Lectures & Workshops

Wonderful presentation! Risa was able to make a complex process very clear and easy to follow. She’s a terrific speaker!

Participant review, 2019 IAJGS Conference

Missing Manifests – Tips for Finding Those Elusive Passenger Lists

Finding your ancestor’s passenger list is often a stumbling block for genealogy researchers. Without this document, it is difficult to confidently begin your European research. There are many reasons why you may not be able to locate a passenger list, including name changes, phonetic spelling, indexing mistakes, and more. Learn tips and tools that successful genealogists use to find these elusive documents.

For the Protection of Girls and Women – The Crisis of Jewish “White Slavery,” 1880-1920

During the Jewish emigration boom between 1880-1920, the worldwide Jewish community experienced a little-discussed crisis. Eastern European Jewish girls and young women, desperate to change their circumstances, were being deceived or coerced by Jewish human traffickers and sold into prostitution. This presentation will discuss the circumstances that allowed these crimes to occur, and the organizational and government responses. Finally, one woman’s tragic story. 

European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Project (EHRI) – Uncover the Fate of Holocaust Survivors and Victims

As the daughter of Hungarian Holocaust survivors my friend, Janet, grew up with stories from her mother, silence from her father and many questions. This presentation will take you on our research and actual journey to Hungary and Slovakia as I helped Janet validate those stories, fill in the holes and remember the many family members who were lost. Research methodology and resources applicable to any researcher will be covered including memoirs, Shoah Foundation testimonies, archive research, artifacts and more.

A Hungarian Holocaust Journey – A Daughter’s Search for Family

Uncovering the stories of Holocaust survivors and victims can be challenging as records created during World War II are scattered across the world. The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) was begun in 2010 as an information repository for Holocaust-related material held in large and small archives, libraries and museums. Knowing how to use this freely available tool can help you unearth buried stories about your family. The EHRI Portal offers access to the catalogs of over 2000 repositories in 60 countries, not just in Europe. This presentation will use a case study of a German family, whose Holocaust journeys took them through six different countries, to demonstrate the power of the EHRI Portal. 

Jewish Genealogy for the Non-Jewish Genealogist

Jewish genealogy involves learning a whole new vocabulary, including bris, ketubah, matzevah, Landsmanschaften, and Yizkor.  This presentation will focus on the religious and cultural practices, and historical events that make Jewish genealogy different than researching other ethnic groups.  Jewish migration patterns, naming conventions, Holocaust research and the effects of endogamy on DNA analysis will also be covered. 

The Proven Path to Finding your Family’s Town and Original Surname

It’s so tempting when beginning genealogy research to immediately jump to European records. While that remains the goal, moving across the pond too soon can lead to wasted time, money, and lots of frustration. If you have yet to validate which town in Europe your family was from, this session is for you. Learn which records are most likely to yield that elusive town name.

The Industrial Removal Office – How a little-known program scattered Jews throughout the United States

The Industrial Removal Office, a little-known organization in operation from 1900 to 1922, was created to help alleviate overcrowding in the Jewish areas of New York City.  Its agents scoured the U.S. for businesses that needed skilled workers and matched them with immigrants in need of a job.  After accepting the job offer, the immigrant would receive a one-way ticket to their new city.  Learn how to search this organization’s records and they may help you solve the family mystery of why your family ended up in Cheyenne, Chattanooga or some other unexpected place across the United States. 

Will My Hyman Cohen Please Stand Up? – How to Successfully Research Ancestors with Common Names

Tracing an ancestor with a common name, such as Cohen or Goldstein, can feel like an impossible task, especially if they lived in a large city. Fortunately, there are sound genealogical research techniques you can use to correctly differentiate your Cohen or Goldstein from all the others. This presentation will use several case studies to break down the process and demonstrate how to begin, who to focus on and how to test and analyze your finds. 

Demonstration – Accessing Unindexed Records

Did you know that over 75% of the records available on FamilySearch cannot be accessed by a simple records search? Did you know that Ancestry has record collections that are available to browse but that cannot be searched because they are not yet indexed? While digitizing records is relatively fast and inexpensive, indexing those records is much costlier.  Many online repositories have made these records available for browsing but working with them can be a challenge.  This presentation will show you how to find and use these unindexed records to greatly enhance your research.

The Importance of Planning: Seven Steps to Breaking Your Brick Wall

Most genealogists love to research but aren’t as enamored with planning that research. We can happily spend hours searching on Ancestry, but once the easy records have been found, what’s next? A carefully thought-out plan can be the difference between success, continually banging your head against a brick wall, or just giving up.  Using a case study, this session will demonstrate how creating and executing a sound plan led to answers for a Holocaust-devastated family. The steps covered in this session will be applicable to any type of research problem.

Power of the Catalog Computer Workshop – Accessing Unindexed Records

While digitizing records is relatively fast and inexpensive, indexing those records is much costlier. Many online repositories have made unindexed records available for browsing but working with them can be challenging. Become a confident use of unindexed records and further your research. Learn by doing as we go step by step how to access unindexed records through a catalog to find the record you seek.

Beyond Direct Evidence: Mastering Analysis and Correlation for Advanced Genealogical
Problem-Solving

Beginning genealogists answer research questions with direct evidence – ask a question and find a document that provides the answer, such as a birth date or parent’s name. But what if no document exists to directly answer your question? It’s time to use indirect evidence – pieces of information that when combined provide the answer. This hands-on workshop will teach
participants how to harness Analysis and Correlation, a component of the Genealogical Proof Standard, to work with indirect evidence to solve complex genealogical problems. A case study with several in-class exercises will allow participants to apply these skills.