Florida: Create a 30-minute ShtetLink, June 28

Learn how to create, set up and organize - in only 30 minutes - an online site for the town where your ancestor lived at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (Florida), on Tuesday, June 28.

Speaker Marlis Humphry, Ukraine SIG Project Coordinator, and a JGSGO member, will speak at the Congregation of Reform Judaism in Orlando. The program starts at 2pm.  

She will use the congregation's online connections and website access to demonstrate how to develop elegant and professional web pages honoring ancestral towns. It is no longer necessary to know html to do that, if you can drag-and-drop and copy-and -paste.

JewishGen hosts websites that commemorate any town where Jews lived. and which can be created by anyone interested.  

Learn how to create one, if it doesn't already exist, in 30 minutes. She will demonstrate interactive examples and discuss tools, tips, guidelines and resources and create a site.

Humphrey is a foremost expert on next generation family history publishing. She has applied - to the genealogy world - more than 20 years experience in  communications, technology, marketing and strategic planning.

She is the Ukraine SIG project coordinator. Ancestor Road Show consultant at the Indian River County Library Genealogy Department and a member of the NGS, APG, FGS, JGSGO, IRGS and LitvakSIG.

She has discovered the towns of all her great-grandparents, contacted cousins in more than a 12 states, and found two great-aunts, ages 89 and 98.

Sounds like a great program! If you'll be visiting Orlando's many tourist attractions at this time - and get a bit tired of cartoon characters - this might be a good way to spend a very useful few hours.

Washington DC: 'Women in WWII,' dual program, April 17

Women in World War II is the topic in a dual program presented by the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington on Sunday, April 17.

The program is in two parts at Beth El Hebrew Congregation, 3830 Seminary Road, Alexandria, Virgina.

From 11am-1pm, the first part is an intermediate workshop on "Women's World War II Resistance," presented by Patti Maslinoff. It is open only to JGSGW members and is free.

Following a short business meeting, the second part begins at 1.30pm. Davi Walders will read from her book and tell the stories of women throughout Europe whose heroic acts fighting fascism during the Holocaust saved thousands of lives. This part is free to JGSGW members and first-time attendees ($5 for others).

See below for more details on both programs.

Maslinoff's program - My Journey in Genealogy: Tips, How-To's & Rewards - is a two-hour multimedia presentation packed with resources, helpful hints and motivation for genealogists primarily at the intermediate level, although she says even beginners will find much information useful.

She will share some insights, joys and frustrations from 15 years of researching family history.

Included will be techniques she developed for improving research, data collection, organization and presentation, with valuable tips that only come from experience. Also in the presentation is a focus on digital technology and its tools, such as scanners and new software that can help make unreadable documents more legible.

Maslinoff will demonstrate video and audio clips during her own genealogical journey, and will discuss preparation for and conducting video-recorded oral history interviews. Attendees will learn about common mistakes made by beginners intermediate and even advanced researchers.

Ms. Maslinoff’s effusive enthusiasm and involvement with Jewish genealogy will be a motivation to all attendees. She teaches detective skills that will enable us to uncover the records, facts and other information about our families that generate those thrilling “Aha” moments that we treasure. Registration: Pre-registration required. Class is limited to 40 students. Register here

The main program -Women’s World War II Resistance - with writer and educator Davi Walders, will discuss what led her to research and write a moving collection of stories about woman throughout Europe whose heroic acts fighting fascism during the Holocaust saved thousands of lives.

She will read from her newly-published book ("Woman Against Tyranny: Poems of Resistance During the Holocaust;" Clemson University Digital Press).

The book tells the stories of Jewish, Christian and Muslim women who resisted in many ways, from helping others escape, to parachuting into hostile territory, to providing translation support and many other actions.

She will share stories of those who survived and those who perished - known as well as unknown. Included are Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini, Emilie Schindler, Baroness Germaine de Rothschild and others.

The session will address the question of why women's stories are so often unknown. Walders spent 15 years researching, traveling, and writing this collection. These women’s stories take place in such countries as Germany, Poland, France, Yugoslavia, Denmark, Slovakia, Albania, Greece, and elsewhere. The session will include discussion and a book-signing.

Walders' poetry and prose have appeared in more than 200 publications including CCAR Journal, Conservative Judaism, JOFA Journal, Judaism, Lilith and Midstream. She received Hadassah of Greater Washington's Myrtle Wreath Award for her work at NIH and its Children's Inn. For more biographical information, click here.

For more information and directions, click on the JGSGW website.

New Mexico: Genealogy 'superstars' to speak, April 2-3

New Mexico family history researchers are in for a treat when two major genealogy superstars will speak on Saturday and Sunday, April 2 and 3.

Bennett Greenspan (left) - founder and CEO of FamilyTreeDNA.com - and Dr. Steve Morse - of One-Step pages fame - will be in Albuquerque next weekend to speak at two major events, co-sponsored by the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society, which is revamping and expanding its genealogy programming. The NMJHS is now a member of the IAJGS.

-- Saturday, April 2, from 10.30am-3.30pm, the Rio Rancho Library's Loma Colorado main branch will host a free "Blast Into Your Past" - a general program aimed at beginners and recent family history researchers, athough the entire genealogical community is invited to attend.

-- Sunday, April 3, from 11am-1pm, the Jewish Community Center in Albuquerque will host both speakers for sessions spotlighting Jewish issues and topics in genetic genealogy with Bennett, and One-Step helpful tools, such as demystifying the Jewish calendar, with Steve. The program is open to the public and all are invited to attend.

See below for more information on each event.

Judging from responses already received by organizers, attendees will be coming from many areas of the state for both sessions.

"Blast Into Your Past" will provide a good basic introduction to family history with the superstars and local experts. Beginning at 10.30am and running through 3.30pm - attendees should bring a brown-bag lunch - there will be an introduction to genetic genealogy with Bennett Greenspan, followed by Steve Morse's intro to the more than 200+ tools on his site.

After a short lunch break, there will be three additional sessions:

-- Michael Barger will present genealogy basics.
-- An ethnic research panel (Hispanic, Jewish, and others) will field questions from attendees and supply information on how to find additional information. Lionel Rael of the Hispanic Genealogy Society will be on this panel, along with others.
-- Social media for family history researchers will be presented by Schelly Talalay Dardashti.

There will also be an overview of genealogical resources at the library, including databases and subscription sites available in the computer lab or accessible at home for library card holders.

There will be time for Q&A.

On Sunday, April 3, both men will speak at the Jewish Community Center in Albuquerque from 11am-1pm. Bennett will address genetic genealogy through a focus on Jewish history and share stories of discoveries, while Steve will focus on One-Step tools that may assist Jewish family history researchers, such as demystifying the Jewish calender.

Again, the library program is free and its general topics are aimed at beginners and those who are recent to family history research. The JCC program - with more of a Jewish genealogy focus - is free for NMJHS members, and $5 for others (the fee may be applied to a one-year NMJHS membership).

We believe that many attendees on Saturday will want to know more about these topics and will also attend the Sunday program, which is open to the public.

The NMJHS, the Library and New Mexico genealogical community is looking forward to this "superstar" weekend. I'm looking forward to greeting Tracing the Tribe readers at both events.

For more information, click on the NMJHS website, or send an email.

Cleveland: Beginners' workshop, March 28

A beginners workshop featuring computer genealogy tools will be offered by the Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland (Ohio) on Monday, March 28.

The session runs from 7.15-9pm at Menorah Park. Admission: JGSC members, free; others $15.

Instructors are JGSC president Ken Bravo and Kol editor Cynthia Spikell.

WiFi Internet and Ancestry.com will be available - for the first 20 registrants - for those who bring their own Wi-Fi-enabled laptops.

To register, send an email or see the JGSC website for more information and to download the registration form.

On the Road: Genealogists plan speaking tours

Are we coming to your neighborhood?

This is the time of year when many genealogy speakers are focusing on finalizing their schedules for the next few months.

Many - including Tracing the Tribe - will speak at both major conferences and local venues. All of these events are wonderful opportunities to meet, greet and learn from so many individuals speaking on a wide array of topics.

Tracing the Tribe will be speaking in the US, UK and Canada. This year will be much easier as we are now US-based, making it much easier to travel to events and return home without being away for extended periods of time. My presentations include DNA genetic genealogy, creating virtual communities and introductory sessions, and the current schedule looks like this:

FEBRUARY
6 - Rio Rancho, NM - DNA genetic genealogy and family history
10-12 - Salt Lake City, Utah - RootsTech 2011
13 - Albuquerque, NM Jewish community education event - A Taste of Honey -
24 - London UK - JGS of Great Britain
25-28 - London UK Who Do You Think You Are? Family History Fair

APRIL
2 - Rio Rancho, NM - Genealogy Library Day ("Blast into the Past"), Loma Colorado Branch

MAY
7 - London UK - Society of Genealogists' Centenary Conference
8 - Manchester UK - JGS of Great Britain, Manchester Regional Conference
11-14 - Charleston, SC - National Genealogical Society Conference

JUNE
10-12 - Burbank, CA - Southern California Jamboree
19-23 - Montreal, Canada - Association of Jewish Libraries

Our good friend and MyHeritage.com colleague Daniel Horowitz and I will both be speaking at the major conferences, at the Albuquerque JCC Taste of Honey event February 13, and at a special double-header February 24 for the JGS of Great Britain before WDYTYA Live! opens.

Daniel's upcoming schedule offers information-packed talks covering a broad range of topics - from MyHeritage features, technology, genealogy school projects, Israel resources and others.

FEBRUARY
8- Utah Jewish Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, UT
10-12 - RootsTech, Salt Lake City, UT
13 - JCC of Greater Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM
14 - CSU/ JGS of Georgia, The Breman Museum, Atlanta, GA
24 - JGS of Great Britain, London, UK
25-27 - WDYTYA Live, London, UK

MARCH
29 - JGS of Dayton, Ohio
31 - April 2 - VISIT Ohio Genealogical Society Conference

APRIL
5 - JGS of Cleveland, Ohio
6-9 - VISIT 11th New England Regional Gen Conference
10 - JGS of New York, Center for Jewish History, Manhattan
11 - Association of Professional Genealogists NY, NY
14 - JGS of North Jersey, New Jersey
24 - JGS of Long Island, Long Island, NY
26 - Bernards Township Library, Basking Ridge, NJ

MAY
2 - JGS of Greater Philadelphia, Elkins Park, PA
3 - New York Genealogy PC Users' Group, Manhattan, NY
10-14 - VISIT NGS Conference, Charleston SC
15 - JGS of Greater Washington, Washington DC, Washington DC

For more information on Daniel's schedule and the specific talks at each location, contact him, or see his personal website.

Tracing the Tribe looks forward to greeting readers!

New York: Sephardic Cooking Classes, January 2011

Love Sephardic food?

Here's your chance to learn about your heritage or just something delicious about another heritage.

Janet Amateau (of Barcelona, Spain) will hold New York Metro cooking lessons for the first time since 2006.

Here's the schedule:

Thursday, January 13, morning
Riverside (Greenwich), Connecticut
A savory meal will be prepared

Wednesday, January 19, morning 
Great Neck (L.I.), New York
Either a second savory meal or traditional desserts and sweets will be prepared
Both locations are near train stations.

The emphasis on both dates is on Ottoman-Sephardic tradition, but Amateau will also include elements of traditional Jewish foods still found in Spain.
The format is part demonstration, part hands-on, and they are appropriate for all skill levels. Each runs about three hours, including time to share a meal.

Space is limited, and quick reservations are suggested.

For January 19, please indicate if you would prefer savory or sweets.

For more information and pricing, contact Janet Amateau.

For more information on her background, see her SephardicCooking.com website and her blog, SephardicFood.com.

Colorado: Following the paper trail, Nov. 21

Follow your family's paper trail  at a special computer lab session for beginners at the University of Denver Computer Lab, on Sunday, November 21. 

"Becoming an American: Following Your Ancestor's Paper Trail" is a beginner-level program on using internet resources  that will run from 10am-noon.  It is part of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado's Family Tree Initiative Workshop and Mentoring Series.  

Learn which documents immigrants completed as they entered America and became citizens, where those materials can be found, and what information they contain about changed names, relatives, origins and more. Follow a paper trail including passenger ship manifests, census, naturalizations, vital records, military service, land ownership, and probate – all starting from the computer!

Take a field trip to the computer lab at the University of Denver where every participant will be connected to a computer. No prior knowledge of genealogy or computers is necessary. There is a one-time $30 fee that covers all sessions, a book, materials, and one year of membership in the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado.  Participants can attend one or all seven lectures of the Jewish Family Tree Initiative.

Reserve in advance to save your seat for this program.  

San Francisco: Intro to Jewish Genealogy, Nov. 21

Learn all about Jewish genealogy with Dale Friedman of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, on Sunday, November 21.

Doors open at 12.30pm and the free program begins at 1pm at Congregation Beth Israel Judea, 625 Brotherhood Way, San Francisco. There is free parking.

What exactly is "Jewish genealogy" and what might you learn about yourself by doing family history research? Join Friedman as he explores the "Jewish" in Jewish genealogy and shares what he has learned.

Where do I come from, how did my ancestors shape me, how did they shape my Jewish community? Jewish genealogy is one way to help answer these questions.

He'll explore how to start your Jewish genealogy, suggest research methods and resources, and illustrate with personal examples. Learn about many exciting new developments in Jewish genealogy and receive informative handouts.

Friedman will also speak about the benefits of working with other researchers who share your ancestral home.

An SFBAJGS board member, Friedman has been exploring the family history of all sides of his family and his wife's family for the last decade. He is also the co-administrator of a Google Group focusing on Rohatyn in Galicia

For more information and directions, click here.

New Jersey: Intro to genealogy for teens, Nov. 23

In an effort to get teens involved in genealogy, the Clifton (New Jersey) Public Library will offer a special introduction session on Tuesday, Nov. 23.

The program runs from 4-5pm at the Main Memorial Library. Coming only a few days before Thanksgiving, a traditional family-gathering holiday, it might spur the participants into asking questions of their senior relatives during the holiday weekend.

Attendees will learn how to start a search, how to create a family tree and how the library's resources can help them.

This is how it was billed:

Teens – did you ever wonder where your family came from or how they ended up where you live now? If you answered, yes, than you’ve been bitten by the genealogy bug. Your past is a twisted and winding road that can be hard to follow but don’t give up your hunt because the library is here to help.

No registration is necessary. For more information, click here.

New York: More than the basics with John Colletta, Nov. 6

New Yorkers should put this special full-day program with John Philip Colletta on their calendars for Saturday, Nov. 6.

Colletta is presenting a special "beyond the basics" day from 10am-4.30pm at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B), at the South Court Auditorium, New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York.

One of  the country's most popular genealogical speakers, Colletta is based in Washington DC. For 20 years, he conducted workshops for the National Archives and taught at the Smithsonian Institute. He is a faculty member of the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy.

This program is for whose who want to know more than the basics.

The day includes: 

-- Advanced problem solving with US passenger arrival records (1820-1950s).

-- Advanced problem solving with US naturalization records (1790-1920s).
-- Turning biographical facts into real-life events: How to build historical context

-- Breaking through brick walls: Use your head!

The cost to NYG&B members is $60, and $90 for others. Readers who are members of the Jewish Genealogical Society of New York will also receive the discounted rate.

For more information, or to register, click here or send an email.

Long Island NY: 'Jewish genealogy 101' workshop, Nov. 7

Billed as "Four hours to your family roots," the Jewish Genealogy Society of Long Island will present its 20th family history workshop - Jewish Genealogy 101 - on Sunday, November 7.

Learn how to find many Jewish records in the US, Europe and Israel with expert instructors.

The workshop will run from 12.30-5pm, at the Mid-Island Y-JCC, 45 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview, NY.

The program is aimed at both beginners and family historians. Beginners want to learn about their roots, but don't know where to start. Family historians will be able to brush up or expand their knowledge.

Topics include: - Researching and recording a family tree - Interviewing relatives - Identifying ancestral towns - Holocaust research - Censuses, city directories, ship's manifests, naturalizations, vital records, and other US sources - European records - Computer and Internet resources.

Participants will receive the workshop manual and a light lunch.

Seating is limited. Register by Saturday, October 30: Pay $45 ($15 for additional family member). Register later or at the door: Pay $55 ($15 for additional family member). Fees include JGSLI 2011 annual dues.

To register, click the JGSLI website; print out and complete the registration form. Mail it with your check (payable to JGSLI Workshop) to JGSLI Workshop, PO Box 735, Melville NY 11747.

For more information, email Cheryl Sofer.

Miami: Learn about FTM 2010, 2011, Oct. 3

Miami-area researchers have an opportunity learn about Family Tree Maker 2010 and 2011 editions with Harry Stuart on Sunday, October 3.

The free meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami starts at 10am at the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Building, 4200 Biscayne Blvd. Miami.

The local Family Tree Maker guru will demonstrate - on large screens - the pros and cons of both versions and how to use them. Stuart is asking that people email questions about the software edition to be answered at the meeting.

For more information and directions, click here.

Orlando FL: Collect, save, organize memories, Sept. 28

"How to collect, save and organize your precious memories," with Tom Hirsch, is the next program of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando on Tuesday, September 28.

The program begins at 1pm; the meeting is free and open to the public, in the Goldman Social Hall, Congregation of Reform Judaism, Orland.

JCSCO member Tom Hirsch will sponsor an "on-line" demo:

-- To demonstrate some websites, bookmarking, and organizing the websites in your web browser; organizing, and saving files, and backing up those files.

-- Provide information on doing serious research.

-- Demonstrate digitally photographing items to include in family history, and photostitching to combine photos into a single photo or record.

-- Available Freeware

For more information, click here.

Vancouver BC: "Caring for family photos," Sept. 26

"Caring for your family photographs" is one of the interesting programs and workshops offered by The Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Join the museum's archivist Jennifer Yuhasz MAS, on Sunday, September 26. The workshop runs from 2-4pm. Fee: $25; JHSBC members receive 10% discount. Seating is limited; reservations required.

Have you ever wondered what to do with all those old family photographs that are stored in drawers, shoe boxes, falling apart photo albums? Did you know that putting photographs into albums can actually do more damage than good to your photos?

Here's your opportunity to discover and learn how to save family photos for future generations.

Participants should bring family photographs to this hands-on session.

For more information on other events and activities, click here.

Colorado: Steve Morse solves a riddle

Steve Morse solves a Rosh Hashana riddle!

What a great way to remind Denver-area residents that Steve Morse will be visiting Sunday, October 10 to present a full-day seminar of four workshops from 9am-4pm at the Denver JCC, for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado. See registration details below.

He is, of course, the creator of the Steve Morse One-Step website, and began his public genealogical climb to fame with the his One-Step tool to finding elusive ancestors on the Ellis Island Database soon after it went online.

The riddle story was in the Denver Post - Tracing the Tribe is slightly backlogged on Google alerts due to the holidays - right before the New Year holiday.

The Jewish calendar can be very complicated to those of us involved in Jewish genealogy. Days begin at sunset instead of midnight. Vital records written in our ancestral towns generally recorded dates of interest in both the secular and the Jewish calendars.

Many American Jews don't generally know today's date in the Jewish calendar. Most of us have Jewish calendars, which incorporate the secular calendar, hanging on our refrigerators or in our offices.

Steve, as those of us who know and love him, is a Brooklyn boy, as well as major genealogical household name. There's nothing he likes better than a good challenge. Fortunately, his passion in creating some 200 online tools has helped many of us around the world find information that was previously inaccessible.

He had problems with the complex Hebrew calendar - which is both solar and lunar - a necessity to understand historical Jewish records. Sometimes an extra month is thrown in.

When he was a teen - long before personal computers were on every desk and every pocket -he tried to calculate his grandmother's secular birthday from her known Jewish-calendar birth date. He could not find the definitive answer, although wrestled for years with this complex calendar. He finally wrote a program to convert Jewish-calendar dates into the widely used Gregorian or Western calendar.

But Morse was stuck for years trying to unravel why his computer program to convert Jewish-calendar dates into Gregorian dates kept spitting out some disparate results, including the wrong beginning of some years.

The Jewish New Year begins on the first day of the month of Tishri. And in the Book of Genesis — the first book of the Torah and the Christian Bible — it says God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, which Jews observe from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, their Sabbath.

Because of this, Morse said, he had naively assumed that creation and the Jewish calendar both began on a Sunday in Tishri 1 in Year 1. Yet the only way other dates converted correctly in his program was if creation, as described in Genesis, started on a Monday, not a Sunday. That would make Sunday the seventh day, or day of rest.

That didn't compute from Morse's Jewish perspective.

"The rabbis I asked didn't know about mathematics," Morse said. "My mathematician friends don't know the Jewish calendar."

Twenty years later, he finally learned the answer from a One-Step user who pointed him to Talmudic scholars who corrected his assumption.

"Creation didn't start on Tishri 1 in the Year 1, but instead, it started in the last week of Year 1, on a Sunday," Morse said.

He removed the Rosh Hashana bug from his program.

Steve is a great presenter and this all-day seminar of workshops will be a great immersion experience for those who have not heard him at conferences.

Fees include kosher lunch, annual membership (if not already a member) and all-day access: JGSCO members, $18; others, $40. Register with payment by October 1 to attend the courses at the Loup Jewish Community Center. For more information, click here. The registration form is here.

Colorado: Mentoring session, Aug. 29

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado offers a mentoring workshop on Sunday, August 29.

The program runs from 9-11am, at Congregation Har HaShem, Boulder.

Family history researchers of all skill levels are encouraged to participate in the informal roundtable format.

Bring surnames and towns of interest for feedback on where to find records or documentation about your family history. Experts and other JGSCO members will help get you started or restarted.

For more information about this and future programs, view the JGSCO website.

Los Angeles: JGSLA 2010 preview, June 16

Attend a sneak preview of JGSLA 2010 - the 30th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy - and a Jewish Genealogy 101 class on Wednesday, June 16.

The event begins at 7.30pm at Valley Beth Shalom, 15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino.

JGSLA 2010 is just around the corner, and you can be part of the experience as you learn about your family's roots. If you're not yet sure why you should attend or how the conference can help you find out about your history, try to attend the VBS event.

Hosted by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, the conference runs six days and provides 300 lectures, 40 workshops and computer labs, 250 speakers, 50 films, 1,000 genealogists.

Don't miss this year's edition, July 11-16, at the JW Marriott at LA Live.

The evening is free and open to the public.

For more information, click here. The JGSLA traveling library will be available from 7pm.

Tracing the Tribe is looking forward to greeting you at JGSLA 2010.

Jamboree: A world of genealogy

The 41st Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree spotlights the world of genealogy.

Taking place from June 11-13 at the Burbank Marriot, the event has attracted international attendees from Canada and Israel, as well as Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington.

Jamboree is also a magnet for increasing numbers of geneabloggers. As many as 50 of us may be attending, so make sure to say hello.

The opening-day JamboFREE activities (Friday, June 11) will focus in part on the multi-topic Genealogy World round table discussions.

Some 20 different tables are scheduled in two time slots from 9am-12 noon on Friday, June 11. Tracing the Tribe will host the Jewish round table early session, and Daniel Horowitz will host the later session. Remember to bring family information, documents and questions, of course. If you need something translated, bring that along and Daniel or I will try to help.

The discussions are are intended as an information exchange and a great way to meet people interested in the same topics.

Geographic/ethnic tables are African-American, English, German, Jewish, Mexican, New England, Portuguese, Scottish, English-Canadian, French-Canadian, Hungarian, Irish, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish.

Topic tables are Adoption Research and Reunion, DNA, Energize your Society Membership and VolunteerismGenealogists in Second Life, Planning Great Programs and Events, Show and Tell, Society Newsletters, Archiving your Family Movies and Sound Recordings, and Publishing Your Family History.

Here's the complete list and descriptions of topics for both sessions.

Preregistration is requested but not required.

The free Genealogy World sessions will be in the big white tent -the Pavilion - east of the Convention Center, from 9am-noon.

We're looking forward to greeting old friends and new at Jamboree .

JGSLA 2010: Calling all Litvaks!

If your family is from Lithuania, here are some excellent reasons to attend the 30th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, July 11-16, in Los Angeles.

LitvakSIG is is one of the largest Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and country-specific programs, given by SIG officers and other experts are set for Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the conference week. In addition to these programs, conference-goers will be networking to share information and meet other researchers looking for information on common names and geographical locations.

For speakers, bios and all conference details, click JGSLA 2010.

Monday, July 12

8am: Rokiskis-Kupiskis Shtetl Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF).

A gathering for those with relatives from Kupiskis and Rokiskis in Lithuania, or researchers interested in learning more about this area. Also see presentation and panel discussion on organizing and integrating data from multiple sources in the “Beyond ShtetLinks to Interactive Groups” session at 2.15pm Wednesday.

1.50pm: How Helping our Cousins Emigrate from the USSR Uncovered the Colorful 250 Year History of a Litvak Family:

The Rostov-on-Don Cousins group organized 500 descendants of a Lithuanian-Russian family to help newly-discovered cousins emigrate from the USSR, following a reunion in Moscow featured in Billy Crystal’s HBO Emmy winning special “Midnight Train to Moscow.” Representatives of seven branches met monthly, raised funds for the new immigrants, produced a Family Newsletter/History Journal, held reunions, created a 50-foot Photo Family Tree, and in the process, re-created the family’s first immigration experience that began 125 years ago. Research on the 250-year history of the family included Interviews, autobiographies, diaries, Yiddish stories, newspaper articles, archival research in Lithuania and Rostov-on-Don. Dramatic stories include a shipwreck in the English Channel, escaping from Russia during the Revolution, founding organizations in New York and Los Angeles, brothers in top-secret positions on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and more. This research led to forming the Ariogala Shtetl Group, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Project, and the co-founding of LitvakSIG.

5pm: Litvak Seek - Finding Your One in a Million (Searching the ALD Successfully) (Computer Lab - fee).

A hands-on computer class to learn how to successfully navigate the LitvakSIG website with a focus on the All Lithuania Database (ALD) and other LitvakSIG-created databases to research your Litvak ancestors. Students will learn how to effectively search, analyze search results, acquire copies of the databased records and use the website to enhance knowledge and family histories. Basic understanding of Russian Empire history and geography, naming and spelling conventions, basic personal family history knowledge will prove helpful.

Wednesday, July 14

9.45am: The Development of Zionism in Lithuania (1906-1940):

From its beginning, the Zionist movement in Lithuania was an integral part of the World Zionist movement, but even with its international character, its development was necessarily different than in Poland, Germany or Russia. However the success of Zionism was not guaranteed by its specifically Litvak character. Lithuania never became a place where the Zionist ideas were inspired. Zionist organizations in Lithuania, while keeping the common ideology and political line, attempted to realize the ideals of the movement in their practical work, as well as trying to cover all spheres of Jewish daily life. Zionist leaders tried to provide answers to all questions that arose over time and changes of the geopolitical situation. The main focus of the presentation is on the underlying ideas and practices of Lithuanian Zionism, the means taken by Zionist leaders of the organization to improve Jewish life in Lithuania and repatriation to Palestine.

11:15: Researching Your Litvak Roots Using the LitvakSIG Website: An Overview of the Special Interest Group, Research Projects and Websites and 1 million Record All-Lithuanian-Database.

This presentation will provide a comprehensive tour through the LitvakSIG website and the many ways it serves as "home" to Litvak researchers. This will include the LitvakSIG All Lithuania Database (ALD), with nearly 1 million records, other databases to Litvak research; an overview of the LitvakSIG record translation projects currently underway, and the structure of LitvakSIG -- how researchers can help get the records from their towns translated.

12.45pm: Where is our Home? Lithuanian Forced Migrations Before and After WW I - LitvakSIG luncheon (fee).

The Jewish areas of settlement had been limited to the Pale of Settlement since the final partition of Poland in 1795 and later regulations in the 19th century Russian Empire. In May 1915, at the beginning of WW I, the Russian Army ordered the mass expulsion of Jews from most of Kovno Gubernia. Most Jews were settled in Yekaterinoslav (Southern Russia), Poltava, Mogilev and other provinces in the depths of the Russian empire. The long way back started right after the World War I and it was different from any other: Jews decided to return home of their own will, while their Homeland was divided into several newly independent states (including Vilna and other areas under Polish control). The paper describes the difficulties faced by the Jews who decided to return to the newly independent Lithuania after WWI, including arranging for permission to enter the country, getting permanent documents and once back in Lithuania, proving their rights of citizenship.

2:15pm: Town-Wide Research: Beyond ShtetLinks to Interactive Groups.

Coordinators of Jewish Community (shtetl) groups will discuss how they organized to obtain town-wide records, working with existing landsmanshaften, and focusing on the town and on the relationships between families who lived in the town. The panel will describe the sources they used to obtain many types of records including: archives, museums, national and local libraries, and cemeteries - in Lithuania - and in the countries Litvaks emigrated to (US, South Africa. Israel, Argentina, and others. Records include 18th, 19th, 20th century censuses, memoirs, the Eishishok photograph collection (USHMM), family stories, Yizkor books and the Interwar Community YIVO records; Yad Vashem’s Pages of Testimony, vital records, property, tax, rabbi electors and conscription lists; farmer’s applications, Internal Passports, court records, and stories in the Yiddish press and periodical literature. They will explain how they have cooperated with SIGs, and have stimulated group-interaction, using reunions, Birds-of-a-Feather gatherings at annual conferences, Internet groups. They will explain how they encouraged group interaction and the sharing and preservation of the history and family stories of their towns. These will be presented as models which others interested in focusing on entire ancestral towns, can follow.

3.45pm: Lithuanian research - past, present, and future.

Records that have been acquired, those in the pipeline, and what can be expected in the future. Court records, police records, foreign passport records, Teacher and Student School records, records of Jewish Prisoners in Lithuanian Prisons, etc. What are the possibilities of records that are presently unknown or have we reached the end of the line? Supporting a group effort to obtain records or just concentrating on acquiring records on your own? Using a private researcher or going through the archives? Doing your own research in the Lithuanian Archives. The advantages and disadvantages of each course of action. Archives outside of Lithuania that contain Lithuanian records such as those in Moscow and St. Petersburg: what do they contain and how accessible are they? The latest trends in LitvakSIG’s efforts to educate its members about records.

5.15pm: LitvakSIG Annual Meeting.

Board elections, past year achievements and reports on projects, translations, database search and overview and new content.

Thursday, July 15

7am: Breakfast With the Experts: A Baltic Road Map - Travel & Research in Lithuania and Latvia.

Hit the road with Howard Margol, Bruce Dumes and Aldona Sudeikiene (a teacher residing in Vilnius) to find out the current state of travel to - and research in - Lithuania and Latvia.

Friday, July 16

11.15am: The Dramatic Expulsion of Jews from NW Lithuania in 1915.

The year is 1915, the second year of World War I. Kaiser Wilhelm II decides to turn his troops eastwards to Russia. His English cousin, King George V, is overjoyed by this diversion. But his Russian cousin, Tsar Nicholas II, is dismayed: The Germans would be using the same route as Napoleon - across the NW corner of Lithuania, river Neiman, Kovno Gubernia. The Jews living in this part of the Pale were believed to be hostile to their Russian masters, and perceived as likely to support the advancing Germans, whom many Jews regarded as kith and kin. (There were upwards of 100,000 Jewish soldiers in the German armies, including Generals and Field Marshalls.) Jews were given 24 hours or less to evacuate: pots and pans, grannies, babies, bundled onto carts and headed to railway stations to travel thousands of miles east to new lives in Ukraine and Crimea. Who were they? From which shtetls? What records exist of their names? How many died? How many were born? How did they settle in their new homes? Why did so many of the successful ones return home in 1921-22?

For all conference details, programs, speakers, and registration, click JGSLA 2010.

Family Tree Magazine: Brick Wall Solutions Webinar, June 15

Researchers often hit brick walls, and now there's a live webinar that can be accessed from everywhere to help with solutions to these problems.

Family Tree Magazine is offering a Brick Wall Busters webinar on Tuesday, June 15, from 7-8pm (US East Coast Time). Presenting will be FTM publisher/editorial director Allison Stacey and New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) online genealogist David Lambert.

According to the official description:

Sooner or later, every genealogist gets stuck. You run into an ancestor or family line you just can't trace any further. What do you do when you hit that dreaded "brick wall"? In this live, interactive Web seminar, Allison Stacy and David Lambert will walk you through strategies for getting around those research obstacles.

Participants will learn how to assess a research problem, tips for surmounting common brick-wall scenarios and professional genealogists' favorite methods for conquering research challenges.

Who may find this worthwhile: Genealogists looking for free and inexpensive ways to research online, genealogists who find themselves stuck with a research problem they cannot move past, beginning family history researchers, and "paper genealogists" who want to take advantage of online resources.

Registrants may submit their own brick wall problems and receive personalized advice from a professional genealogist. Some submissions will be tackled during the webinar. Although the magazine cannot feature all submitted brick walls during the event or guarantee results, every registrant who sends in a question will receive a personalized strategy email.

The early bird price is $39.99, and includes participation in the live presentation and Q&A, unlimited access to the recorded webinar, presentation slides PDF and a bonus handout.

For more information on this program, click here. For general information on webinars, click here.