"Why is tonight different from all other nights?” The youngest person traditionally asks this as the first of the Four Questions section of a Passover seder.
A. Nedby, a 10-year-old student at the Educational Alliance Art School in Manhattan, made this textile of a seder in the late 1930s. It was later donated to the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
The Educational Alliance was founded in 1889 to help Eastern European Jewish immigrants adjust to life in America. It offered vocational training and English classes along with art programs.
Children of all ages participated in its textile curriculum, encouraged to draw what they knew to foster creative expression and an interest in their community.
In this piece, you can see the details of a Passover seder—a seder plate, candles, family gathered around the table—through the eyes of child.
