Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois

Scott Meyer spoke in person about "AI and Jewish Genealogy: New Tools, New Concerns" for the Nov. 16, 2025, Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois hybrid meeting at Temple Beth-El in Northbrook, Illinois. Go to jgsi.org/Events-calen... to register/RSVP for future JGSI events.

Jewish Genealogy Conference Planning Survey The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) is reimagining its future conferences — and we need your help to make them more relevant and meaningful to today’s Jewish family ...

The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAGS) is re-imagining its future conferences. They want to hear from everyone interested in Jewish genealogy. Please take the survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/IAJGS_conf...

"Unlock Your Family’s Story: An Introduction to Genealogical and DNA Research" by Barry Love will be presented as a free webinar hosted by the Chicago Genealogical Society at 7 p.m. CST, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Go to chicagogenealogy.org/Events to register to receive the free Zoom link.

"How to Find Any Shtetl on Topographic Maps" by Andrew Kapochunas will be hosted online by the Jewish SIG of the St. Louis Genealogical Society at 1 p.m. CST, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. Go to stlgs.org/about-us-2/s... to register to receive the Zoom link for this Jewish genealogy webinar.

FamilySearch.org Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

RootsTech, the annual genealogical conference hosted by FamilySearch, will take place March 5-7, 2026. Go to www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech... for more details and to register. Note: this will be a hybrid event, taking place in person in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as online.

JGSI member Martin Fischer will present his updated lecture "Write It! Tips for Saving and Sharing Family History in Written Form" at 2 p.m. CST, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, hosted online by the Library of the Chathams. Go to chathamlibrary.librarycalendar.com/event/write-... to register.

"Introduction to Autosomal Genetic Genealogy" by retired doctor Tim Janzen will be co-presented online by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon and the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society at 1 p.m. CST, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. Register at us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Secrets of the Census, Part 5: 1880 A blog about genealogy in St. Louis.

An informative article about the 1880 U.S. Census has been posted by the St. Louis Genealogical Society on its blog at: stlgs.blogspot.com/2025/10/secr...

"Sunrise, Sunset: Beginning Your Journey into Ashkenazi Jewish Genealogy" by Caitlin Hollander Waas, JewishGen’s chief genealogist, will be presented online by JewishGen at 1 p.m. Central Time, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. Go to 898a.blackbaudhosting.com/898a/tickets... to register.

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Sherlock Cohn, photo genealogist. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. Photo genealogist, Ava "Sherlock" Cohn, will present "Clued-In: The Stories are in the Details," demonstrating by example how to find clues in our photos to further our genealogical research. Registe...

“Clued-In: The Stories Are in the Details” by Ava Cohn, AKA "Sherlock Cohn, Photo Genealogist," will be hosted online by the Northeast Indiana Jewish Genealogy Society at 1 p.m. Central Time, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. Go to us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... to register for this free webinar.

“Goldmines & Landmines: What to Look for in Genealogy Research” will be presented by genealogist Sharon Roth at the Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois hybrid meeting. Register/RSVP at: jgsi.org/event-6289355

Explore the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois website at jgsi.org for information about great future events as well as a fascinating collection of family history research resources and tools.

Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois members: To access dozens of recordings and handouts from past JGSI events, log into jgsi.org, click the EVENTS tab, and select PAST EVENTS RECORDINGS AND HANDOUTS. Then select the video of interest to you and click on the video to view it.

Census & Voter Lists - MyHeritage Easily search billions of historical records from around the world including birth, marriage, death, census, and immigration records, and much more

In honor of Labor Day in the U.S., MyHeritage is opening up access to a massive collection of historical records — over 892 million U.S. and Canadian census records — completely free from Aug. 27–Sept. 2, 2025.
Starting Monday, go to www.myheritage.com/research/cat... to search U.S records.

Mike Karsen welcomes Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois members and guests to the JGSI dinner on Aug. 11, 2025, held in conjunction with the IAJGS International Jewish Genealogy Conference. The dinner, organized by Diane Grauer, was held at Conner’s Kitchen & Bar in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois members: If you haven't already done so, please renew your membership! Log into jgsi.org to see whether you have renewed. If you cannot log in, then you are not a member. Go to jgsi.org/Membership to see the benefits of membership and to renew.

Nolan Altman will teach a course, Intro to Jewish Genealogy: Everything You Need to Build Your Family Tree, Aug. 7-28, 2025. Enroll: my-jewish-learning.teachable.com/.../intro-to...
NOTE: Members of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois should check the JGSI Members Forum before registering.

"Handwritten Text Recognition" by Yvette Hoitink will be presented as a hybrid event by CAGGNI, the Computer Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois, at 10 a.m. CDT, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. Register at caggni.org/event-6055375
Non-members of CAGGNI pay $5.

Attention Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois members! Please be aware that RSVP/registration confirmation emails from JGSI, which usually include Zoom links, are mistakenly being sent to junk mail/spam email folders. Please be on the lookout for them and, if possible, mark them as NOT JUNK.

Intro to Jewish Genealogy: Everything You Need to Build Your Family Tree

Nolan Altman, director of data at JewishGen, will teach a four-part online course called Intro to Jewish Genealogy: Everything You Need to Build Your Family Tree, Thursdays at 6 p.m. Central Time, Aug. 7-28, 2025. Enroll at my-jewish-learning.teachable.com/p/intro-to-g...
The fee is $80.

YouTube video by Center for Jewish History Family History Today: Interpreting Your DNA Test Results for Ashkenazi Jews

A free video recording of the webinar "Family History Today: Interpreting Your DNA Test Results for Ashkenazi Jews" by Jenny Rappaport, head genealogist at the Center for Jewish History, can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=eub3...

“The Wandering Jew" and “The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Shtetl” are the titles of two informative Jewish history lectures by Dick Goldman scheduled for the Sunday, July 27, 2025, Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois hybrid meeting. Register/RSVP at jgsi.org/event-6201036

"Family History Today: Genetic Census of the Jewish People" by Michael Waas will be presented as a hybrid event by the Center for Jewish History at 11 a.m. CDT, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Go to programs.cjh.org/event/family... for pay-what-you-want registration to receive the Zoom link.

One of the benefits of being a member of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois is access to a series of live online programs/discussions on a variety of Jewish genealogy topics.
Go to jgsi.org/Events-calen... to register/RSVP for these and other JGSI events.

Here are photos of some of the speakers at the June 29, 2025, Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois annual meeting and "Kvell and Tell" session at Temple Beth-El in Northbrook, Illinois.

Several Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois members will share family history discoveries and genealogy research tips in the annual “Kvell and Tell” session, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in a hybrid meeting at Temple Beth-El, Northbrook, Illinois. Register/RSVP at jgsi.org/event-5653567

Where are the Death Certificates? A blog about genealogy in St. Louis.

An informative article about how to obtain death certificates in Illinois, Missouri and elsewhere has been posted at stlgs.blogspot.com/2025/06/wher... by the St. Louis Genealogical Society.

"The Changing Borders of Eastern Europe" by Hal Bookbinder will be presented online by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon at 12:30 p.m. CDT, Sunday, July 13, 2025. Go to us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... to register to receive the free Zoom link.

"Morse Code: Favorite Tools on Steve Morse’s Web Site" by Banai Feldstein will be presented online by the Jewish Genealogy Society of Long Island at 6 p.m. CDT, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Go to jgsli.org/mc-events/mo... to register to receive the free Zoom link.

Always popular, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois’s annual “Kvell and Tell” meeting returns with a lively lineup of short, surprising family history presentations.
Join us on Sunday, June 29, 2025.
RSVP at jgsi.org/event-5653567