California: And all that jazz, Jan. 4

Learn the true story behind the musical "Chicago" ... and all that genealogical jazz at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (JGSCV).

Speaker Ron Arons tells the story at 1.30pm Sunday, January 4, 2009 at Temple Adat Elohim 2420 E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks.

Ron Arons tells the true story of Belva Gaertner, one of the two real-life women who were convicted of murdering their lovers in Chicago in 1924.

He's accomplished this by collecting as many genealogical documents as possible and stitched them together to understand this story.

And what an amazing story it is!

Belva wasn't Jewish but, by understanding what Ron has done, you can replicate the process with your relatives.

This is another way of conducting family history research, above and beyond simply collecting relatives' names, dates, and places.

A nationally known speaker and founding member of JGSCV, Arons has appeared on the PBS television series "The Jewish Americans" in January 2008. His book, The Jews of Sing Sing, was published in June 2008.

The meeting is free. For more information contact Jan Meisels Allen at publicity@jgscv.org.