My cousin posted photos yesterday in the hope I could help identify them. None of them had any identifying information. Several we could figure out, they were mainly our great grandparents and one great uncle. Several are children I has never seen before, perhaps they were from her Mother’s side. And then there was this photo. A young women who looks much as I did as a young woman. She could be me.
Mystery woman, a relative?
My college graduation.
A mystery couple; is it the same woman?
I see so many similarities: our hair, our eyebrows, our noses, our resting face, our lips. My glasses hide my eyes, but believe me they are similar. When I first saw the photo, I was startled. Under it my cousin had written: You resemble this woman. And I do.
I am now haunted by her. Who is she? Is she a great aunt? A cousin? I am relatively sure she is NOT a grandmother of some generation. But if I was a time traveler, I think I would be her.
I also love her dress. There is a bit of sparkle on the collar. All who know me, know that I love sparkle. I could wear a dress like that. Perhaps not the high collar. I do not like turtle neck shirts or high collars of any sort. The dress itself, is something I would wear. I imagine that it is blue, my favorite color.
I think she is my doppelganger. I cannot quite get her out of my mind now. She also looks a bit like some of my cousin’s daughters. The family genes are strong. I really want to know who she is? Where she ended up?
This photo was taken in the USA at a photo studio on Grand Street, NYC. So I at least do not have to worry about her dying in the Shoah. I think she might be one of my grandfather’s five or six sisters. I only ever met one as a child. There were four or five we never knew.
We have another photo taken at the same studio. Is this her as well? Or a sister? I am similar to her as well. I think it might be her a few years older, with her husband. She has rings on her fingers now. But she is still wearing a top with a little drama to it, with all that lace!
Then there is the location of Grand Street, in lower Manhattan. It runs parallel and a bit to the south of Delancey Street. My grandfather and great grandfather had a tailor shop on Delancey Street. Also the Bialystoker Synagogue is on Grand Street! Well we are all Bialystokers! The synagogue started life as a Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1826. In 1905 it was purchased to be a synagogue. But more important it was started by the Chevra Anshei Chessed of Bialystok, and our great grandfather was extremely active in all Bialystoke communal organizations. The synagogue is an historic landmark. I think I need to go and see this synagogue!!!
I am sure she is related somehow. There are so many connections. I just wish I knew how! I do not think I ever will unless another photo turns up with a name!
In my heart, I wish that my ancestors had put names on the back of all the photos. The ones with names in Yiddish, or Hebrew, or Polish or German are so wonderful because we actually have a name. But the many photos that remain forever nameless sit in albums and wait for a name that will probably never come. This lack of identification concerns me as we go on to web-based photo collections. We need to keep some sort of identification for generations to come.
But for now, I will look at this photo of my familiar but unknown relative and truly wish I knew who this woman is, and how she might be related to me.
https://zicharonot.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/louis-of-the-blessed-heart/
https://zicharonot.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/12-delancey-street-and-my-family/
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Bialystoker+Synagogue+on+Grand+Street+image
zicharonot 
I highly recommend Ava Cohn, the photo genealogist. She does amazing work with photographs, and if you have other family photographs that she can work with and compare, she might be able to answer at least some of your questions.
How do I contact her?