Honoring Women Ancestors on International Women's Day

Six Generation of Women
Left (Top to Bottom):
Minnie Bloomfield (Crane)
Ethel Bogdanow (Bloomfield),
Shoshana Lavi (Celnik)
Anna Celnik (Rosenblum).
Right (Top to Bottom):
Feige Kranowitz (Yarmovsky),
 Mollie Bogdanow (Katz)
Barbara Lavi (Bogdanow),
Smadar Belkind-Gerson (Lavi)
Frieda Toby Bloomfield (Pomerantz),
Tzvia Pomerantz (Friedman)

Yesterday was International Women's Day and as a someone who is so fascinated by genealogy, I decided that despite the fact that I already posted my weekly post on Wednesday (Solving the Mystery of an Award Winning Photo) I thought it would be fitting to write a special post in honor of my women ancestors should be honored this week. 

This photo collage may look like a typical genealogy collage of family photos. It took me exactly ten minutes to prepare this morning, utilizing a fantastic photo collage app called posternio. Yet there is nothing ordinary about this selection of photographs. It has taken me three years worth of work to collect these images. You might recognize me, I'm fourth one from the top on the right-hand side. The nine women, surrounding me, span five generations of my foremothers, going back to Tzvia Pomerantz (Friedman) who is my third great-grandmother (bottom right). 

I did some math so bare with me. We all have thirty-one women ancestors going back five generations: 1 mother, 2 grandmothers, 4 great-grandmothers, 8 second-great-grandmothers and 16 third-great-grandmothers. After three years of research, I can name all but twelve of my thirty-one women ancestros. I've collected portraits of nine of them and I have personally met only four of these amazing ladies. 

I know a lot of my grandmothers and quite a bit about my great-grandmother Minnie (whom by know is quite famous on this blog, and beyond, through the publication of her memoir). Minnie's writings introduced me to both her mother, and mother-in-law. Yet the large majority of the women whose blood flows through my veins, are mostly a complete unknown to me. 

On international women's day, I am humbled by the women whose DNA I carry (and am studying, see: My Mitochondria and Me, results due in April!). I am grateful of the sacrifices they made and hope to honor them everyday by discovering and sharing stories.

Do you feel connected to the women of your family? I would love to hear their story and how you learn about them.