Janeen Bjork shows how searching through newspapers can augment our genealogy research. She explains how newspaper searches are done and how to manipulate your query to find results. She presents a very useful and often underappreciated tool that researchers can use.

TV researcher and genealogy teacher Janeen Bjork has been obsessed with the information historical newspapers contain ever since she found a story about the 1894 murder of her great-great grandfather, William Strutz, in a Syracuse, NY, newspaper. She’ll share her search methodology via several case studies that illustrate how anyone (you!) can find and preserve family items from online newspapers.

Followed by Spotlight Talk: John Simon – Finnish Jews: Strangers in a Stranger Land

The first Jews came to Finland as soldiers with the Russian army, when Finland (formerly part of Sweden) became a grand duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809. Although the rights of Jews were restricted for over a hundred years, during WWII, Finnish Jews as citizens openly served in the Finnish army, even fighting  under German command.  In his book,  Strangers in a Stranger Land: How One Country’s Jews Fought an Unwinnable War Alongside Nazi Troops..and Survived, John Simon follows three generations of Finland’s small Jewish community exploring the historical, psychological and moral implications of the extraordinary circumstances into which these Jews were thrust. 

John Simon grew up in Pleasantville, New York and studied at Hamilton College, Cambridge University, the Sorbonne and the University of York. In 1973, he founded a program serving at-risk youth in Manhattan described in his book To Become Somebody. In 1984, he moved to Finland where he worked for KONE Corporation as a communications officer.

Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings

Pre-lecture: 12:30 pm – 1:20 pm
Bessarabia SIG

Post-lecture (approx. 3:30 pm)
Galicia and Sephardic SIGs

Admission is free for members, $5 for non-members. Refreshments will be served.