Carol Clingan Debbie Lerner Carol Clingan and Debbie Lerner, who together have more than 30 years of genealogy research experience, will present a workshop tailored for beginners on the process of researching your family tree. The first half will present the resources, databases and records that are most helpful to begin researching your family history. … Continue reading Beginners Workshop on Jewish Genealogy →

Between the 1870s and the 1920s, almost 2,500,000 Jewish immigrants arrived in the United States with most of them settling in New York City. While New York shaped the contours of Jewish life both in the city and in the rest of the country, Jews also profoundly influenced the culture, politics, and economics of the … Continue reading Daniel Soyer – New York Jews in the Immigrant City, 1880-1924 →

Reminder: Daylight Savings Time ends at 2AM Nov. 7. Please remember to set your clocks back one hour so you don't miss the program. While identifying family names is basic to doing genealogical research,Jewish family names are anything but simple. Different rules governed theadoption of names in different countries and in Ashkenasic and Sephardiccommunities. Some … Continue reading Sallyann Amdur Sack – What You Need to Know About Jewish Family Names →

Join us for our next Virtual Research Sunday for individual research help via ZOOM Video Conferencing. Registrations for the December 5, 2021 Research Sunday Are Now Closed Research Sunday is a benefit of JGSGB membership Open to Individual, Dual, and Sustaining members Register for one 30-minute appointment with a knowledgeable consultant or translator for one of the … Continue reading Research Sunday →

Explore Vilna, known as “the Jerusalem of Lithuania,” once European Jewry's intellectual, spiritual, and political capital. Daniel Gurevich will begin the program with a brief overview of Lithuanian history and Vilnius’ place in it. Then through a virtual tour of Vilnius, including many personal stories, our journey will focus on the city's dynamic, painful, and … Continue reading Daniel Gurevich – Vilnius, The Jerusalem of Lithuania →

Almost five of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices are commemorated in Yad Vashem's online Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names.  Yad Vashem, a living memorial to the Holocaust, houses a huge collection of materials. Ms. Velkovich will highlight new features and materials of the Database, as well as offer … Continue reading Serafima Velkovich – Tips for Using Genealogical Sources at Yad Vashem →

Please note that this program will not be recorded. Jewish Resources Comparison of the Giants: Ancestry, FamilySearch, FindMyPast, JewishGen, & MyHeritageEnjoy this comparative overview of Jewish record collections and research tools found on the global powerhouse websites referred to as “Genealogy Giants.” Comparing Ancestry, FamilySearch, FindMyPast, and MyHeritage, this lecture includes many substantive record examples. … Continue reading Ellen Kowitt – Two Lectures – Jewish Resources Comparison of the Giants: Ancestry, FamilySearch, FindMyPast, JewishGen, & MyHeritage and Creative Strategies for Ukraine Research →

Starting in 1867, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company created detailed maps of small towns and large cities in the United States in order to calculate premiums for fire insurance. Today these maps have a second life as a tool for genealogists. They describe the neighborhoods and homes where ancestors lived and imply nuanced stories about … Continue reading Jane Neff Rollins – Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: An Unexpected Tool →

Have you taken a DNA test to learn about your ancestry? Are you confused by the results? In this workshop, David Ellis will cover the biology behind genetic genealogy, the kinds of DNA tests available, the major DNA testing services, the differences among them, and how to interpret your results and get the most out … Continue reading David Ellis – DNA and Genetic Genealogy Workshop →

Under the auspices of the Technion (Israel's MIT), the Avotaynu DNA Project is a landmark scientific study that has tested over a thousand men in far-flung Jewish communities from China to Surinam. Project Administrator Adam Brown will describe what the Project has learned thus far about Jewish origins, as well as the latest discoveries about … Continue reading Adam Brown – The Genetic Origins and Migrations of the Jewish People →

Endogamy, marrying and having children predominantly within one's group, allows DNA matches to appear to be more closely related to each other than they actually are. Alec Ferretti will teach us the current rules of thumb for weeding through endogamous matches, including learning how to visualize matches in ways to both help understand and analyze … Continue reading Alec Ferretti – Strategies for Analyzing Endogamous DNA →

Discovering a Holocaust survivor's true identity, finding relatives assumed dead, and reuniting families are some of the successes that Jennifer Mendelsohn has accomplished as a professional genealogist. Her expertise lies in reuniting people through dogged paper trail research and careful DNA analysis. Mendelsohn will share these incredible stories and how she succeeded in locating the information … Continue reading Jennifer Mendelsohn – Reunited and it Feels So Good →

Jeffrey Veidlinger’s talk will look at the historical fate of Jews in Ukraine during times of war, with a focus on the pogroms of the First World War, the Holocaust, and the Russian-Ukrainian War of 2022. Jeffrey Veidlinger is the Joseph Brodsky Collegiate Professor of History and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. He is the author … Continue reading Jeffrey Veidlinger – In the Midst of Civilized Europe: Jews and Ukraine in Times of War →