My Migration Story By: Julia Posner

Introduction My family originated from Ukraine. Ukraine is located in Europe. My great-great- grandparents came from a town called Odessa where the people spoke Ukrainian. The Ukraine has a population of 44,291,413 with a growth rate of about -0.64% The official language spoken there is Ukrainian but Russian is also a commonly heard language in larger cities such as Kyiv and Dnipro. Christianity is the main religion with Orthodox, Roman, and Greek churches. In the Ukraine, breakfast is the biggest meal and decreases as the day goes on. Housing consists of mainly multi-level apartments. Lastly, family is very important there and extended family is very valued. Here is a map of the Ukraine and it’s bordering countries. In the south west is the city of Odessa, where my family is from.

Leaving their country My great-great-grandmother, Betty Guber, left Ukraine in 1899 and went to Liverpool, England, at age 19. From there, she went to Philadelphia, PA, in America with her 15 year old sister, Mary. She then met my great-great-grandfather, Oscar Jacob Silver. He too came from Odessa and went to Istanbul (which was then called Constantinople) at age 9. Just like Betty, he went to Philadelphia, PA, where they met. Unlike Betty, he traveled with his whole family because his mother didn’t want her sons to be drafted. My great-great-grandmother came to the United States to seek better economic opportunities. Oscar’s family also came to the United States for economic reasons. We had a couple of relatives already in America so job opportunities awaited them. Their voyage to America was by sea steerage. Here is my great-great- grandfather, Oscar Jacob Silver Here is my great-great- grandmother, Betty Guber.

Life in America Betty and Oscar met each other in Philadelphia and moved to Brooklyn, NY and had my great- grandmother, Doris Silver. She stayed in Brooklyn and met my great-grandfather, Ralph Posner. They started a family there and had my grandfather, Herbert Theodore Posner, my great-uncle, David Marc Posner, and my great-aunt, Miriam Ellen Posner. My grandfather and my grandmother met in Brooklyn when my grandmother, Jacklyn Horowitz, went to grade school with my great- uncle. They moved together to East Windsor, NJ, and had my dad, Ralph Posner, and my aunt, Beth Sheba Posner. My dad majored in political science at the University of Rochester, so he came to Washington D.C. hoping to get a job on Capitol Hill in the U.S. Senate. He went on to work for Senator Bill Bradley. He met my mom, Alyssa Marlyn Prince, on a blind date. She came to D.C. for a management training job that she was recruited for at her college, Washington University in St. Louis. They were married in 1996 and wanted to move to a suburban town in driving distance to both their hometowns, Pittsburgh, PA, and East Windsor, NJ. They choose Arlington because it had good schools and a safe community. They had me, Julia Claire Posner, and my brother, Theodore Jacob Posner.

A family tree that goes from my generation all the way to my great-great- great- grandmother and father’s generation!

A census showing Oscar J. Silver, the 6th name, and my great-grandmother, Doris Posner, the last name on it.

The ship manifest from my great-great-grandmother, Betty Guber, when she was 19. (Line 24)

Interesting Facts My great-uncle, David Posner, was the head rabbi at Temple Emanuel in New York City, the largest temple in America. Also,my great grandmother received a masters degree at Columbia University in the 1930s when it was rare for women. During World War II, she moved to Washington to work for the government with her two close friends. Here is a photo of my great-uncle David standing in Temple Emanuel. Here is a photo of my great-grandmother and her close friends on the steps of a building in Washington D.C. during WWII (women on the left.

Bibliography ● CultureGrams: “Ukraine.” CultureGrams Online Edition. ProQuest, Web. 21 Jan 2015.