We will meet quarterly, on average, and over time hope to include various topics, including a) resources for performing genealogy (e.g., online search tools, local archives), b) the skills and equipment frequently used in genealogy research (scanners, cameras, oral interviews), and c) the various ways of preserving and presenting our results (e.g., posters, books, videos). To the extent time and space permit, we hope to provide a workshop at temple, to include computer terminals, a copy stand, and various slide and film scanners, for those who would like to access and enjoy those tools.
No materials or experience required. Just a past that you hope to explore.
Upcoming Group Events
There are currently no events scheduled. Please check back for updates.Past Group Events
- discover the shtetl that her family came from
- learn how it is that so many from that shtetl had ended up in Pittsburgh
- see if we can trace the roots of her musical talents
- uncover other mysteries we might stumble upon
- and more!
Visit to Wescott Library iLAB
Pencil in the evening of Wednesday, October 16, from 6-7:30 pm, for our visit to the Wescott library.
As we have seen, many, if not all of you, have old photos, negatives, or slides, as well as albums, tapes, films, etc. that you would love to have copied, transferred or preserved in permanent, e.g., digital form. The librarian (Anne Friederichs) that runs the iLAB at the Wescott Library in Eagan has offered to host our group for a session to learn about the resources that the lab provides for use in researching and preserving genealogy information and images.
https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/libraries/Using/iLab/Pages/ilab-locations.aspx
In addition to having computers and access to genealogy and other databases, the lab includes hands-on access to equipment and workstations such as:
scanning photos and slides
printing, laminating
digital conversion (e.g., VHS or 8mm film to video)
audio production studio – creating oral histories
video production studio
Finding Your (Jewish) Roots – Season 1, Episode 1
The MZ Jewish Genealogy Small Group will be hosting a Henry Louis Gates-like event where we will start from scratch to explore the family history of Cantor Rachel Spilker live via Zoom. We will watch as her immigrant roots unfold on ancestry.com, as we retrace the journeys of her ancestors who arrived in the United States with little more than a dream, and a musical heritage. There will be a working session of the Genealogy group (without Cantor) next Monday (etc), to which anyone that may be interested is invited, before the actual Zoom presentation to Cantor Spilker – at a date and time TBD.
Finding Your (Jewish) Roots
Featuring Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker
Hosted by the MZ Jewish Genealogy Small Group
Open to all and aimed at those hoping to learn more about searching your own family tree!
Join our own ancestry sleuths as we explore the genealogy of our own Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker.
Starting from a blank screen, we will watch the power of various ancestry tools unfold as we:
Jewish genealogy: Census records
The Mount Zion Jewish Genealogy small group invites the entire Mount Zion community to join us as we explore the US 1950 census results that were recently released on April 1st of this year. The census reports are routinely made public 72 years after the year in which they were taken. For many of us (i.e., those 72 or older), this may be the first time we will find ourselves identified in an actual census. And most of us will be able to find information about our relatives in 1950 (e.g., personal data, household members, professions), and to figuratively walk up and down their streets to see who their neighbors might have been. It will also be fascinating to see the manner and extent to which religious affiliation was addressed at the time – as compared to prior decades where, at most, strong clues could be found when “Yiddish” or”Jewish” was as stated as being the “mother tongue” of those responding. Hope you can join us!
Interested in joining this group? Contact the Group Leader.
Write to group leader Phil Goldman to ask questions, get involved, join the group, suggest an event, or something else!
