This is a wonderful opportunity for you to network with fellow researchers and share your research success stories. In addition, we will be providing a generous brunch at no charge.

Our agenda includes the annual election of the Board, including the opportunity for you to meet with your new Board members, and participate in a general discussion about what you want from your Society. We will also have translators available (e.g. Hebrew, Yiddish, German, French, Portuguese, etc.) to help you with inscriptions on gravestones, photos and letters, so be sure to bring your documents.

We particularly welcome newcomers who are just starting their research. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow family history sleuths who have a wide variety of genealogy backgrounds and experiences. Take advantage of access to a wide range of expertise that will be available both before and after the meeting.

If you have any questions about the meeting or would like more information, please contact Barry Halpern at barry.halpern@gmail.com.

Find out more by joining us this coming Sunday, May 6th at the Jewish Community Center in Denver (350 South Dahlia Street), from 10:00 am until noon. Our program “Researching Your Shtetl”, presented by Judy Petersen of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado is open to ALL! You do not need to be a member to attend (though of course you are welcome to join and may do so at the program on Sunday).

Judy Petersen is a member of JGSCO and has been researching her family history off and on for over 20 years, though her interest in things genealogical started at the age of twelve when she interviewed her Odessa-born grandfather out of sheer curiosity. She is web master of two KehilaLinks sites on JewishGen and transcribes early census records for the Hungarian SIG, Yizkor book necrologies for JewishGen and Budapest vital records for a joint FamilySearch.org and H-SIG project. In her non-genealogical life, Judy is the mother of two teenage girls, works part time as a Physical Therapist and plays violin in the the MOB (Mostly Older Beginners) Orchestra.

Following this regular program session will be a “mentoring” session from noon until 2:00 pm, which is open to JGSCO members only (you may join at the meeting – membership is $30/year for individuals and $40 for families). Members of the JGSCO will be there to help you move forward with your genealogical research and provide advice on breaking through any “brick walls” that you may have encountered.

We hope to see you there this Sunday! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Barry Halpern at barry.halpern@gmail.com.

Most Jewish families first came to the United States via the east coast, and they left a trail of records documenting their lifecycle events and migration. Do you know where your history is?

This special panel, comprised of JGSCO members who have performed research “back east”, will provide you with a wealth of resource locations and information to help you with your research.

Joe Cahn will present New Jersey resources
Terry Lasky will present Ohio resources
Ellen Kowitt will present D.C. resources
Joy Davis will present Chicago resources
Alicia Weiss will present Massachusetts and New England resources

If your state isn’t included, a methodology for identifying resources for other states will be offered as well by Terry Lasky.

Please come and join us. Membership is not required to attend this session, though you are welcome to join us when you come – cost is $30 for individuals and $40 for families.

Hope to see you on the 15th!

The program is open to all; membership is not required (though you may become a member on-site for $30/year for individuals ($40 for families). Following our regular program, members may participate in a two hour mentoring session with some of the experts from the JGSCO. If you’d like to participate in the mentoring session and are not yet a member, you may join at the program.

Our guest speaker this month will be J. Wendel Cox from the Denver Public Library.

Newspapers are inherently ephemeral. As soon as they’re printed, the news within their pages soon becomes stale, out-of-date, or yesterday’s news. And the physical object itself begins to degrade, becomes yellow and brittle, and sometimes comes to be no more than dust. Microfilm provides an excellent medium to preserve newspapers. But digitization truly opens historic newspapers for the researcher. Learn about the digitization process, the challenges it presents, and the lengths – and limits – of a brave new world of digitized historical newspapers.

J. Wendel Cox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and received a B.A.(Honours) from the University of Winnipeg and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He taught at Arizona State University and, subsequently, at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM), with his wife, Anna Dronzek. In the fall of 2004, Wendel enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Information Studies. He completed his Master of Library & Information Science in 2005 and thereafter managed the University of Kentucky’s National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) project. In 2007, Wendel became Senior Special Collection Librarian in the Western History/Genealogy Department at the Denver Public Library.

Do you know the shtetl where your ancestors originated? Do you know what shtetl life was like? We will explore some of our ideas about the shtetl, where those ideas come from, and to what degree they represent the reality of shtetl life.

Julie Lieber is a lecturer on Jewish Intellectual History at the University of Colorado. She comes to CU from the University of Denver where she taught courses in Jewish history, European history, Jewish intellectual history and women’s history. Her students describe her as “passionate, extremely knowledgeable and personable.” Professor Lieber received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in European history with a focus on Jewish women, gender and sexuality in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. Her research on Jewish women in Vienna has been supported by numerous awards and fellowships in a variety of academic disciplines. Her article “Crafting the Future of Judaism: Gender and Religious Education in Vienna 1867-1914,” published in the Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook, examines the gendered religious education of Viennese boys and girls and the ways in which rabbinic gender norms were institutionalized within the turn-of-the-century Viennese Jewish community.

The session is open to all – membership is not required. Following this session (beginning at noon) will be a Jewish genealogy mentoring workshop for members and if you’re not already a member you’re welcome to join at the session. We’ll have some of our experts in attendance to help guide you and provide advice on your research. For more information, please go to our website at www.jgsco.org.

Please join us for what is sure to be a fascinating discussion!

For any questions, please feel free to contact Barry Halpern at barry.halpern@gmail.com.

This double session is a terrific opportunity for any of you who have interest in either Ukraine or Poland archival resources. Among other things, it will cover how you can understand the archives and the archival situation in Ukraine and Poland, collections content, how to get there, and general research procedures. This is based on two decades of experience by our presenter, Kahlile Mehr.

Kahlile Bliss Mehr, MA, MLS, AG, has over thirty years of experience working with the LDS Family History. Currently he is the manager of the Slavic Collection. He has visited archives throughout Eastern Europe. He has published twenty-three articles and a book on family and local history topics. He was the primary author for “Tracing your Jewish Ancestors From the United States to Europe, 1850-1930” that can be downloaded from the FamilySearch Website. He serves on the boards of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and the Federation of East European Family History Societies.

Sunday, January 8th from 10:00 am to noon (Ukraine) and from noon to 2:00 pm (Poland).

Each session is independent of the other. Come to either one or come to both. If you plan on staying for both sessions, we suggest that you bring a bag lunch (note: must be dairy or vegetarian) with you.

DNA is quickly becoming an important part of genealogy research, and new genealogy DNA tests have become useful for determining ancestry. Each of us inherits a unique genetic code from our parents. This creates a molecular link between generations which reaches far back in time and can be of great help in reconstructing our family histories.

This session will focus on the basics of genealogy DNA testing and will discuss the following questions:
* What is genealogy DNA testing, and how does it work?
* Can I really find my ancestors using genealogy DNA testing?
* How can genealogy DNA testing prove or disprove my family tree research?

Following this program presentation, there will be a mentoring session which is open to JGSCO members only. If you’d like to attend and are not yet a member, you can join on-site for $30 for individuals ($40 for families).

We hope to see you there!

The first is open to all at no charge, on Sunday, October 16 at Har HaShem in Boulder, from 10:00 am to noon: “It’s More Fun to Seek Than to File” with Pat Roberts. If you need help or advice with organizing your genealogical research, then this is the talk for you! Topics covered include organizing your masses of papers and documents and putting into place a filing system and organizational plan that will grow as your research grows.

Pat Roberts has been doing family history research since 1973 and has held several senior positions within a variety of Colorado Genealogical Societies. She is currently a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and of the National Genealogical Speakers Guild. She also teaches a beginning genealogy class at Front Range Community College,

Our second event for October will be held on October 30 in Denver at the Hebrew Education Alliance (HEA) on 3600 S. Ivanhoe, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.

The session will be conducted by Ellen Kowitt, President of the JGSCO and is the first of the seven session Jewish Family Tree Initiative mentoring and workshop series. Each session includes an instructional lecture and a hands-on workshop to assist with the creation of family trees and historical research utilizing genealogical resources and techniques. Mentoring assistance outside of class will be available. The sessions are open to everyone. There is a $30 one-time fee for non-members for a book and materials which includes one year of membership in the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado. Attendance is not required at all seven sessions to participate; jump in any time to get started!

So whether you’ve already begun your genealogical research or are thinking about starting, please consider joining us for one or both of the above!! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by emailing Barry Halpern.