Lenchner (Harry) family papers and photographs, 1892-1980.

In 1892, Levy Lenchner, a gilder (mirror maker), and Toba Asna Kler were married. They had both left Russian Poland and relocated to Montreal, Canada. By 1906, they and their children were in San Francisco. According to relatives, Levy Lenchner made distortion mirrors for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. In 1925, son Harry Lenchner married Sadie Zalkind.

The collection includes family history; marriage and naturalization certificates; World War II awards presented to Harry Lenchner from the United Service Organizations and the National Jewish Welfare Board; a newspaper clipping; and three photographs, one showing the Lenchner family camping in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park after the 1906 earthquake and fire and two of Harry and Sadie Lenchner in the 1920s. According to Harry Lenchner, when the family posed for the 1906 photograph they symbolically left an empty space for a young son (Herman) who had recently died.