South 4th Street looking from Monroe to Fitzwater Sts. circa 1930
If you would like to share (un-copyrighted) images from your research, please forward them to webmaster@jgsgp.org. We will “rotate” through our collected images.
This is the new website of the Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGASGP). We used to be the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGSGP) before we combined with the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center (PJAC). We invite you to enjoy our new site. There is content for paid-up members only. If you are a member, please register for access. If not a member, please join.
WELCOME! PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR NEXT MEETING
Meetings are for paid-up members only. They will receive the Zoom link before the meeting.
Date: Sunday, May 23, 2021 via Zoom
Time: 1:00 check in, chat, and schmooze. Program starts promptly at 1:30
Speaker: Alex Krakowsky: Referred to by FamilySearch as “one of the most influential figures in modern Jewish genealogy”
Alex Krakovsky, a Jewish Ukrainian, is using freedom of information laws and the court system in Ukraine to force archives to allow him to scan their records and post them on a public website.
Alex was born in Kyiv in 1982 and graduated Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 2005. He started his own genealogy with a trip in 2011. Since then, he became involved in various Ukrainian archive projects. Most notable is Jewish towns (use Google’s Chrome browser and it’s translate function to view in English) with the goal to digitize and publish online all of the Jewish records in Ukraine. Alex spent years in Ukrainian archives finding various unknown Jewish lists and putting them online. He won many lawsuits with Ukrainian archives to make records open and available to everyone.
Topic: Tracing Jewish Ancestors from Ukraine: Why Many Researchers Fail and How to Succeed.
The Internet is full of typical questions like “my Rabinovich ancestors came to the US from Berdychiv in the early XX century but I can’t find any records”. People struggle for years and most eventually fail to find anything and give up. The key to success is it just doesn’t work this way. It’s not hard to find records you need. Genealogy is not rocket science. But you need to understand fundamental principles of how it all really works. And then you might find much more than you expected.
FYI
The Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center (PJAC) was formed through the efforts of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia many years ago. Its’ mission was to collect, preserve, facilitate research and share the story of the Jewish communities of the Greater Philadelphia area. In 2009 the holdings of PJAC were transferred to the Special Records Collection at Temple University Libraries. With the support of many philanthropic individuals, an archivist position was endowed by PJAC. With our new name (Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia) and mission we will continue the great work of PJAC.
We encourage you to support the archives with donations and archival material. Donations may be made to the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Collection Endowment at: Temple University Libraries
PO Box 71340
Philadelphia, PA 19176-9761
Donations can also be made through the library website: https://library.temple.edu/policies/10
Those interested in offering a donation of books or archival material to the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Collection should send a description of those materials to:
Margery Sly, Director of Special Collections Research Center
Email: msly@temple.edu
What’s New On Our Site!
October 2020
Goldstein’s Landsmanshaftn Cemetery data has been added to the Resources > Cemetery Data page. Landsmanshaftn organizations provided, among other things, burial societies.
August 2020 Meeting
Judy Baston: “Finding your Litvak Family” A handout is available by accessing the menu item, Archives>Meeting Summaries and Handouts.
Cemetery Records for Har Nebo Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA. You can find these under the Menu item “Resources”, then click on “Cemetery Data”
Miriam Weiner, our December meeting lecturer, was the subject of a recent article that appeared in the Jewish Exponent; “Genealogy Rock Star Discusses Digging Up Jewish Roots”. The article can be found under menu item “Archives”, then click on “Newspaper Articles”.
January 2020 Meeting
For Frederic Blum’s Handout, “How to locate Holocaust Survivors Through Genealogy”, please go to the menu item, “Archives”, then click on “Meeting Summaries and Handouts”
November 2019 Meeting
A handout from Deborah Long’s Lecture can be found on our website under menu item, “Archives”, then click on “Meeting Summaries and Handouts”
October 2019 Meeting
A handout from Jordan Auslander’s Lecture can be found on our website under menu item “Archives”, then click “Meeting Summaries and Handouts”
September 2019 Meeting
Sarina Roffe’s Lecture Handout can be found on our website under menu item “Archives”, then click “Meeting Summaries and Handouts”
Rabbi Shalom Bronstein’s reflections of Congregation Beth Am Israel during the 1940’s to the 1960’s can be found under the menu item “Resources”.The synagogue was originally located in SW Philadelphia. In 1973, the congregation moved to Penn Valley.
W. Todd Knowles’ Power Point Presentation on “Making the Most of FamilySearch for Jewish Research” can be found by going to the menu item “Archives” and clicking the “Meeting Summaries and Handouts” button.
Check out “An Ongoing History of Beth Emeth-B,nai Yitzhok Congegation” by Al Feldman. The synagogue was located in NE Philadelphia. You can find this document under the menu item “Resources”
Other Information
“A Service to the Jewish Community Award” was given to JGSGP on May 2, 2019 by the B’nai Brith Educators Unit Charter 5290.
For information on the JGSGP (JGASGP) Library at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) look under the menu item, “Resources”. To go directly to the our library collection at the HSP, click here.