Salt Lake City: East European conference, July 29-31

The 16th Federation of East European Family History Societies conference will be held in Salt Lake City, July 29-31.

Venues are the Family History Library and the Plaza Hotel (just around the corner from the FHL). For more details, view the FEEFHS site.

This year's theme - "Ancestors Found: Success through Assistance" - will be explored by well-known speakers covering

Part of the event's scope for registered attendees are research consultations with the attending specialists. A Saturday recognition luncheon is also scheduled.

Lecture topics cover handwriting and ethnic documents (Latin, Cyrillic, Gothic, German), using the FHL, gazetteers, maps, geographical research (Polish, Russian Empire, Austrian Empire, German, Balkan, Hungarian Empire, Baltic), Russian Orthodox customs, using US sources to cross the ocean and more.

Speakers include Barbara Bell, Thomas K. Edlund, Marek Koblanski,  Kahlile B. Mehr, Dave Obee, Sylvie Pysnak and Dee Semon.

There are two lectures at each of three time slots each day (8.30am, 9.45am, 11am), with assisted research from 2-5pm each day at the FHL.

Afternoon consultations may include questions concerning any of the countries between the Alps and the Urals, between the Baltic and the Black Seas (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia).

Registration is $100 (before July 3) and includes the syllabus, luncheon and research assistance. The special Plaza Hotel rate is $82.

For more details, click here.

Sacramento: Handwriting analysis for genealogy?, May 16

Imagine what insights we might learn about our ancestors through samples of their handwriting?

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Sacramento (California) will host Leslie Nye for a presentation on handwriting analysis on Sunday, May 16.

It begins at 10 am at the Albert Einstein Residence Center, 1935 Wright St., Sacramento.

Nye is recognized as a noted speaker and trainer in the area of graphanalysis, handwriting analysis for personality assessment, and has facilitated a number of presentations for regional and national audiences. In 2006, she received the highest award of the International Graphoanalysis Society Graphoanalyst of the Year.

With more than 30 years of successful experience with large corporations, She continues to work part-time in her own business, and holds a full-time position as career advisor for DeVry University, Sacramento.

Fee: no charge; all may use the JGSS library.

Click here for more information about  the Jewish Genealogical Society of  Sacramento.

Seattle: Deciphering Cyrillic and Hebrew, Feb. 8

Learn to decipher Eastern European Cyrillic and Hebrew archival documents at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State on Monday, February 8.

Doors open at 7pm at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, Mercer Island.

"Reading in Another Hand: Deciphering Cyrillic and Hebrew Archival Documents from Eastern Europe," will be presented by Natan M. Meir.

This lecture-workshop will demonstrate elements of the Russian and Hebrew/Yiddish cursive scripts used in the Russian Empire in the 19th-early 20th centuries. Topics discussed will include the Cyrillic and Hebrew alphabets, their use in archival documents, key words and phrases in documents of interest to genealogists, and the structure of tsarist and Soviet archives.

A number of archival documents will be viewed as attendees work together to decipher words and phrases.

Participants are encouraged to contact the speaker in advance with specific documents or questions they've had problems with, and some will be integrated into the presentation. Email questions.

Born in Jerusalem, Natan Meir was raised in New Jersey and Quebec. He earned a PhD in Jewish History (Columbia University, 2003), and is the Lokey Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies at Portland State University. His scholarly interest is modern Jewish history, focusing on the social and cultural history of East European Jewry in the 19th and 20th centuries.

His first book - "Kiev: Jewish Metropolis, 1859-1914" - is forthcoming from Indiana University Press, and he is now working on a second project tentatively titled "Jewish Marginals in Eastern Europe."

Fee: JGSWS members, free; others, $5.

For directions and additional information, see the JGSWS site.

Historical handwriting: Resources for help

Here's information on some resources to help you decipher family documents.

Paleography - the study of early handwriting - is an essential skill needed to decipher old documents, whether they are originals or digitized versions. Just think about the Ellis Island Database and the difficulties of locating the proper records because the transcribers had so much trouble with old handwriting.

We may find our ancestors' letters or other records, but cannot understand what is written. Add in foreign languages and alphabets or simply archaic English, along with faded ink and deteriorating paper, and it can all be rather frustrating.

An article by Kenton County Public Library staff in the Cincinnati Post offers some tips for researchers, offering books and online resources.

"Reading Early American Handwriting," by Kip Sperry, offers basic guidelines and tips, sample alphabets and handwriting styles, antiquated terms, abbreviations and contractions. Other books include "If I Can, You Can Decipher Germanic Records" by Edna M. Bentz; "The Handwriting of American Records for a Period of 300 Years" by E. Kay Kirkham; "Deciphering Handwriting in German Documents: Analyzing German, Latin and French in Vital Records Written in Germany" by Roger P. Minert; and "Understanding Colonial Handwriting" by Harriet Stryker-Rodda.

Online, Cyndi's List features a plethora of links to articles, tutorials and web sites on handwriting. Family Tree Magazine has useful links on handwritten data, medieval paleography, early handwriting and more.

To read more, click here.

Avotaynu offers several useful publications for the special needs of researchers tracing their Jewish families, such as examples of Jewish documents, Jewish names, information on Yiddish and Hebrew and more.

Following the Paper Trail: A Multilingual Translation Guide, Jonathan Shea & William Hoffman
A guide to translating vital statistic records in 13 languages: Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latin, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.

In Their Words: A Genealogist's Translation Guide -- Polish, Jonathan Shea & William Hoffman.
A detailed buide translating Polish documents.

In Their Words: A Genealogist's Translation Guide -- Russian, Jonathan Shea & William Hoffman.
A detailed guide to translating Polish documents.

Writing on the wall: Mind your Ps and Qs!

Wondering what our ancestors were really like?

Perhaps we could use graphoanalysis for genealogical and other purposes. Is this another tool in our arsenal? But does anyone know a graphologist who deals with Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, Polish or any of the other languages Jewish genealogists deal with? Judy Bruckner leaps to mind thanks to this interesting article.

Many people find handwriting analysis fascinating because it leads them to sensational topics like letters from Jack the Ripper, but Bruckner became an analyst so she could understand personalities around her, and more specifically, the personalities of family members that have passed away.

"It's a neat twist to genealogy," she said.

So far, she has collected 100 writing samples from her ancestors and is determining the qualities that make each one unique. She hopes to trace a full family tree and publish a book about her findings.

"My great-great-grandmother is strict with a playful side," Bruckner said. "She came out a little harsh and I thought, "Mmm. I hope I'm not that way.'"