Meet and Greet: 12:30 pm
Presentation begins: 1:00 pm
CITY OF STONES - Cemetery Research
Speaker: Carol Baird
I look at the New Times and L.A. Times obituaries every morning and if I'm not listed, then I proceed with my day! Some obituaries are factual, some brief, some funny, some genealogical and some autobiographical. Yes, I have written my own already.
Death is not a final chapter, but a window into the life of a person and the history of a nation. Cemeteries, not just in America, but wherever they are, are vast archives of art, history, literature, religion, life and death. Cemeteries are running out of room for burials but we can trace humanity’s history of our concepts of the afterlife and memorials.
Monuments and the words and symbols upon the stones were meant to be seen by future generations as a memorial to our ancestors. What was inscribed often tells us more than just statistics. I will give examples of Jewish burial traditions & cemeteries, definitions of Hebrew inscriptions and carved images on tombstones as well as how to figure out Hebrew dating on the stones. I will also discuss obituaries - some are factual, some brief, some funny, some genealogical and some autobiographical.
So let me tell you a story of those cities of stone, chiseled over time; or of mausoleums, holding the ashes of those who chose not to be buried. I will give you a case study, some anecdotal cemetery stories and take you on an emotional ride with an uplifting end.
Bio: Carol Davidson Baird, the only child of German Holocaust survivors, was born in Hollywood, CA. After beginning pre-medical studies at UCLA, she eventually changed her focus solely to Art. After graduation she used her love of science and art as a laboratory technician in the world-famous tissue typing lab for organ transplantation of Dr. Paul Terasaki at the UCLA School of Medicine. After marriage, Carol worked for Dr. Henry Kaplan at Stanford University as a research technologist to establish an in vitro correlate to Hodgkin’s Disease. After the birth of her children, she became a full-time mother, school volunteer and Genealogist. Serving as President of 2 genealogical societies and participating in the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Carol also lectures, writes articles and taught about German-Jewish and Holocaust genealogy as well as travels throughout the USA and Europe doing archival research. She has presented many genealogical lectures throughout California and even in her grandmother’s little town in Hessen, Germany (including this past July on a family trip with her 2 sons and all 4 grandchildren!). Her presentations at previous Creativity & Madness – Psychological Studies of Art and Artists meetings have concentrated on the arts in the Holocaust.
Join us at 12:30pm PT - before the meeting - for a meet and greet. Get to know the other genealogists attending our meeting.
