Sunday, April 27, 1 pm Pacific
Speaker: Jan Gronski, DoJR AI Lab Director & Technology Advisor
Unlock Your Family History with Transkribus, a Powerful AI Tool for Genealogists
Description: Dive into the world of automated text recognition with Transkribus, a powerful AI tool for genealogists working with historical documents in key languages which are important to the Jewish community such as Polish, Russian, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, and more. This hands-on workshop will guide participants through the essential steps of using existing language models to transcribe paragraph-based materials accurately. Learn the differences between transcription and translation, discover why Transkribus outshines other AI tools, and explore best practices for achieving high-quality results. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your skills, this workshop will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to unlock the past and preserve your family’s legacy. Note: Participants will receive prerequisite study materials to prepare for this workshop.
About Jan Gronski
Jan Gronski is L’Dor V’Dor Foundation’s DoJR AI Lab Director and Technology Advisor building upon more than 25 years of experience in the networking industry as a hands-on developer and an engineering executive. Over five years, Gronski has garnered considerable hands-on experience creating AI models for automatic handwriting recognition while leading the most extensive and advanced project of its kind for processing historical records in the languages of the Jewish Diaspora. Gronski is multilingual: fluent in English, Polish, and Chinese and conversational in Russian, German, Spanish, French, and Turkish. Gronski is a key volunteer for Jewish Records Indexing – Poland. Gronski earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics at the University of Warsaw and PhD in mathematics at University of Illinois.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Tuesday, May 6, 4 pm
Pacific
Speaker: Hailey Thompson, Accredited Genealogist and Eastern European Expert
Navigating Revision Lists, a Hands-on Workshop
Description: Join us for this unique opportunity to learn, strategize and study how to effectively read, locate, translate and summarize the contents of these important documents.
The Ревизские сказки Reviska Skazka (“Revision Lists”) are some of the most important records for Jewish Russian genealogical research beginning in 1719 through 1858. These lists, used to levy taxes, contain the names of all taxable persons from each city, town, village or estate arranged by household and provide the relationship to the head of house and ages over time.
Please note: Participants will receive prerequisite study materials to prepare for this workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to submit documents prior to the workshop. We will use some document examples in real-time.
About Hailey Thompson
Hailey Thompson (nee Wentz) is an Accredited Genealogist (AG®) with an emphasis in Eastern European genealogy. She dedicated a portion of her studies to the linguistics field, which led her to develop skills in a variety of languages. She currently works as a Slavic research specialist at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City.
One of Hailey’s passions is teaching genealogical principles in a way that empowers others and helps them to have the confidence to continue their research.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, May 18, 1 pm Pacific
Speaker: Megan Lewis, Reference and Research Specialist
In-Depth Research Guide of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Digital Collections
Description: This is a unique opportunity to submit your questions, documents, and ancestral locations/surname pairs.
Megan will review advanced search techniques and main tools to access the Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database (HSV:name index) and the Collections Search catalog all from your home.
Collections include photographs, oral histories, artifacts, historic films collections 1930-1950, all with built-in place name thesaurus. Interwar materials from Galicia and Lithuania, records from the aftermath of the 1920s pogroms in Kiev and pre-Holocaust history books of various places will also be reviewed. Access to the full Arolsen Archives containing DP camp materials, personal DP camp records from survivors and workers, refugee materials from various countries, YIVO archives and records of Polish Jews who were repatriated from the Soviet Union. Some digitized unindexed records are included.
Megan will point out how finding aids/inventories for archival collections often include names of individuals or families, so are de facto names lists. An in-depth handout will accompany this presentation.
About Megan Lewis
Megan Lewis has worked at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum since 1998, where she is currently a reference librarian. She has spoken to many genealogy groups over the years about the Museum’s rich resources. Megan has a BA in History and a Masters in Library Science. She is currently doing post-graduate work in digital curation.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, June 8, 11 am Pacific
Speaker: Jakub Czupryński, Polish Genealogist
Unlocking the Past: Tracing Polish Ancestry through Notarial Documents
Description: Historical notarial deeds can be some of the most valuable documents genealogists will uncover about their ancestors. While they may seem dry and formal at first glance, these records often contain rich, personal details that add depth and color to the stories we know about our forebears. They can reveal unexpected connections, family dynamics, and insights into the lives of our ancestors that other records may not provide. I will discuss various types of notarial acts that are relevant for genealogists, such as wills, property transactions, marriage contracts, and other legal documents.
The focus will be on the practical side of things—how to find these documents, where to look for them, and how to make use of available tools in your research. I’ll also give a brief introduction to the history of notarial practices in Poland, including during the partition periods—Prussia, the Congress Kingdom, and Galicia. This will help you understand how notarial offices developed and how documents were preserved over time.
About Jakub Czupryński
Jakub Czupryński, born and living in Kraków, Poland. Professional genealogist and tour guide with extensive experience in both fields. He is the founder and owner of JCG Genealogy & Tours, a company specializing in genealogical research and customized heritage tours in Poland. Collaborated with a number of organizations, including the Jewish Community Centre (JCC) in Kraków, JRI Poland, Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, Forum Dialogu and others.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, June 22 , 2025, 1 pm Pacific Time
Speaker: Margaret Press, AIGG, PhD, Co-founder of BanyanDNA
Power Up Your Research with BanyanDNA
Description: BanyanDNA is a unique online software tool for creating, visualizing and analyzing complex trees. The tool employs a novel statistical approach to predicting genetic relationships through dynamic simulations that take into account multiple ways two people might be related. You can also enter the amounts of DNA shared between any two people in your tree so you can evaluate the overall accuracy as you go along. No other tool today can do this.
This presentation will discuss some of the advanced features and techniques that have been helping genealogists break through brick walls, particularly with cases that include pedigree collapse, cousin marriage and unknown parentage. We’ll help you clarify the Person of Interest in your research question. BanyanDNA can also alert you to places in your tree where the shared DNA does not support the documented relationships.
Level and prerequisites:
This is an intermediate-level workshop (advanced-beginner.) Resources will be provided in advance for those who register, along with recommended preparations that will enable you to get the most out of the presentation.
We encourage you to create a free BanyanDNA account beforehand so you can familiarize yourself with the application and experiment with a few of the basics. Additional features we’ll be discussing are available with a paid subscription.Once you have registered, you will receive a 10% discount coupon to BanyanDNA.
About Margaret Press
Margaret Press, PhD is a co-founder of BanyanDNA, a novel online genetic genealogy tool for analyzing complex trees, which launched in February, 2024. Since then she has worked extensively with users of BanyanDNA, exploring techniques with the tool and helping them resolve research questions.
Margaret also co-founded DNA Doe Project in 2017, a non-profit corporation dedicated to identifying human remains through Investigative Genetic Genealogy. She also serves on the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Accreditation Board, and additionally is a founding member of the DNA Justice Foundation, a non-profit DNA database created specifically for IGG purposes.
Margaret holds a doctorate in linguistics, is retired from the software industry, and is a former mystery writer and private pilot. She is still trying to retire in Sebastopol, California.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, July 20, 11 am Pacific
Speaker: Arlene Beare and Marion Werle, Latvia Genealogy Experts
Passports, Names, and Fates: Expanding our Latvian Jewish Research Horizons
Description: Join us for this deep dive into Latvia’s Jewish past. Discover post 1918 independence records when all residents were required to carry internal passports, rich with genealogical details like births, marriages, place of origin, addresses, and photographs. Arlene Beare, a key contributor to indexing these records in the JewishGen Latvia Database, will guide you through accessing and interpreting these invaluable documents.
Marion Werle will introduce the website Jews of Latvia: Names and Fates, 1941-1945, a crucial resource for tracing Latvia’s Jewish community before and during the Holocaust. It not only documents interwar Jewish life but also identifies those who managed to escape eastward as the Nazis advanced. Werle will also highlight the Jews in Liepāja, Latvia 1941-1945 memorial site, which sheds light on this smaller community’s tragic history.
About Arlene Beare and Marion Werle
Arlene Beare and Marion Werle, Co-Directors of the JewishGen Latvia Research Division with decades of experience in genealogical research.
Arlene, author of the comprehensive Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Latvia and Estonia, is a retired physician born in South Africa, currently living in London. She serves as a Vice President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain.
Marion, a retired IT professional with master’s degrees in both European History and Library Science from UCLA. She has completed both the Boston University Certificate in Genealogical Research and the Pro-Gen Study Group, and also teaches a writing class for JewishGen.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Tuesday, July 29, 4 pm Pacific
Speaker: Hailey Thompson, Accredited Genealogist and Eastern European Expert
Navigating 1897 Census: a Hands-on Workshop
Description: One of a kind workshop! Join us for this unique opportunity to learn, strategize and study how to effectively read, locate, translate and summarize the contents of these important documents.
The 1897 Russian Imperial Census was the first and only census carried out in the Russian Empire. The census enumerated the entire population of the Empire
(excluding Finland) and was designed to gather population and statistical data.
This census provides a wealth of genealogical and personal details (address,
occupation, literacy, profession, study, military status, lineage and more.)
Please note:
Participants will receive prerequisite study materials to prepare for this workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to submit documents prior to the workshop. We will use some document examples in real-time.
About Hailey Thompson
Hailey Thompson (nee Wentz) is an Accredited Genealogist (AG®) with an emphasis in Eastern European genealogy. She dedicated a portion of her studies to the linguistics field, which led her to develop skills in a variety of languages. She currently works as a Slavic research specialist at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City.
One of Hailey’s passions is teaching genealogical principles in a way that empowers others and helps them to have the confidence to continue their research.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
