Philly 2009: New York, Philly research spotlight

Philly 2009 will provide presentations on New York City and Philadelphia research.

Jewish Genealogical Society of New York president Linda Cantor and professional researcher Avrum Geller will present Wednesday and Thursday programs.

Linda offers "Only in New York" at 8.15am, Wednesday, August 5. She will discuss research that can be done only in the city. This includes originals of NY naturalization petitions; originals of NY WW II draft registrations; NY court records for name changes, business contracts, or civil and criminal actions; NY wills and probate records; European and immigration records such as HIAS case histories, landsmanshaftn records, European community records, and Industrial Removal Office Records.

And if you need more than one shot of New York, Avrum is the Breakfast Expert for New York City Research (7am, Thursday, August 6). The program will:

• provide a Virtual New York Jewish breakfast.
• disclose secret files hidden in backs of rooms with which brickwalls can be busted.
• suggest worthwhile repositories that are off-the-beaten-track, some of them quite grand.
• provide answers that direct researchers to utilizing resources in all boroughs of the City of New York.
• provide strategies and tricks for getting results not only onsite if you can, but also by phone if need be.
• reveal surprising resources for breakthrough City of New York research online that can be accessed from Philadelphia after the sidewalks are rolled up, or in Margate after the sand is rolled up, or anywhere.

The breakfast is $29 (update your registration here)

If Philadelphia is your interest, there's a two-hour opening day (Sunday) session on "Getting the Most out of Your Philadelphia Research" with local professional researcher and author. Susan Koelble, a local experienced professional researcher and author, and Steve Schecter, JGS of Greater Philadelphia Program VP and the societies leader of beginner seminars.

It starts at 11am and is followed by a Repository Fair, where a dozen or so local archives, libraries and research facilities will provide information on their holdings and answer questions from 1-4pm.

On Monday morning, three local research facilities - The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Free Library of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center - will provide more on their holdings.

The Philadelphia Research Breakfast with expert Steve Schecter is set for 7am, Monday, August 3. He'll answer your questions and:

• sort out what documents are held where
• better prepare you to search at repositories
• improve your ability to deal with the nuances of various sites
• the unwritten rules to help you get what you need
• identify who at the Conference may be able to give you specific help

Breakfasts are $29; update your registration.