At the age of 16, in September 1884, Eckstein left Germany to visit relatives in New York.[2][2] The reasons for this are unclear. Her parents might have wanted to prevent her from forming a relationship with an aristocrat who was out of her range, or it was to support her teaching career. For the first few years she worked as a maid or teacher at various places and then took on a job as a private teacher for the daughter (Mamie) of a Jewish merchant (Godfrey Mannheimer) immigrated from Germany.