When beginning genealogical research, it’s tempting to immediately jump to European records when researching your family, but searching American records first can avoid a lot of time and frustration. If you haven’t documented where in Europe your family was from or what their names were in Europe, then this session is for you. Learn which American records are most likely to yield those elusive town names, along with proven methods to uncover your family’s original names.

Risa Daitzman Heywood is a professional genealogist specializing in Ashkenazi Jewish research.  Her quest to figure out her family’s original surname and town began 35 years ago when she inherited her grandfather’s family tree containing only Americanized names without any dates or places.  Risa is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, a past-president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado and served as co-chair of JewishGen’s original Belarus Special Interest Group (SIG)

Following the program, participants will have the opportunity to join breakout rooms and continue the discussion about American records in their own searches. This will give us an opportunity to meet in a smaller setting, ask questions, share knowledge, and support each other in our research. Break out rooms will be facilitated by a JGSGB board member..