A question often asked is “Why is genealogy important to me?” After understanding the personal value of connecting with our roots, we will explore what is unique about Jewish genealogy, what information we are looking for, and how to get started. The rewards of this effort are many, lasting a lifetime and beyond.

Jewish Genealogy is an evoloving pursuit to discover who we are and where we came from. Many have heard that you cannot do Jewish Genealogy which is based on myths. These myths include that our name was changed at Ellis Island and all of the records have been destroyed. This presentation will dispel those myths so that you can pursue your family's history.

The presentation goes on to present the new science of DNA testing which is bringing a new light to finding relatives.

This presentation provides an overview of all records and resources that are useful to the Jewish researchers in search of their Chicago roots. We begin with a brief history of the Jews of Chicago. The seminar mostly concentrates on the uniquely Jewish resources such as cemeteries, funeral homes, life in Jewish Chicago which includes online publications which are searchable. It also covers the naturalization process, location/residence records, and legal documents including wills and probate files.

When the Ellis Island database went online in 2001, we entered a new generation in searching for our ancestors’ arrival records. Additional ports including Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Galveston, and Castle Garden have been made available to genealogists around the world via the internet. This lecture provides the basics for searching these databases using case studies to illustrate various techniques.

If your European ancestor arrived in the United States in the last 100 years, you can find their hometown using commonly available records. This presentation reviews where to find the information and the tricks of going from one record to the next to solve this mystery. Case studies are used to demonstrate how to use the records and some of the possible traps to avoid.

Dora Feldman McDonald, the daughter of German Jewish immigrants, made the front page of Chicago newspapers in 1907 when she shot her lover. Dora, who was married to one of the most powerful political bosses in Chicago at the time, used murder to end this affair and her lover's blackmail. But what ever happened to her after her dramatic acquittal the following year? Genealogist Mike Karsen uses every trick in his tool bag to set the record straight and follow her trail.

Frank Frost a.k.a. Frank Foster was a real Chicago gangster who first worked for the northside gang under Bugs Moran and moved up to south siders under the infamous, Al Capone. While starting with family lore, the facts need to be verified through outside sources. In this case, the problem was not too little information but too much. How to you sort through the scads of information in newspapers, books, and websites and determine which is the truth and which is "speculation and guesswork."

The Broadway musical and Hollywood movie CHICAGO was based on the stories of two real-life women by the name of Belva and Beulah. Just as in the show and movie these women killed their lovers. By collecting standard genealogical documents Mike Karsen piece together their lives as well as put their tales into context relating to Chicago history.