Seattle: Epidemics and family history

Stephanie Weiner's program at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree in June focused on epidemics and plagues impacting the worldwide Jewish community, including the 1918 flu pandemic. It seems the Seattle Public Health organization is also in on this act. According to this blog entry, local comic artist and art teacher David Lasky was hired to produce a comic about the possibility of an upcoming flu pandemic. It was in comic form for non-English speakers to understand the message

When Lasky took the job, he wasn't aware it would hit close to home.

"My great-grandmother died in the 1918 flu pandemic," he said. "It was a connection to my past and gave me a much better understanding about what happened to her."

Lasky said he wasn't aware, and so many other people aren't aware, that half a million Americans died of the flu in 1918.

"Doing this comic I realized I wasn't alone," he said. "This affected thousands of families in this county."

It has been translated into 12 languages and will be distributed at schools throughout Washington, as well as local King County health offices.

Seattle: Family tree display

A forest of family trees traced the roots of Washington's Jewish community at an event sponsored by the Washington State Jewish Historical Society, which hopes to eventually build a Jewish heritage museum.

More than 400 people wandered through the genealogical woods — an exhibit, actually, of hand-painted pedigrees commemorating clans whose local branches span six generations.

"We are building public awareness of the importance of keeping our history," said Lisa Kranseler, executive director of the Washington State Jewish Historical Society (WSJHS), sponsor of the event. "These are families who have been here since the beginning of statehood."

Organizers expected about 20 families to participate in the project. They got 74.

According to a WSJHS member who helped compile lists of names, dates and offspring, "You just mention family, and there couldn't be an easier topic to get people excited about."

Mercer Island's Robert Rogers extended tribe covered three canvases in the exhibit held at the Sephardic Congregation Ezra Bessaroth. His grandmother, Eva Abrams Rogers, arrived in the late 1880s.

Although many of the state's early members of the tribe arrived between 1880-1920 from Eastern Europe, Seattle's early Sephardi immigrants from Rhodes, Turkey and other locations created a major close-knit community that continues today.

Shelby Halela, 15, and her cousin are descendants of immigrants from Rhodes; their ancestors settled there after the 1492 Expulsion from Spain. "Today, she jokes, it seems like everyone she meets in Seattle is a relative."

The teenager said she's committed to keeping track of her own family, past and present: "In the younger generation, somebody has to keep it alive."

Rogers summed up the feelings of many Jewish genealogists' essential problem rather well: "A person doesn't get interested in genealogy until the people who have all the answers have died."

Read more here.

Seattle: Jeff Malka speaks, May 12

Seattle's genealogical and Sephardic communities are in for a great treat when Sephardic genealogy pioneer researcher Dr. Jeffrey S. Malka speaks there in a few weeks.

The event begins at 7pm Monday, May 12, at the Ezra Bessaroth congregation and co-sponsored by Sephardic Bikur Holim, presented by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State.

I've known Jeff for years and he's a fascinating speaker with a great grasp of the subject. He will focus on "Sephardic Genealogy Resources and the Historical Importance of Ancient Sephardic Surnames."

The presentation will include an overview of Sephardic genealogy resources, what they have in common with traditional Ashkenazi genealogy resources, and how they differ.

Because Sephardic surnames are often so ancient, they are very important to Sephardic genealogy. Records and other resources in various selected countries include the vast volume of pre-expulsion Spanish documents, with illustrations that demonstrate how useful and relevant these are in documenting the persistence of old surnames.

Also shown will be tools to help decipher the marked differences in Hebrew script found in Sephardic documents that make them undecipherable, even to native Hebrew speakers born in Israel and to most academics.

A retired professor of orthopedic surgery in the Washington DC area, Dr. Jeffrey Malka is the author of the award-winning book "Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World" (Avotaynu, 2002) and the creator of JewishGen's Sephardic SIG website based on his previous Sephardic Genealogy Resources website, now updated and renamed SephardicGen.com.

Descended from a long line of Sephardic rabbis going back to 14th century Kabbalists and authors (as well as Catalan blacksmiths and money lenders), he is one of the pioneers of Sephardic genealogy in the United States and a well-known lecturer on the subject.

Jeff has been an invited lecturer at the Library of Congress, several IAJGS annual conferences, the Washington Jewish Historical Society, and numerous Jewish Genealogy Societies in the U.S., Canada. His appearance in Barcelona, Spain two years ago drew an audience of more than 100, a cross-section of the Jewish community as well as a wide general audience.

For more information, email programs@jgsws.org or click here. I note that kosher refreshments will be served and hope they are the gastronomic handiwork of the Ladies Auxiliary's amazing cooks. There is nothing more delicious than Sephardic delicacies.

For more on the congregation, click here, and if you'd like to hear Ein Kelohenu in Hebrew and Ladino as sung by Hazzan Isaac Azose, click here. I look forward to seeing jovial Ike Azose each time I visit Seattle. I'm hoping to see all our Seattle cousins and friends in late July.

Free admission for JGSWS members; $5 for non-members.

Seattle: Schwabacher & Co.

Lyn Blyden, president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State, read my post on the Jewish presence in California's Santa Maria Valley.

Recognizing the name Schwabacher as prominent in Seattle history, Lyn pointed me to the following three-part article on the Schwabacher family in Washington, their role in the Klondike Gold Rush and more.

Although the second article includes a family tree focusing on the Seattle branch, I could not immediately determine how Lewis in California was related to several other Louis in the northern branch. In California, according to a Santa Maria Times newspaper article, Lewis Schwabacher and Sam Coblentz were partners for more than 40 years. Lewis died February 19, 1939.

In any case, the northern Schwabacher family's story is fascinating. It was written by Jean Roth of the Seattle Genealogical Society and reprinted on the JGSWS website from the SGS Summer 1997 bulletin

Among the most popular Klondike outfitters patronized by the prospectors who went to the Yukon gold rush was Schwabacher Bros. & Company. It was at Schwabacher's dock on Seattle's Elliott bay that the steamer Portland arrived on July 17, 1897 with her "ton of gold" that electrified the world and sparked the Klondike gold rush. Soon thousands would leave that dock and others on their way to Alaska.

For many years a marine landmark at the foot of Union Street, it now is a waterfront park.

This pioneer Seattle merchandising business was founded by three brothers in Washington Territory in 1869, and they built an empire selling clothing, groceries, building materials and hardware.

The three who eventually made their way to the territory were Abraham, Sigmund and Louis Schwabacher. They joined the thousands of emigrants who left Europe during the 19th century. Born in Germany of Jewish heritage, the young men fled to America to escape the oppression under the rule of Bismarck, prime minister of Prussia, who was know to be a violent anti-Semite.

The article is a great read and details the brothers' history. Louis Schwabacher was the first to come to America, settled in Missippi, went to San Francisco in 1858, and to Washington Territory in 1859. He sent for his brothers from Germany, and on September 1, 1860, opened a store in Walla Walla.

In 1876, they erected a two-story brick building there which was described in newspapers of the day as "the finest building north of San Francisco, its front resplendent with massive iron columns and arches; its seven entrances each with double doors, the outer ones being iron, the inner cedar…. The interior was 16 feet high, painted white. Its six iron pillars were painted and gilded. In the northwest corner, there was a glass space of 12x16 elevated with a fireplace where Mr. Sigmund Schwabacher could observe and direct the activities."

In 1909, a group of businessmen purchased the Schwabacher store and it became Gardner's Department store, closing in the 1970s after 122 years in business.

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin noted at that time, "Sales were often by the barter method and housewives usually exchanged eggs, butter and milk for coffee, sugar and dress goods. Goods were also sold on credit, with year-long accounts — a common financial arrangement. Settlements were made at year’s end when a farmer sold his crop or livestock. At the settling-up the customer would demand his paid-up ledger account sheet and would then burn it in the big pot-bellied railroad stove at the rear of the store. Then, as a cap to the whole business, he was taken to the basement to share a bottle of wine."

After Walla Walla, the Schwabachers went to Seattle as it was becoming a major port. They set up a wholesale business, Schwabacher Bros. & Co., as a hardware, saddlery and ship-chandlery business.

For their opening, the October 1869 newspaper advertisements announced "To the Inhabitants…An Immense Attraction… Monster Opening: and a line of merchandise which not only included groceries but dry goods. The Schwabachers had opened their “new and commodious premises in Seattle … as a general store … where they trust to receive that patronage from the public which their large well-selected stock will justly merit."

They built the first brick building in Seattle, and remained in business for more than 100 years. An 1871 ad claimed the store sold everything "from a needle to an anchor."

Historical ads indicate: 1878: "anticipating the wants of the public during these hard times, Schwabacher Bros. And Co. offers all kinds and classes of domestics regardless of cost…. We still give as an inducement ten per cent off for cash on Dry Goods, Clothing, Boots and Shoes." 1881: "leading mercantile house in the Northwest," advertised "dry goods, clothing, fancy goods, hats, boots and shoes, carpets, oilcloth, groceries, liquor, paints, oils, agricultural implements, crockery, flour, feed, shingles, doors, windows, iron steel, wallpaper…. Everything a specialty, one price only, the largest stock of dry goods ever brought to any interior town."

The store's Seattle wharf became the city's first customs house, offering businessman a convenient way to pay import duties.

Do read the complete article with information on the 1880 Skagit River gold rush: "On a single day, stores sold $500 worth of supplies; by April $50,000, had been grossed. In one eighty-day period in May—some 400 men left Seattle on their way to the Skagit area."

Their pier was the only one to survive the 1859 Seattle fire and became temporary headquarters for the railroad and steamships into the city, as well as trans-Pacific trade. The family also owned land and other companies dealing in real estate and hardware. The company's name changed to the Pacific Coast Wholesale Grocery firm and Schwabacher hardware, later known as Pacific Marine Schwabacher, Inc. and served eight western states. "The Seattle Times of 4 Jul 1976 claimed it was the largest wholesaler of hard goods in the Pacific Northwest."

Part 2 is the Schwabacher Family Tree; click here, for genealogical details on the family with roots in Regensburg and Schwabach. The family's papers and records are held in the Seattle Jewish Historical Society collection, University of Washington Library Manuscripts and University Archives Division.

Part 3 includes a biography of Bailey Gatzert (born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany) and married to Babette Schwabacher; click here.

Seattle: Successful reunions, April 14

Family reunions are a great way to put your research to work and involve many more people.

"Successful Family Reunions: The Important Role of You, the Family Genealogist," with Brad Fanta, is the focus of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State's meeting at 7pm Monday, April 14, at the Mercer Island JCC.

A genealogist can transform a family reunion from a social gathering into a powerful connection of past and present. Whatever your skill level, you can find relatives, create marketing strategies, generate medical histories, coordinate effective photo displays, develop interactive websites, and maximize use of oral histories.

These methodologies and more will be covered in an engaging format that demonstrates the potential for reunion experiences. Examples from a variety of family reunions will be shared to inspire and help any attendee, no matter what size reunion you may be planning.

Fanta - a genealogist for more than 25 years - is JGSWS secretary. His family history research has led to a specialization in 19th century U.S. Southern and Western Jewish experiences. In 2004, he was co-chair for his family's first-ever three-day family reunion; 90 participants from 15 states and Panama were in New Orleans for the event. A marketing manager for Mithun, an architectural and planning firm, he also holds a Masters of Music from the University of Washington and performs throughout Puget Sound.

If you don't live in the Seattle area, don't worry. Fanta will also present this talk at the 28th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, in Chicago.

For more information, click here.

Seattle: Tools to uncover Jewish history, March 10

Genealogical research is not just a list of "where and when" facts about Jewish ancestors. It can also help researchers explore ancestral cultures and recreate some missing family information because so many Jewish families lost relatives (and our Eastern-European–based culture) in the Holocaust.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State's next meeting will focus on "Using Genealogical Tools to Help Uncover Jewish Cultural History," presented by Sally Mizroch, at 7pm Monday, March 10, at the Mercer Island JCC.

Using the history of a Lithuanian Jewish family as a case study, Mizroch will demonstrate genealogical tools that can help uncover cultural information.

Many (if not most) Jews are the descendents of those who left for many and varied reasons well before the Second World War. New tools allow us to try to figure out the professions as well as the distribution and movements of our old-country relatives. They also can help us figure out eras of — and reasons for — emigration.

Tools demonstrated will include online databases for old-country census, tax, voter, passport, and other records. Also shown will be information available from ongoing vital records indexing projects, with translated birth, death, and marriage records from many Eastern European countries. In addition, some immigration and census databases will be shown, with examples of how to determine when our ancestors arrived.

Sally Mizroch began exploring her family genealogy in summer 2003, when she answered a posting on the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) that requested information about her grandmother, Sarah Mizroch. Since then, she has discovered and visited cousins around the world, used web-based databases and visited archives in Lithuania and South Africa in search of information.

In her professional life, she studies large whale populations at NOAA Fisheries National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, using both photo-identification and historical whaling data to estimate whale life history parameters, vital rates, distribution and abundance.

For more information, click here. Photo ID required to enter building. JGSWS members: no charge; others, $5.

Seattle: Genes and Jewish Identity, Feb. 20

"Genes and Jewish Identity" will be the topic when award-winning author Jon Entine (Abraham’s Children: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People) is joined by breast cancer gene discoverer, geneticist and University of Washington professor Mary-Claire King."

The event, sponsored by Nextbook, is at 7pm, Wednesday, February 20 at UW's Henry Art Gallery.

For tickets and more information, click here. There is a discount for Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State members.

Seattle: Jewish resources, Feb. 11

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State presents "Exploring New Jewish Family History Resources on the LDS Website and Using Local LDS Family History Libraries," with Jerry Watt of the Family History Center, North Seattle Stake.

The meeting begins at 7pm, Monday, February 11, at the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island.

Watt will give an overview of regional Family History Libraries and describe how to use these resources efficiently, highlight the Jewish Family History Resources section on Family Search, and provide an update on the status and locations of international records projects.

For directions and more details, click here.

Marian L. Smith: West Coast tour, January 2008

An increasingly frequent movement among Jewish genealogical societies is to organize grouped visits for major speakers. This collaboration is always a fascinating process, as such tours may be grouped by state, region or a wider geographical range.

During January 2008, popular speaker Marian L. Smith, Senior Historian of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly INS), Department of Homeland Security, will speak at seven West Coast US Jewish genealogical societies and 2 NARA branches.

Smith's depth and range of knowledge never fail to impress her audiences, and she regularly lectures at national and international genealogy conferences - including the annual international Jewish genealogy event - on the history and uses of immigration and naturalization records. Her articles appear in the National Archives journal Prologue, the FGS Forum and other publications, while her research focus primarily involves official immigration agency records held in the National Archives in downtown Washington, DC.

"Documenting Immigrants to America, 1882-1954" is the topic for all her appearances.

The program will focus on immigration and naturalization records of a typical late 19th-early 20th century immigrant. Records at both the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly INS) and the National Archives will be discussed. These include ship passenger lists, Board of Special Inquiry records, land border arrival records, visa files, legalization records, Alien Registration, and naturalization and citizenship record. A Q&A session will follow.

USCIS houses records documenting arrivals and naturalizations of millions of American immigrants. If you have an ancestor who immigrated after 1882 and was naturalized 1906-1956, USCIS may hold significant records for your family history research.

Smith will provide an overview of all types of records that were created and maintained over time, and how the records are distributed between the two agencies. She will also cover services and records becoming available through the new USCIS Genealogy Program.

Dates and times are as follows. Please see each genealogy society's website for details on location, directions and additional information.

Sunday, January 6, 2pm; Thousand Oaks, CA; JGS of Conejo Valley and Ventura County

Monday, January 7, 7.30pm; Los Angeles, CA; JGS of Los Angeles

Tuesday, January 8, 7pm; San Diego, CA; San Diego JGS

Sunday, January 13, 1pm; San Francisco, CA; San Francisco Bay Area JGS
Monday, January 14, 7pm; Seattle, WA; JGS of Washington State

Tuesday, January 15, 7.30pm; Portland, OR; JGS of Oregon

Wednesday, January 16, 7.30pm; Eugene, OR; JGS of Wilamette Valley, Oregon

This type of consortium activity was trailblazed by pioneer Jan Meisels Allen of California, when she organized the first 2004 US tour of Yale Reisner of the Jewish Historical Institute of Warsaw, on his visits to six JGSs (Toronto, Michigan, Los Angeles, St. Louis, New York City and Long Island).

An active Pacific Northwest consortium also brings speakers to JGSs in Vancouver, B.C.; Seattle, WA; Portland and Eugene, OR.

Seattle: Share family history creatively, Nov. 12

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State's next meeting will feature genealogist Steven Schwartz in a program focused on creative ways to share and preserve family history.

Schwartz became involved in genealogy as a hobby in 1997 when his oldest daughter researched her family tree for a school project. With his experience in computers and other technologies, he has experimented with a variety of ways to present genealogical information in interesting new formats, and his personal research has produced a database of more than 5,000 relatives.

The program will help attendees to organize and present collected information in a meaningful way.

He'll explore creative ways to share your family history, with an emphasis on using your computer. The focus will be on using tools that do not require advanced training in computers or video production. However, the results will enable you to tell your story using video, photos, maps, documents, and interviews, and to decorative family trees that you can frame for display. He will also explore how you can spruce up a traditional book format with photos and aerial views of shtetls using Windows’ Live Earth and Google.

The program is for both newcomers and more experienced researchers, and will begin at 7pm Monday, November 12, at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, Mercer Island. Free for members, $5 for others. Photo ID is required to enter the building.

For directions and more information, click here.

Seattle: Stephanie Weiner, Oct. 8-9

Stephanie Weiner is an avid genealogist who presents at IAJGS conferences. She will be speaking on two very different topics for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State and the Jewish Education Council in Seattle.

During dinner with a relative who was a Holocaust survivor, she began gathering family information, scribbling madly on paper napkins. She has graduated from napkins to a software program but continues, 27 years later, to add data to her family tree. Weiner is a librarian for San Diego County (California) Library and has taught online genealogy searching to staff members and the public. A Jewish adoptee, she has been active in adoption issues for 22 years.

At 7 p.m. Monday, October 8, Weiner will present "Doing the One-Step in Ancestry.com," sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State, and at 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 9, she will present "Judaism, Adoption and Assisted Reproduction," in conjunction with the Jewish Education Council. Both programs are at the Stroum JCC, Mercer Island. See below for more details on each topic.

"Doing the One-Step in Ancestry.com" will enable participants to learn some of the Steve Morse One-Step tools that provide alternate ways of accessing U.S. census and immigration information on Ancestry.com. The program is appropriate for both newcomers and experienced genealogists.

Searchable databases found on the Web can provide useful information to genealogists. Unfortunately, many websites are not easy to use; they don’t always offer all the versatility that is possible. Different databases and programs may produce varying results.

She will demonstrate and compare search screens and searchable fields in Ancestry.com and One-Step. If time permits, she will discuss additional Ancestry.com databases.

JGSWS members, free; others, $5.

"Judaism, Adoption and Assisted Reproduction" is suitable for teachers, educators and others interested in these issues. Weiner will speak about genealogical problems faced by adoptees and AR children. These include family trees in classroom situations, personal timelines, heritage exploration and genetic traits charts.

How many times were you - as a child - asked to draw a family tree? What about a timeline of major life events or a report about your culture or heritage? Learn how these common assignments can be challenging for adopted children and families who have chosen assisted reproduction – and solutions to these challenges.

For details or to register, email Tammy Kaiser, tammyk@jewishinseattle.org, for more information. Cost: $10.

For both events, photo ID is needed to enter the JCC.

For more information, click here or email JGSWS president Lyn Blyden, president@jgsws.org.

Seattle: Understanding, Preserving Old Photos, Sept. 10

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State will host Nicolette Bromberg for a program on understanding and preserving old photos, at 7 p.m. Monday, September 10, in the Mercer Island JCC auditorium (photo ID necessary).

Who is that bearded man? When was this picture taken?
We all encounter similar questions when we look at undocumented photos.
Bromberg will demonstrate how to date photographs by understanding historical formats, learning about photographed clothing and backgrounds, the photographers and photographer stamps. She'll also share the best way to preserve, care for and store photos.

Also, learn about the Washington State Jewish Archives Photograph Collections Database, with more than 4,000 photographs relating to Washington State's Jewish communities.

Bromberg is Visual Materials Curator for the University of Washington Libraries , Special Collections, and is in charge of historical photographs, films, architectural drawings and the visual materials for the Washington State Jewish Historical Society.

Her extensive professional background includes many years as photo-archivist at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Kansas. She holds an MA and MFA in photography.

Brick Walls Q&A: 7–7:30 pm

Do you have a research question or a success story to share? Bring it to the meeting. You will have an opportunity prior to the lecture to get fresh ideas or solve your problem! We are here to help you with your research.

JGSWS library materials will be available for research before and after the presentation.

Admission: Free for members, $5 for others.
For more information, click here.

Seattle: Family history, Jewish festival

Seattle, for the first time since 2001, held its Jewish community festival attended by more than 3,000 people - despite the very soggy weather. In the Northwest, this is likely to happen, so the entire outdoor festival was held under tents!

The program included a full program of activities for many interests. Some highlights were the Yiddish spelling bee, klezmer music, Israeli music star David Broza. The event also offered adjacent booths for Family Tree DNA, the Washington State Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State - which will soon celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Seattle's JT News has a story link here.

JGSWS president Lyn Blyden reported that their booth was on "high" ground and they had fun dressing it, although their plans for computers with access to Ancestry, World Vital Records and JewishGen had to be scrapped because of the downpour and possible water damage - "We didn't want to lose volunteers or computers," she said.

(Note: Ancestry, World Vital Records and other subscription genealogy sites are happy to work with societies who wish to provide computer access at similar events.)

In spite of atmospheric conditions beyond human control, Lyn reported that booth volunteers provided visitors with ideas of where to research. The historical society offered a jeopardy game and JGSWS displayed laminated maps. By asking people "where do you come from?," many people entered the tent to trace their heritage.

Manning the Family Tree DNA booth was JGSWS first vice president and program chair Nancy Adelson, who said "There was a constant flow of interested people from 11 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. when I finally left (we tried to close the booth at 4:30 p.m.).

"There were many times where it was three people deep in front of our booth asking questions and learning about Family Tree DNA and DNA for genealogical purposes. The questions ranged all over the place but I can say most visitors were very interested in the topic.

"Remember that our booth had no food and no gimmicks to attract visitors. Just our sign and smiling faces.

"An interesting thing that happened was that the genetic cousins of booth volunteer Yvonne Stewart visited her - they were discovered through Family Tree DNA testing."

"Many of the people I met were just beginning to think about researching their families," said volunteer Ellin Block. "They were interested to learn about the ways that JGSWS could help support them with resource materials, advice from experienced researchers and monthly speakers."

Congratulations to the JGSWS leadership for this great idea. It can certainly be duplicated by other societies. It is a method to present genealogy to many people at one event and inspire newcomers to explore family history possibilities. Outreach is always win-win!

On another point, teaming up with the local Jewish historical society was excellent. The three organizations provided multiple interesting places for attendees to visit and learn.

For more information, the Washington State Jewish Archives (WWSJA) has more than 350 photograph collections with more than 4,000 photographs dating from the mid-1800s through today. Subjects cover families, life-cycle events, education, merchants; community, religious and business leaders; congregations and organizations; immigration and emigration; Sephardic culture; World War II and the Holocaust; activism and Pacific Northwest history.

Next stops: Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC

Hello, readers.

I've been traveling up the West Coast, from Los Angeles to Los Altos to Monterey and north again to San Francisco to attend the American Jewish Press Association conference.

At the meeting of the JGS of San Francisco Bay, the fascinating topic was pre-1906 earthquake records. The JGS is involved in indexing many pertinent Jewish records.

In a week, I'll be in Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, B.C. to speak and visit with friends and family.

From 10 a.m.-noon Sunday, July 1, I'm speaking to a Sephardic/Mizrahi group in Seattle's Seward Park neighborhood for those whose families come from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. It is part of a worldwide effort to preserve Sephardic and Mizrahi experiences and history.

For information on reservations and address, contact chair Albert Israel, jewishalbert@yahoo.com. For more information, click here.

I will be in Vancouver for a meeting jointly sponsored by the Jewish Genealogy Institute of British Columbia and the new Jewish Museum and Archives, at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Vancouver, 950 W. 41st Avenue, at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 8.

Back in Seattle on Monday, July 9, I'll speak at 7 p.m. at Mercer Island's Stroum Jewish Community Center, co-sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State and the Jewish Education Council of the Seattle Jewish Federation, as part of their Summer University series.

For more information, click here, or email AdultEd@JewishInSeattle.org.

I'm looking forward to these opportunities to encourage everyone to begin preserving unique family histories.

In the next few days, I'll be posting a batch of new entries, so stay tuned!

With best wishes,

Schelly

Seattle: Weaving Women's Words

One of my favorite cities is Seattle, where I have friends and family in the Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities.

The Jewish Women's Archive offers many interesting articles. Their "Weaving Women's Words: Seattle Stories" section includes the stories of 30 remarkable women in that community. An additional 30 stories spotlight the women of Baltimore.

”These are women whose lives - in large and small ways - have touched and influenced thousands of people in and beyond their communities. They created families and businesses; textiles and food-laden tables; literature and music; institutions and homes. They came here from places like Turkey and Rhodes, from Germany and Romania; from Mississippi and New York City and Seattle’s own hills. They converse in English and Yiddish, Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) and German. They have wrestled with fears, and crossed boundaries of faith and cultures and nationalities and professions. They have reflected on lessons handed down to them, and on the lessons of their own well-lived lives."

In addition to the women's stories, there are artifacts and the stories behind them, including a beautiful cross-stitched family tree.

Northwest tour for Jewishgen's Blatt - UPDATE

UPDATE: Warren Blatt's topic will be Polish resources in Vancouver, B.C. on May 10.

Jewish genealogical societies in the Northwest have been doing a great job sharing sometimes substantial expenses to bring in excellent speakers who make the rounds in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.

I believe that this is a model more geographically- related societies should be considering.

This time, the speaker is Warren Blatt, editor-in-chief of JewishGen, the primary Internet site for Jewish genealogy, a division of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.

Blatt has authored Resources for Jewish Genealogy in the Boston Area (Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston, 1996); co-authored (with Gary Mokotoff), Getting Started in Jewish Genealogy (Avotaynu, 1999); and is editor of the Kielce-Radom Special Interest Group Journal. In 2004, he received the IAJGS’ Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Jerusalem conference.

He has more than 25 years of research experience with Russian and Polish Jewish records, and authors the "JewishGen FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about Jewish Genealogy" and many JewishGen InfoFiles.

Portland, OR: Brunch with Blatt on Sunday, May 6

The JGS of Oregon's 2007 annual brunch will take place from 10.30 a.m.-1 p.m., and Blatt will discuss new JewishGen developments and preview new features coming soon to your computer. For all details about reservations, event, location, directions, click here.

Seattle, WA: Two talks on Monday, May 7

The JGS of Washington State has announced that Blatt will give two presentations. Doors at the Mercer Island JCC auditorium will open at 6.30 p.m. and the program will begin at 7 p.m. Photo ID is required to enter the building.

He will present "Jewish Given Names" and "JewishGen Highlights."

Learn why Mordechai Yehuda is also Mortka Leib is also Max, in Blatt's overview of Jewish first names, focusing on practical issues for genealogical research. Our ancestors each had many different given names and nicknames, in various languages and alphabets - this can make Jewish genealogical research difficult. This presentation will demonstrate the history and patterns of Jewish first names, and how to recognize your ancestors' names in genealogical sources.

He will also highlight recent updates to JewishGen including its most popular databases: the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF), JewishGen ShtetlSeeker; the Family Tree of the Jewish People (FTJP), and JewishGen Discussion Group message archives. Learn how JewishGen's internet databases can help add to your own genealogical data.

JGSWS library materials will be available for research before and after the presentations. Programs are free for JGSWS members, $5 for non-members. For more information, click here.

Vancouver, B.C. on Thursday, May 10

On May 10, Blatt's subject will be Polish resources at the Jewish Genealogical Institute of British Columbia event. For more information, email jgibc@yahoo.com.

The JGIBC was founded in 1992 and has an extensive collection of genealogical research books, journals, maps, microfiche and reader housed in the Jewish Community Centre. On March 26, The Jewish Historical Society of BC celebrated the grand opening of the Jewish Museum and Archives in the same location.

A world-class Sephardic heritage center in Seattle?

I love Seattle, and on my last brief visit in November, I spent Shabbat with cousins Larry and Janet (Benezra) Jassen, had Shabbat dinner at their home with the older generation, Charlie and Rose, kids, spouses, a grandchild, cousins, and the delightful Hazzan Isaac Azose. I'm looking forward to my next visit in July.

Many Sephardic Jews - in fact, the largest number outside of Israel - live in the city, having arrived a century ago from the island of Rhodes (where Janet's family is from) and Turkey. The community is very close-knit and everyone seems to know everyone else.

Rabbi Cohen-Scali of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth wants to see a world-class Sephardic Center built in Seattle. It would become the number one resource for anyone who wants to research Sephardim. It would host speakers and focus on Sephardic community history in all its aspects, including Ladino, theater and food.

Of course, I'm hoping Sephardic genealogy will be an important aspect.

"The plan includes the most comprehensive and complete and rich library, focusing mainly on Sephardic literature, but of all kinds: halachah, history,” Cohen-Scali says. “Most of the Middle Ages rabbis were from Spain."

Though the center would touch on different communities, its primary focus would be on the Ladino-speaking community. He says he wants to use new video and audio technology to collect and preserve the different songs and liturgies of different Ladino-speaking and other Sephardic traditions.

"I am not talking about a small thing," he says, "because that is already being done. There is a Sephardic center that deals with Jews in Los Angeles. There are centers in universities which deal with the Ladino language. There is a Sephardic Jew who is a publisher in Israel, who publishes books by rabbis from Rhodes. We have a publication that publishes in Belgium in Ladino."

If this is the place for a major Sephardic cultural institution, then now, Cohen-Scali believes, is the time. He is working toward an official public launch of the idea sometime later this year, the 100th anniversary of the first Rhodesli Jews — the Jews from the Isle of Rhodes — coming to this city.

"That is a very significant and an appropriate time to launch such an idea,” he says."