My mother received this box from her mother for her 16th birthday back in Moldova, but the history of the buttons it holds starts far before that. My grandmother began collecting buttons when she was married in 1948. She lived in a central area of Siberia and moved to north of Siberia with her new husband. As they traveled to different republics of ussr from north to south, my grandmother would save buttons from her clothing and pick up buttons she found on street. After my grandmother died, the buttons were passed down to my mother and she began collecting buttons for herself. This served not only as a memory of her mother, but represented both migration and immigration as my family moved from Siberia to Moldova, to Russia. The collection continued after my parents won green cards to the US and not the buttons in the box span different areas and times. The oldest buttons are an old leather button that my grandmother contributed to the collection and a button from as far back as World War 2. Now there's the addition of American buttons from brands such as Ann Klein which can be seen above the two forefront buttons in the image. 

– Amanda Onoichenco

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant