Jewish Genealogy Society of Long Island

The purpose of this video is to remind genealogists that they should consider changes in the names of countries, states, counties, cities and streets when reading documents. Things change. And th...

Let me ask you a question…If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise? Beats me. Here’s a better question…If you’ve spent years researching your family histo...

During the 20th century, many of us had relatives that served in one of the branches of the US armed forces. Whether they enlisted, were drafted or made the military their career, being part of th...

Imagine what it must have been like to leave your hometown and travel to a new country. A place where you might not speak the language. Where you might not know anyone. Where the culture of the c...

DNA and genealogy. It’s all over...TV commercials, Facebook groups, print media, and DNA special interest groups. Using DNA for family research might be the biggest innovation in genealogy since ...

We’ve discussed in other videos that if you want someone to get value from your genealogical research, creating a family tree with just names, dates and places can be viewed by others as a pretty b...

No one likes taking the time to back up their data. However, making sure that you have a regular procedure for backing up your research might be the most important thing you do, other than the res...

We might be in the ‘Golden Age” of genealogical research. With the digitization and indexing of records, the speed of online sharing, the power of crowd-sourcing and the availability of DNA testin...

It’s that time of the year again…summertime. When the weather heats up and the pace of life slows down. It’s also a great time to catch up on all those things you put off during the past year. So...

Maps can be a great way to make sense of place name information from documents you find in your research. They can also be useful in providing clues to where you might find additional information ...

Genealogists should be very familiar with using federal census reports. We typically review each one individually. However, rather than reviewing each one separately, you might be able to learn m...

There has been a significant change in the way people conduct genealogical research over the last 15 years or so. With so many more online resources and searchable databases, many people ask, “If ...

Can the information from marriage records help you with your family research? Absolutely! Here are 10 pieces of information that can be found on many marriage licenses and certificates and how yo...

Most of the videos in our library cover a wide range of official documents and forms that genealogist’s use to construct their family history. We also prepared videos covering third party sources ...

Newspapers can be a great way of finding genealogical data as well as stories to add color to your family history. Many genealogists avoid newspapers because, well, who wants to sit and read pages...

Have you ever considered that those dusty school yearbooks up in the attic, down in the basement or sitting on your shelf can be a family history resource? Creating family tree diagrams with boxes...

Federal Form SS-5, the Application for Social Security Number, may prove to be a gem of a document. We all know how challenging it can be to determine married women’s maiden names. This form is a...

As genealogists, we’re pretty good about finding documents and information on our past ancestors. But what about finding living relatives? This video will provide 6 groups of techniques to consid...

When we think about the arrival of our immigrant ancestors to the US, we tend to visualize what it must have been like to arrive in the port of New York, get their first sighting of the Statue of L...

The Jewish Genealogy Society of Long Island (JGSLI) has researched and written, Jewish Community of Long Island, a new title for the Arcadia Images of America series. Jewish life on Long Island re...

When working on your family history, haven’t you ever wished that you could talk with other researchers who understand your specific area of interest? Well, SIGs can provide you the perfect forum ...

Hebrew headstones provide arguably Jewish genealogy’s most important advantage, patronymic names. This video will help you find this valuable information, whether you can read Hebrew or not. With...

You’re probably already familiar with the Federal census which is taken every 10 years. But there are other census reports and schedules to the Federal census, where you might find valuable inform...

Anyone who has found a Declaration of Intention or Petition for Naturalization knows how important that source document’s information can be. But what if your ancestor wasn’t naturalized? Is ther...

Draft registration cards from World War I and World War II can provide you with some important information that might not be available on other genealogical source documents. Here is an explanati...

JewishGen’s Communities Database is an excellent resource for discovering information on your ancestral town. Here are 8 ways to get the most out of this resource.

Yizkor books, or memorial books, memorialize the lost individuals and Jewish communities as a result of the Holocaust in mostly Eastern and Central European towns. Yizkor books can be a very import...

Oral interviews can be one of the genealogist’s favorite research techniques. Not only can you uncover some important facts, you can get some great information that can’t be found on any written d...

President of the IAJGS (International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies), Marlis Humphrey, presents the 2015 Outstanding Publication Award to JGSLI president Debbie Wang at the 35th Ann...

Have you ever wondered if there are meanings to symbols found on Jewish headstones? Here are 7 popular symbols or types of symbols that can provide some important clues in your genealogical research.

As American genealogists, we’re all interested in who our first ancestors were that immigrated to the United States. But did you know there were periods when our ancestors might have left the Unit...

City directories can be a great source of genealogical information. Using a 1911 - 1912 Manhattan / Bronx directory as an example, here are 6 ways city directories may help your research.

One of the most difficult pieces of information to find, is a married woman’s maiden name. For the majority of married woman’s life, she is completing forms and is known by her married name. Here...

One of the most asked questions we hear is, “How can I find out where my ancestors came from?” Here are 8 possible sources that could help you determine your ancestral town before coming to the Un...

Watch as we go through 8 important pieces of information on this early 20th century New York City death certificate.

What can you find a on a passenger manifest? Possibly family treasure! Here are 8 pieces of information from a sample post 1906 passenger manifest.

Using a post 1906 naturalization, here is a quick summary of what documents might be available and what they can tell you.

If you're interested in Holocaust research, there is an abundance of Holocaust related sites on the internet and still more information in brick and mortar archives. Here are 8 websites we think y...

Welcome to the Jewish Genealogy Society of Long Island. Please take a look at what we offer and see how we can help advance your family research. We look forward to hearing from you.