Portrait of a Donor: Honoring Grandpa on His Naturalization Anniversary

Earlier this month, we got an exciting package in our mailbox: Harriet Katz, made a gift in honor of the 100th anniversary of her grandfather’s naturalization and included with it a copy of the originial naturalization certificate (below) and a photo of her grandfather and grandmother (to the left)

Nathan Katz came to New York from Russia in or near modern day Kiev, Ukraine in the 1890’s. He and his wife Molly had 6 boys, including Harriet’s father, who grew up in New York speaking Yiddish. He eventually moved to Dayton, Ohio.

Harriet found this certificate while cleaning out a family member’s apartment and was struck by how little some things change – she has her own child adopted from Peru and their naturalization certificate looks exactly the same. (In recent years the government has started going digital and the form has changed some.) After finding it, she wanted to do something special and give to a cause that helped immigrants and with our organization’s Jewish roots it was a natural fit!

We thank Harriet for thinking of us and for letting us into this lovely glimpse of her family.