What’s in a Name? Trouble!
11:00am – 12:30pm

Ron Arons will discuss some of the research he did on his great-grandfather, Isaac Spier, who served time in Sing Sing Prison for bigamy and who committed other crimes. Through the years, Ron has come across records of other people with the same name who were born in the same general time frame, lived in the same places as his great-grandfather, and who, by some stroke of luck, also found trouble, either in business or with women. With such an uncommon name as Isaac Spier, this is rather remarkable. Through his presentation, Ron shows how he untangled and organized all of these documents to determine how many distinct individuals the records represent. As part of the lecture, Ron will discuss names and name changes, timelines, the genealogical proof standard, and a variety of non-traditional records.

Optional Buffet Lunch
12:30-1:30pm

The deadline for lunch payment has passed. Lunch cannot be purchased at the event.

Please note: the Temple does not permit people to bring their own food from outside.

Nifty Technologies for Genealogical Research Analysis
1:30pm – 3:30pm

A real-time discussion and demonstration of very cool tools for genealogical analysis and documentation: timelines, genograms, mind maps, technologies which can be used together to translate books, and more.

Ron Arons has given 250+ presentations internationally. He has authored three books, The Jews of Sing Sing; Wanted! U.S. Criminal Records, and most recently, Mind Maps for Genealogy. In 2006 he appeared on the PBS special The Jewish Americans. In 2008 he won a Hackman Research Grand from the NY State Archives to continue his research on historical Jewish criminals in New York. Ron earned a B.S. in Engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. 

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