Programs Sept. 2014 - June 2015 (Full Schedule)
Transcription
Programs Sept. 2014 - June 2015 (Full Schedule)
JGSLI Programs – Sept. 2014 to June 2015 Program details are subject to change. Please watch www.jgsli.org for the latest information. Date Location Speaker(s) Topic Sunday, Sept. 21 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Renee Stern Steinig "A Connecticut Rabbi on the Archbishop's Tree: Tracing John O'Connor's Jewish Roots" Plainview-Old Bethpage Library 999 Old Country Road Plainview www.poblib.org Dr. Rhoda Miller, Ed.D., CG Sunday, Oct. 26 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) When the sister of NY's late Archbishop John Cardinal O'Connor revealed that their mother was born Jewish, JGSLIer Renee Steinig searched further -- and discovered that O'Connor's grandfather was a pulpit rabbi in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Renee will describe her research on the Cardinal's Prussian-Jewish grandparents, its front-page coverage in the New York Times, and some interesting finds about the family of Gustave and Tina Ruben Gumpel that never made the papers. "Who Do You Think You Are, Lauren Fox?” Lauren Fox, JGSLI's website developer, knew she had Jewish roots but little more about her ancestry. Researching, Rhoda Miller learned that Lauren's great-grandfather was the renowned Yiddish author Chaim Leib Fox. Family stories, archival documents, and DNA results led to revelations about Lauren's family’s connections with the Holocaust and other historical events. Join us for the telling of this journey of discovery and learn strategies that can help in your own family research. Sunday, Nov. 2 12:30 – 5:00 p.m. Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Bonnie Birns, Chair “Jewish Genealogy 101: Four Hours+ to Your Family Roots” JGSLI’s 24th Annual Family History Workshop … a review of the fundamentals of Jewish genealogy. Early-bird rate (postmarked before or paid at the Oct. 26 meeting): $45, including 2015 membership dues. After Oct. 26: $55. Additional family member: $15. Send checks to JGSLI, Attn. Bonnie Birns, 28 Madison Ave., Jericho NY 11753. For details contact Bonnie – [email protected], 516.433.0130. Sunday, Nov. 23 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Robin Meltzer “The Name Remains the Same: Adventures in Finding Sid Caesar’s Grandmother” When Sid Caesar, the architect of television’s Golden Age, died in February 2014, hundreds of press reports repeated the myth that the family’s name had been “changed at Ellis Island” on their arrival from Austria. Of course, no one’s name was changed at Ellis Island (or Castle Garden). Careful research proved that the family’s surname remained unchanged from the time they lived in Galicia through their immigration to the United States. This presentation will explain the search techniques used to find the embarkation list and passenger manifest for Sid Caesar’s grandmother and great-uncle and how others can apply these methodologies to their own research. (continued) Sunday, Dec. 14 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Nolan Altman Sunday, Jan. 25 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Janette Silverman “JOWBR and the Importance of Burial Records” Jewish genealogical researchers face many special impediments -- individuals’ name changes, town and country name changes, Holocaust displacement and others. However, there is one major advantage that we can use to help link our generations together – patronymics. We’ll start with the origin and importance of naming patterns and then show step by step how JewishGen’s JOWBR database can be used as the central source for Jewish burial records. Next, we’ll review how to read a Jewish headstone and give examples of symbols as well as inscriptions. We’ll also look at unusual headstones, some creative and others just plain funny. Finally, we’ll discuss JewishGen’s Memorial Plaque Project and show how you can help to grow the database. “Ancient Texts Lead to Genealogical Discoveries: The Lives Our Ancestors Led” New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary is off the radar screen for many genealogists but its library is home to almost half a million volumes and its archives are a rich repository of records of Jewish communities, institutions & prominent individuals in the US and Europe. We will take a digital trip to explore some of JTS’s treasures, such as correspondence between the State Department and offices in Vienna, St. Petersburg, Warsaw and Bucharest from 1863-1906 about the legal position and persecution of Jews and materials about the French Jewish community from the 1700s until after WWII. We will also look at ketubot and mohel books and talk about the way all of these materials help in our research. Sunday, Feb. 22 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org John Paul Lowens Sunday, March 22 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Hadassah Lipsius “New (and Antique) Resources for German Jewish Genealogy” After researching his German Jewish ancestors for nearly 60 years, John Lowens is still learning much about them. As the Loewenstein family historian since high school, John has inherited fascinating collections of archival photos and documents. He is currently scanning hundreds of World War I era photo postcards written to his grandparents. With the help of JewishGen, these letters from the past are being translated and interpreted. John will share some of these photocards, which tell fascinating and sometimes tragic stories of middle class Jewish life and death in western Germany, and continue to expand and illustrate a long family history. John will also speak about new indexing projects, initiatives at the Leo Baeck Institute, and other resources that have made the civil and Holocaust records from Germany far more accessible in recent years. “Jewish Records Indexing – Poland: Small Miracles Continue” The Jewish Records Indexing - Poland online searchable database of indices to more than four million records has enabled researchers to trace their families' growth and migration inside Poland. Last year, JRI-Poland entered into a new agreement with the Polish State Archives that will have far-ranging benefits for tracing Jewish roots to Poland. Hadassah will outline recent developments in the PSA/JRI relationship, current indexing activity, online availability of actual images of records, newly discovered resources, and plans for the future. She’ll also describe new techniques for searching the database and how to navigate and utilize other features on the JRI-Poland website. Sunday, April 26 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Avraham Groll “How Did Jews Get to Europe?” Sunday, May 31 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Michael Chaplan JGSLIers Share Success Stories Marilyn Gotkin - Michael Chaplan’s interest in genealogy blossomed when he began to work five minutes from NYC's Municipal Archives. He will discuss his use of the Archives's resources to research his early 20th century immigrant ancestors. With the decline of Babylonian Jewry in the ninth and tenth centuries, Jews immigrated to Europe in large numbers. Yet there is evidence of a Jewish presence in Europe more than 1,000 years earlier. In this presentation, Avraham Groll, who is JewishGen’s Director of Business Operations, will focus on early Jewish settlement in Spain, Germany, France and Italy. He will use maps, pictures, and documents to explore why Jews chose (or were forced) to live in these countries, where they settled, and under what conditions they lived. He will also discuss the migration patterns of Jews in even earlier periods, including the division of Israel into two kingdoms, the beginnings of the Jewish Diaspora, the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE, and the transfer of the center of Jewish life to Babylon. Andrew Bader Allan Mallenbaum - Marilyn Gotkin will illustrate how snail mail, Facebook, Geni, JewishGen, kindness of strangers, and serendipity have enabled her to explore family history and connect with living relatives in the USA, Europe, and Israel. - Andy Bader has been very successful using Facebook to locate & maintain contact with family members. He’ll tell us about the value of that social networking site to genealogists. - Allan Mallenbaum will provide guidance on maintaining and preserving for future generations the precious family records that we find. Sunday, June 28 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Mavens 1:30 p.m.) Mid-Island Y-JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road Plainview www.miyjcc.org Logan J. Kleinwaks “GenealogyIndexer.org: New Sources, New Ways To Search” Logan Kleinwaks is the creator of GenealogyIndexer.org, an award-winning, free website that enables searches of historical business, address, and telephone directories (primarily from Eastern and Central Europe), Yizkor books, Polish and Russian military documents, community and personal histories, Galician secondary school reports, and more. Logan will update us on recent additions to this huge and unique collection of data, which contains millions of personal names – often with towns, street addresses, and occupations, and sometimes with vital dates or patronymics – and he will discuss new ways to search the site. He will also briefly preview a new free website offering detailed research advice based on your GEDCOM file. Coordinator of the JewishGen Danzig/Gdansk SIG, Logan has a research background in physics and runs a literacy charity that aids refugees from Darfur.