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April 2019
Research Sunday
(Feldberg Meeting Room, lower level) Research Sundays are an opportunity to: Get help with using your genealogy software. (NEW) Consult experienced researchers for help with your research questions in 30-minute scheduled appointments Work with a strategist to plan your next steps Get translation help with documents written in various foreign languages in 20-minute scheduled appointments Learn how to read your DNA results or decide if DNA testing is for you Examine our extensive research collection of books and maps on…
Find out more »May 2019
David Ellis – DNA Basics Workshop
Are you considering taking a DNA test? Have you taken a DNA test to learn about your ancestry? Are you confused by the results? This workshop covers the kinds of tests available, the major DNA testing services and the differences between them, and how to interpret your results to get the most out of them. David Ellis is JGSGB Board member and leader of the Litvak and Galicia SIGs. He discovered dozens of ancestors unknown to his relatives and initiated contact with…
Find out more »Buffet Lunch
Following the DNA Basics Workshop with David Ellis, we will provide an optional buffet lunch at 12 noon for $20. Advance reservations are required and must be purchased online by 9 PM on April 30. Lunch cannot be purchased at the event. Lunch will be a dairy buffet with a selection of sandwiches, quiche, pipettes, salad, dessert and drinks, prepared by a kosher caterer. Temple Emanuel does not allow individuals to bring in food from outside the building. Lunch will…
Find out more »Lara Diamond – DNA Successes In (and Despite) Endogamy
Genetic genealogy is particularly daunting for endogamous populations including Ashkenazi Jews and other groups who have married among themselves for generations. Trying to identify actual relatives among the mass of distantly-related DNA matches can be frustrating. Drawing on case studies, Lara Diamond will explain how you can succeed in spite of these obstacles. Lara Diamond’s work has helped reunify family branches thought to have been killed in the Holocaust. Lara Diamond has researched her roots in Eastern Europe using records from the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. She is…
Find out more »Andrew Zalewski – Cadastral Surveys and Maps of Galicia: Visiting Ancestral Towns and Meeting the Neighbors
Joint program of the JGSGB and the Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts Please note Framingham location below Andrew Zalewski’s presentation introduces genealogical discoveries and presents several research tools, focusing on multiethnic Galicia during the Habsburg rule (1772–1918). With the richness of information in cadastral population surveys, we get unique insight into the diverse neighborhoods, from the capital city of Lwów (Lemberg) to small towns, where Polish nobility and members of Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), as well as commoners, lived and interacted. Employing detailed archival…
Find out more »June 2019
Neville Frankel – Unearthing Family Lore: Behind the Scenes of a Novelist’s Journey
Neville Frankel’s works of historical fiction bring to life the stories that he uncovered in researching his family history. This talk provides an unusual, personal look at the fact-finding process into his ancestry dating back to Latvia, Russia, Germany and South Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries. His journey puts us in touch with rich family narratives connecting one generation to the next. Neville Frankel is an Emmy award winning writer. His novel On the Sickle’s Edge was a 2017 National Jewish Book…
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