Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 1:00pm Pacific time
Speaker: Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz, Genealogist
“Locating Vital Records in Poland Using Online Records”
Description: If you are researching your Jewish ancestral roots in Poland and would like to go beyond Jewishgen and JRI-Poland to find vital records this presentation is for you. This program introduces major websites such as Metryki, GenBaza, Szukajwarchiwach (the Polish State Archives), Geneteka, and FamilySearch. Learn more about the Polish partitions to introduce the history and geography of Poland. Our speaker genealogist, Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz will illustrate the use of religious records, passenger manifests, naturalization records, and other documents from U.S. sources, to suggest resources and strategies to help you decipher misspelled place names, and discuss the next steps in your research: determining the parish and civil registry office using gazetteers, and obtaining birth, marriage and death records to determine one’s ancestral village accurately. Julie will rely heavily on online sources throughout her presentation, and show how you can trace your Polish ancestry without having to cross the ocean.
About Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz
Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz is a genealogist, writer and speaker, with over 20 years of experience in researching her familyʼs origins in Poland, Germany, the U.S. and Canada. She is the Secretary of the Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts, contributes to a number of genealogy-related Facebook groups, and writes an informative genealogy blog, From Shepherds and Shoemakers.
Non-Members pay $5, Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a free Zoom link.
Sunday, December 8, 1 pm Pacific
Speaker: Susan Weinberg, Jewish Genealogist
Crossing the Ocean: US Records to Ancestral Towns
Description: Using case studies based on Lithuania Latvia, Poland, and Belarus, we explore how to connect a wide variety of records and make use of many search engines. With these tools we cross the ocean from US records to locate ancestral towns and family within them. Much as with any journey, we identify where we are going, who we are going to visit, how we will communicate and how we assure we have the right luggage. Or in genealogy parlance, what is our ancestral town, who are the family members who resided there, how do we decipher documents, and how do we assure the people we are searching for are our family?
This talk also addresses how to create finding tools to decipher records in Russian handwritten Cyrillic.
About Susan Weinberg
Susan Weinberg is an artist, author, researcher, and frequent speaker on genealogy topics. Drawing on her long career in finance, she often applies spreadsheets as an analytic tool in her genealogy research. Her creative work often involves storytelling and frequently explores family history themes. Susan is active in organizations within the world of Jewish genealogy, serving as the president of the Minnesota Jewish Genealogical Society (MNJGS), vice president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) and vice president of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest (JHSUM). She developed the Jewish Identity and Legacy Project, an oral history project with elders, then authored the book We Spoke Jewish: A Legacy in Stories that includes oral history, artwork, and history on three groups of Jewish immigrants who spanned the 1900s.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, January 12, 1 pm Pacific
Speaker: Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist
No Vitals? No Problem! – Building a Family through Circumstantial Evidence
Description: When there’s no birth, marriage or death record, what’s a genealogist to do? Immigrant families left behind more than their old lives and homes: they sometimes left behind most or all of the direct evidence as to their families and relationships. Yet careful application of the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) to all of the records the family left throughout the years can often provide the clues to reconstruct families even if no direct document exists. Using these indirect bits and pieces lets us build a family through circumstantial evidence, answering the question: Who in the world was Paul Knop?
About Judy Russell
The Legal Genealogist Judy G. Russell is a genealogist with a law degree who writes and lectures on topics ranging from using court records in family history to understanding DNA testing. On the faculty of numerous genealogy institutes, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, from which she holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist® and Certified Genealogical Lecturer.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, February 2, 1 pm Pacific
Speaker: Paul Woodbury, Genetic Genealogist
Endogamy in Context: Pioneers, Latecomer, Coverage and More
Description: While endogamy can certainly complicate autosomal DNA analysis in any population where it is a consideration, there is still hope for making genealogical discoveries. In this presentation, Paul Woodbury will present case studies highlighting the strategies he has found most effective for solving research questions in endogamous populations through his decade of professional genetic genealogy research experience. Some of these strategies include:
- Effective targeted testing of living relatives and prioritization of DNA matches who are descendants of genetic pioneers or latecomers.
- Consideration of coverage and total amounts of shared DNA between groups of relatives
- Prioritization of genetic cousins based on their relationships to each other. Regardless of whether your ancestral populations were severely or only slightly endogamous, these strategies are sure to assist in breaking down your brick walls.
About Paul Woodbury
Paul Woodbury, AG, Med., is a Senior Researcher at Legacy Tree Genealogists where he has helped solve hundreds of genetic genealogy cases. He graduated from Brigham Young University where he studied Genetics and Family History. He also holds a master’s degree in Instructional Design and Educational Technology. In addition to genetic genealogy, he loves research in France (for which he has received accreditation through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists). He regularly presents on genetic genealogy and French research topics in webinars, institutes, and conferences.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, February 23, 1 pm Pacific
Speaker: Sunny Morton, Professional Genealogist
Comparing the U.S. Newspaper Giants: What Jewish Content Do They Have?
Description: Over a billion digitized newspaper pages are now searchable at online historical newspaper archives such as Chronicling America, Fulton History, GenealogyBank, Storied.com (formerly NewspaperArchive) and Newspapers.com. But which should you use? Is it worth subscribing to one of the premium sites?
Learn how they stack up for total amount of digitized content (including Jewish newspapers); geographic coverage; unique features and tools; and subscription options.
Learn how Goldie May can help you find newspaper collections across many websites. My tips, encouragement, and comparative analyses will help you more confidently choose and use newspaper websites.
About Sunny Morton
Sunny Jane Morton is a Contributing Editor at Family Tree Magazine and the Content Director at YourDNAGuide.com. She is past Editor of Ohio Genealogy News. She has twice received awards from the National Genealogical Society, most recently for her book How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records, co-authored with Harold Henderson, CG.
Her other book, Story of My Life: A Workbook for Preserving Your Legacy, is now in its 2nd edition. She coordinated a course for the GRIP Genealogy Institute in 2024, and in 2025 will be an instructor for GRIP and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG).
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
