Michael D. Lacopo will lead this two-day research intensive. This is the first seminar in DGS' new In Pursuit of Genealogical Excellence series. It will be focused on identifying the core of a research challenge, developing a targeted research question, and implementing a plan to solve it. Michael will share his favorite strategies and common mistakes to avoid. 

Participants will have access to the videos of the lectures for two weeks after the event.

Time: 7:00 pm CDT (Chicago)

Learn three basic steps of being a family historian: finding information, attaching it to your ancestors and storing it so you can find it again. Get organized and get connected as you research your family history.

Suz Bates has a B.A. in Modern Foreign Language, a minor in History, and an M.S. in education. She has taught in a variety of settings. In recent years, she has brought her expertise in genealogy to the public, spreading her enthusiasm for family history research through workshops, presentations, and consultations. She has been a family history researcher for over 45 years and a private consultant for 25 years. Suz is a member of various genealogy and history associations, as well as the Genealogical Speakers Guild.

This webinar is free but you must register in advance to receive the link to attend.

The Genealogical Forum of Oregon's 75th Anniversary Genealogy Open House moves online this year.
Join us for 18 free classes from March 27 through April 3.

Many of the GFO's special interest groups will be featured.

Sunday, March 28: Irish Day
Monday, March 29: Online Sources Day
Tuesday, March 30: DNA Day

Other classes include Freedmen's Bureau Records, Oregon Land Claims, Indentured Servants, U.S. Census Records, and more. Each class requires its own advance registration. Please invite your friends to see how the GFO can help you in your family history sleuthing.

Join us for a humorous and informative travelogue on how to make the best of your trip to Romania. The presentation includes an overview of the main tourist sites in Romania, together with a close-up approach on the region of Banat, home to the original Tarzan and Broadway’s first Dracula. In addition, learn how to get around safely and comfortably when visiting Timisoara, European Capital of Culture 2023. From sockets, to currency, to key vocabulary, this basic, very useful tool to planning your trip will help you avoid every hitch and cultural shock, whether you’re coming as a tourist or on a genealogy quest anywhere in Romania. Alexandra has rounded up all the need-to-knows on:

• Hiring a genealogy specialized tour guide and doing research prior to your visit to the Old Country
• Identifying family homes
• Trying to make contact with potential relatives
• Getting access to otherwise unavailable places and people
• Useful items to bring over

so as to make planning easy once the world is ready to travel again. Finally, get a glimpse of what your genealogy trip might look like and also enjoy photos of some ancestry tours that Alexandra has conducted in the Banat area.

Time:  1:00 EST check in, chat, and schmooze

Official program starts promptly at 1:30 EST

Guest Speaker:  David Brill, has been researching his family history in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and the United States for over 25 years.

Topic:  Getting the Most from Revision Lists - A Regional Approach Revision lists are among the most important genealogical resources from the Russian Empire, and they are often the only available confirmation that an ancestor actually lived in a particular shtetl. They may contain important information pertinent to neighboring towns too. This means that it is now easier than ever to expand one's research beyond the borders of a single shtetl and discover previously unknown genealogical connections to nearby communities. David's presentation shares examples from the ongoing Rovno Uezd Jewish Records Project (present-day Rivne, Ukraine) that illustrate the power of a region-wide search. In addition, David will discuss the current status of the Rovno regional translation project, and what a deep reading of the revision lists can tell us about our ancestors' lives in the Russian Pale of the 19^th-century.

 All meetings are a benefit for paid members only. Please see our website for additional membership information.  www.jgasgp.org or contact mazergoldenjgsgp@gmail.com

Join us on Saturday, March 20, 2021 from 8:45am to 4:00pm Eastern Time Zone from the comfort of your own home while you attend a LIVE, virtual day-long conference featuring Dr. Michael Lacopo. Door prize drawings throughout the day!

Five Sessions:
1. More than the Census - Our Families did Exist within those 10-Year Intervals
2. Using Tax Records for Genealogical Problem Solving
3. "She Came From Nowhere" - a Case Study Approach to a Difficult Genealogical Problem
4. Deconstructing Your Family Tree: Reevaluating the Evidence
5. Medical Genealogy: a Primer of Diseases that Killed our Ancestors and the Epidemics they Lived Through

Cost: NHG members: $35.00; Non-members: $40.00

Power Up Your Family Research With DNA

Karen Stanbary, MA, LCSW, CG, BCG Trustee will present the following programs:

10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. EDT - Session 1: DNA--A Power Tool in the Genealogist's Toolbox. This lecture provides case examples where DNA helped to expand and deepen family history.

11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. EDT - Session 2: Avoiding Common Mistakes When Working with atDNA. This lecture provides awareness of common analysis mistakes using atDNA test results that may lead to inaccurate relationship conclusions. Concepts include segment size, pedigree evaluation, blind trust, reasonably exhaustive research, confirmation bias, the myth of the triangulated segment and more.

12:45 p.m. -1:30 p.m. - Lunch Break

1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. EDT - Session 3: Clinical Tips to Manage Conversations about Unexpected DNA Results. This lecture offers tips to reduce stress and change the outcome of difficult conversations about unexpected DNA results.

3:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. EDT - Session 4: Spit and You Shall Find: atDNA Identifies a Charming Scoundrel. This entertaining lecture is a case study integrating traditional documentary research and analysis of atDNA and X-DNA test results to identify the biological father of the speaker's paternal great-grandmother.

Recordings of the programs will be made available to registrants afterwards.

Time:  1:00 EST check in, chat, and schmooze   Official program starts promptly at 1:30 EST

Guest Speaker:  Joel Spector,  Past President of the Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia, where he has also been chairperson of its Russian Special Interest Group.

Topic: “Finding Your Ancestors: How to Get Started and Where to Go.”

The presentation will focus on how to find information about your ancestors, both those you know and those you didn’t even know you had. We will explore what data is immediately available and review what information can be derived from the many types of resources - local, national and international - and from on-line resources. Throughout, we will focus on the excitement in discovering information about your little-known ancestors and on the various types of information that make the search in Jewish genealogy fun.

~This Beginner’s Seminar is free and open to non-members.

 The Zoom meeting link can be accessed on our website www.jgasgp.org one week prior to the meeting.  Any questions contact mazergoldenjgsgp@gmail.com

Time:  1:00 check in, chat, and schmooze   Official program starts promptly at 1:30

Guest Speaker:  Leora Tec, Founder and Director, Bridge to Poland which seeks to educate people about Jewish history in Poland with an emphasis on how the Jews of Poland are being remembered by non-Jewish Poles today.

Topic:  What is there for Jews in modern day Poland?  An Introduction to The Neshoma Project 

As we know, ninety percent of Polish Jews were murdered during World War II. It's understandable that some people, especially Jews of Polish descent, might have reservations about going to Poland, the site of such vast pain and loss. And yet, Poland is an integral part of Jewish history. 

Leora Tec has travelled all over Poland having conversations with non-Jews who, in different ways, are remembering the Jews who used to be their neighbors. Those interviewed, working to heal historical wounds, come from many different fields including: scholarship, teaching, guiding, grassroots activities, museum work and the arts.

All meetings are a benefit for paid members only. Please see our website for additional membership information.  www.jgasgp.org or contact mazergoldenjgsgp@gmail.com