May_16_2005


	Monday, May 16, 2005, 7:00 p.m. Skirball Cultural Center – 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

PROGRAM: Genealogy by Genetics: Jewish History and DNA (7:30 p.m.)

PRE-MEETING LECTURE: The Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names:
How to Use Yad Vashem Online Resources in Family Research (7:00 p.m.)

Genealogy by Genetics: Jewish History and DNA
When there are no records and the paper trail dead ends, Family-Tree DNA - America’s first genealogy-driven DNA testing service - offers a revolutionary strategy to establish familial connectivity. Created for serious amateurs and professional genealogists who wish to extend their family trees, these tests can confirm a link where no conventional records exist. Using a 12-marker test, relationships can be determined over a period in excess of a few thousand years and common ancestors determined. Bennett Greenspan, founder and CEO, will elaborate on how testing works, the options and costs, as well as on how to initiate surname-based family tree reconstruction projects, confirm Cohanim lineage, and what comparative databases are available.

A wealth of materials accessible directly by Internet is provided. Some of these should be reviewed before Mr. Greenspan’s talk, if possible. Others are good references which can be explored after the talk to review his presentation, and to expand your research

Speaker: Bennett Greenspan, CEO, Family Tree-DNA
An entrepreneur and life-long genealogy enthusiast, Mr. Greenspan founded Family Tree DNA in 2000, turning a hobby into a full-time vocation. In 1979 he spent time researching in Salt Lake City and the federal records center in Bayonne, New Jersey, before traveling to Europe to visit the ancestral village of his great-great-grandmother. His interest in genealogy, and failure to solve a paper trail roadblock, was the motivating force in creating his company. Family Tree-DNA is now partnered with JewishGen in the “Surname/DNA Project,” enabling researchers to tap into the largest and most comprehensive of DNA results to re-unite unconnected branches on their “same surname” tree.

Pre-Meeting Lecture: 7:00 p.m.

The Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names: How to Use Yad Vashem Online Resources in Family Research
Last November, an extraordinary database made its appearance online, containing records of the millions of people who perished during WWII—as well as those who survived. This tutorial will explain how to navigate the database to learn the fate of Eastern-European ancestors. Methods and strategies of analyzing the information provided in the “Pages of Testimony” to locate previously unknown or missing relatives will also be covered.

Speaker: Ann Harris, Board Member, JGSLA
Ann Harris has been involved in family history research for almost 20 years, mostly in Galicia. At Xerox, she was a marketing manager for 17 years and was a specialist in competitive analysis of high technology products. This along with her language studies was great training for the detective work involved in making progress in Jewish genealogy, one tiny clue at a time. One of her current projects is the creation of an extensive database of information on the interconnected surnames of her grandmother's town of Zborow. To augment this work, she is also in the process of translating the necrology sections of the Zborow Yizkor book, available only in Yiddish.

For assistance and further information about this meeting, please contact:
Pamela Weisberger, 1st V.P. Programs, JGSLA
Pamela@jgsla.org

Skirball Cultural Center – 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

Pre-Meeting Lecture: 7:00 p.m.