24:3-4 Spring-Summer 2003 - Jewish Genealogical Society

Washington DC 2003: A Capital Conference
23rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy
The Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington
hosted an outstanding conference July 20-25, 2003, attended
by more than 1,200 people, at the JW Marriott
Hotel in downtown Washington. Over one hundred attendees
were from New York alone.
If you attended the conference, or attended it
but missed an important presentation, over
130 lectures are available in audio cassette
format from Repeat Performances
at $8.50 each plus shipping. Details are
available at www.audiotapes.com/
conf.asp?ProductCon=92.
The following recollections were prepared
by two JGS-NY Executive Council
members.
Linda Cantor–
This was the twelfth conference on
Jewish genealogy that I have attended.
Since I am not a novice genealogist and
have heard some of the speakers before, I set out to find
talks that would be new and challenging. This was not
an easy task but it did turn out to be a rewarding one.
Archives,” Stephen Morse’s “Playing Hide and Seek in
the 1930 Census,” and several talks on one of my areas of
interest, Litvak and South African genealogy–Ann
Rabinowitz on “Researching Your South African Jewish
Roots on the Internet” and Vitalija Gircyte’s “Jewish
Records in the Kaunas Archives: Tracing Human Lives in
Official Records.”
But as always, I found the most valuable
part of an annual conference is the
chance to network with my fellow researchers.
I attended as many SIG
(Special Interest Group) meetings as
time would allow, several SIG luncheons,
and the rather popular New
York dinner. We had over 60 JGS
members join us in a lovely dinner at
Stacks, a kosher restaurant several
blocks from the hotel. We actually had
to turn people away as we had run out
of seats and space. It was a great opportunity
to chat with people that we
don’t ordinarily have a chance to talk with. Isn’t that
what genealogy is about–learning about the past from
the living, not just from records?
The best talk that I attended–no contest–was our own Valery
Bazarov and Marian Smith on “Doing the Immigration
Dance: HIAS and INS Case Files.” Valery and Marian used
several examples of immigrants who were assisted by HIAS
(Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) and then followed up with
the INS (Immigration
and Naturalization
Service) case
files, providing
some interesting stories
of the troubles
faced by these
people. They were a
good team–humorous
and excellent
speakers. And it is
amazing how much
material is sitting in these two institutions. Of course, if
your ancestor was the ordinary Joe who came in without
any extraordinary headaches, then you will not find them
in these resources. But it’s worth a look.
I learned some new tips and ideas from Claire Prechtel-
Kluskens’ talk on “Passport Applications in the National
Paul Silverstone–
I spent five enjoyable days in Washington attending the
23rd Conference. My enjoyment came from being there
with hundreds of others who share my interest in genealogical
research, a moment that does not occur often.
How pleasurable
it is to be able to
share one’s discoveries
and
problems with
others who understand
the difficulty
and excitement
of success.
A group of conference attendees from New York at the banquet
The lecture by
Claire Prechtel-Kluskens on “Passport Applications in
the National Archives” inspired me to go and have a
look, and I discovered my uncle’s application from 1921
(earlier than I anticipated). This provided a hint on finding
my grandfather on a passenger manifest, something
which had so far eluded me. Eventually using the specific
information found in the application (that his father
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -9-