now Czecho-Slovakia) belonged to the donors great-grandmother, Elizabeth Kormornik. It was brought to America by a relative and handed down in the family.
German wool dress (c. 1912) and address book (1883).
Gift of Helen Doerfuss Lombardi. (20 x 19) G.83.81; and (3-5/8 x 2-1/2 x ¼) G.86.122.
This crocheted dress was brought to the United States by the donors great-aunt, Louisa Eberhardt, who had made it for one of her daughters in Germany. The child died young, as did two of her siblings, but the dress was preserved in the family.
A practical and important item for travel, the small address book was brought to Philadelphia by the Riedels, the family of the donors maternal grandfather, when the immigrated from Germany. Inside is the address of the Emigranten-Haus at No. 5 Washington Streeta boarding house located a block from Philadelphias Immigration Station. A four-leaf clover was pressed between the pages.
Dalmatian dolls (c. 1954).
Gift of Nadima Slijivic. (4" x 3" x 3/4"). SE.89.261.a&b.
The Slivijics brought this pair of dolls in Dalmatian folk dress with them when they immigrated in 1954 from what was then Yugoslavia. Joined at the head with string, they were traditionally hung on a peg as a token of good luck.
Embroidered "picture drapes" (c. 1890).
Given in memory of Bessie Maranees Subkis by her daughter and granddaughter Jennie and Judith Rotman. (84" x 15-1/2") JE.86.63; and (96-3/4" x 15-3/4") JE.86.60.
Similar in style to the traditional rushnyk of their native Ukraine, these embroidered cloths had a special usage within the Jewish family that brought them to America. Referring to them as "picture drapes," family members hung the cloths around portraits of their ancestors to honor and remember them. The initials "BM" are for Bessie Maranees, their maker and owner, who immigrated in 1905 from Tulchin, near Kiev in Russian-ruled Ukraine.
Slovenian embroidery swatch.
Gift of Mary Molek.(18" x 5"). SL.84.116.
This swatch of cloth illustrates various traditional Slovenian embroideries. It was made by the donor's mother, Lucy Jugg, who brought it with her from Slovenia in Austria-Hungary when she came to the mining town of Chicopee, Kansas, to join her future husband around 1905.
Italian handmade corset (c. 1922).
Gift of Marie Ianni. (13" x 22"). IT.85.232.
This was worn by the donor's mother, Anna Pracilio, when she came to Philadelphia from Italy at age twenty-eight.
Korean winter dress (1963).
Gift of Dr. Hie-Won Hann. K.91.242.a&b.
The donor's mother, Kyung Pae Lee, had this dress made for her before she came to the United States from Seoul. Such traditional dresses are still worn by Korean-American women at home or at parties.
[Preserving Parts of The Past: Introductory Essay]
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