Welcome to the Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGASGP). We invite you to enjoy our site. There is content for paid-up members only. If you are a member, please register for access. (Click Register at the right under “Logon Status”.) If not a member, please join.

Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 2:30 PM 

                     (2:00 PM for Schmoozing and Mentoring)

Hybrid Meeting – In Person Venue: Shir Ami, 101 Richboro Newtown Rd, Newtown (Bucks County), PA

 

Speakers: Linda Ewall, JGASGP Board Member and Jeffrey Freedman, Emeritus Associate Professor of Physiology, State University of New York, Upstate Medical University

Jeffrey Freedman is Emeritus Associate Professor of Physiology in the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology at State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York. His Ph.D. in Biology is from Penn, and he is retired from a 45-year academic career that included biomedical research and graduate and medical school teaching. He hails from Philadelphia and has been working on Genealogy for over 30 years. His third cousin, Linda Ewall’s M.A. in Computer Science Education is from Beaver College, now Arcadia University. Her career in computer networks, technical training and documentation, hardware, and software installations and troubleshooting in the pharmaceutical and medical fields complement her 47-yearlong interest in genealogy. She has been the recording secretary of the JGASGP for the past six years.

Topic: Goldman family DNA research group and how we discovered hundreds of relatives and ancestors

This talk will describe how the G3 “Goldman Genealogy Group”, a group of newfound 3C to 4C DNA cousins found each other and together built a six-generation tree that was subsequently extended using DNA methods. We will explain how DNA matches can be tracked on a tree to gain evidence pertaining to hypothetical connections, how a chromosome map of shared DNA segments is constructed, and how triangulating shared DNA segments with those also shared by an individual with known lineage leads to the discovery of common ancestors. Examples from the extended Goldman tree will be presented. Looking at shared matches on ancestry.com and other sites is like looking through a low powered microscope; looking at shared DNA segments on the GEDmatch and DNA Painter sites is like looking through a high-powered microscope. Your DNA directs, controls, and regulates all the biochemical processes in your body but is also your ancestral memory; the use of DNA methods in genealogy can thus enhance understanding of your individual ancestry and your genetic connections with others.

 


WE WANT YOU TO CONNECT WITH THE JGASGP BOARD!!!

Our society has grown so much since the start of my term, one month before the onset of the pandemic.  We have mushroomed to over 400 paid members and over 1500 members of our Facebook page.  This is tremendously exciting!  Although some of you have been members for decades, many are newcomers.  It is wonderful to see our society in a new phase of growth.

In response to this surge in membership, the board wants to get a pulse on our members’ thoughts about the future activities of our society AND find out how each of you might be able to lend a hand. 

If you have questions or comments for the JGASGP Board, just email President Felicia Mode Alexander at president@jgasgp.org.

 

  Don’t forget to update your address and e-mail if it’s changed! 
Email the changes to Marilyn Golden, membership@jgasgp.org


 

Our recent awards

 
Click on an image to enlarge it.  

Our Book Club

JGASGP has a book club for members. We are meeting on Zoom every month except for July and August. Meetings are on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7:30. Click here to learn about upcoming meetings.

Members take turns leading our discussions. We are reading books by Jewish authors or books with Jewish themes. The link will be sent out the day of the meetings. Please mark your calendars and join us. Thanks to Beth Steiner for leading our discussion of The Book of Lost Names. We all said we liked historical fiction.  * These books are available free to read at most free libraries in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. Please consider joining us on our reading adventures. Any other suggestions??? Send your suggestions to Marilyn at membership@jgasgp.org (No meetings in July and August.)

  • 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@jgasgp.org. We will “rotate” through our collected images.


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!

December 2023 We have a group of 29 volunteers working to digitize the burial records of Har Jehuda Cemetery in Upper Darby. The records will be part of JewishGen.org (JOWBR). The first 29,000 records (A to Sc…) are available NOW on our website under cemetery data.

December, 2022 The Society celebrates our 40th anniversary and our first president Harry Boonin. Pictures are located here.

November 2021 Our president is interviewed in a Philadelphia Inquirer article about the ongoing cleanup of Har Nebo Cemetery and the problems of cemeteries that are not maintained or are vandalized. The article is at https://www.inquirer.com/life/jewish-cemeteries-philadelphia-conservation-pilot-project-nebo-oxford-circle-20211109.html

JGASCP supported the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center (HAMEC) Gala on November 6, 2021.   Click the photo to enlarge

October 2021 Our president, Felica Mode Alexander, was interviewed at the IAJGS2019 convention is Cleveland by Jarrett Ross, the GeneaVlogger, about her work with Holocaust education. The video is at https://youtu.be/tS3d3eeiwDw

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.