Getting Started with Your Family History
Tracing your roots is a rewarding hobby, but it can sometimes be overwhelming.
Here are some steps to help get you started:
START WITH YOURSELF
Write down what you know – names, dates, places. Search your home for documents (birth, marriage and death certificates), photos, family bibles, letters, diaries.
CONSULT YOUR FAMILY -- ESPECIALLY OLDER MEMBERS
Ask for family names, ancestral towns, dates of arrival, port sailed from, port of arrival. Ask for copies of photographs and documents such as naturalization certificates, birth, marriage, death certificates, etc.
Genealogy is best done going backwards, one generation at a time.
START YOUR ONLINE RESEARCH by searching sites such as:
JewishGen, My Heritage, Ancestry, FamilySearch
JOIN A GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
Founded in 1982, the San Diego Jewish Genealogical Society meets monthly at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla. Meetings are planned to meet the needs of the novice as well as the more experienced genealogist. Members share materials, research methods and ideas, and successes or failures in research. Guest speakers talk on subjects of interest.
MEMBERSHIP in the San Diego Jewish Genealogical Society includes:
BORROWING PRIVILEGES FOR SDJGS LIBRARY
The SDJGS Library includes many valuable resource books, maps, gazetteers and atlases, plus newsletters and journals from Jewish Genealogical Societies worldwide. Members may borrow books and other materials.
ACCESS TO MEMBERS’ ONLY SECTION of SDJGS website.
USE OF COMPUTERS, for online resources, at meetings.
INFORMATION ABOUT INTERNATIONAL JEWISH GENEALOGICAL CONFERENCES
Conferences have been held in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Jerusalem, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Orlando, Paris, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Toronto, Warsaw and Washington, DC.
SDJGS is a member of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and the Federation of Genealogical Societies.
SDJGS is a not-for-profit tax-exempt organization.