Lepkoff, Rebecca

Rebecca Lepkoff (nee Brody) was born to Russian Jewish immigrants on the Lower east Side in 1916. Her parents emigrated from Minsk in 1910 and settled in a tenement apartment on Hester Street. As the family grew (Rebecca would eventually have five siblings), they moved from tenement to tenement but always within a few block radius. Lepkoff's father worked as a tailor; when Lepkoff was about 11 years old, her mother suffered a nervous breakdown which left her unable to properly care for the children.

As a teenager, Lepkoff became interested in dance, and was hired as one of the dancers for a performance about the history of railroads at the 1939 World's Fair. With her earnings, Lepkoff bought a camera and took advantage of free photography classes offered by the New Deal's National Youth Administration.

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