JGSTB's Sharon Stern to be honored as a Woman of Distinction
Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay’s Sharon Stern is one of this year’s recipients of the Jewish Federation of Florida’s Gulf Coast Women of Distinction Awards.
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The Sonia Miller Women of Distinction Awards returns after a five-year hiatus with a ceremony at 2 p.m. on May 4 at Temple B’nai Israel, 1685 S. Belcher Road in Clearwater. Keynote speaker will be Lizzy Savetsky, a Jewish influencer and pro-Israel activist.
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The Women of Distinction honorees “embody the values of compassion, leadership, and unwavering commitment to Jewish life,” a Federation release said. “These outstanding individuals have dedicated themselves to strengthening our community and making a meaningful impact in countless ways.”
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Tickets can be purchased here.
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FamilySearch adds full-text search
From FamilySearch: While FamilySearch has billions of digitized historical records available to browse, only a small portion of them are indexed and searchable. However, with the aid of artificial intelligence and handwriting recognition technology, now over 1 billion more historical records can be searched. Full-Text Search is a powerful new tool that allows you to search unindexed record collections. By returning search results in minutes or even seconds, this tool is helping thousands of users find relatives in documents they hadn’t considered before. Discovering new evidence in previously unsearchable records has helped users add names to their family trees. Read more here.
IAJGS 2025 Conference schedule now online
Registration for the 2025 conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) in Fort Wayne, Ind., is now open at its website. Full price registration is $475, but Early Bird registration $395. You'll also find info about the conference, including the preliminary program schedule, Fort Wayne and the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, one of the largest family history research centers in the world.
JewishGen adds Ukrainian records
From JewishGen: ​The April upload of 115,275 birth, marriage, death, census, and other records covering the years 1806 through 1916, from many towns, including Priluki, Smela, Mezhirich, Orlovets, Zbrizh, Ladizhin, Yampol, Kopaygorod, multiple towns in Chernigov guberniya, and many others. Explore the details of these documents and the towns they represent in our monthly records spreadsheet at http://tinyurl.com/ywk456pn.
Included in this batch, besides the usual categories of records are: Lists of Merchants, Military Records, Homeowners, Taxpayers, Voters and more. ​Read more here.
Ask the National Archives
Ask the Archives is a live chat service with National Archives staff available Monday through Friday, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET (excluding federal holidays). Archivists throughout the agency with a variety of knowledge are available to answer your questions.
Soviet repression database info added
Added to Research Resources in the JGSTB's Members Only section: Link and more information about the master search engine for websites that have been collating information about individuals arrested and in some cases, put to death by the Soviets. If you're not yet a member or you want to renew your membership, click here.
DHS approves new fees for genealogy records
Following numerous objections from the public over proposed fees for records, the Department of Homeland Security has approved new fees for genealogy records -- some lower, some higher. The new fees:
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G-1041 Genealogy Index Search Request (online filing) currently $65 was proposed to go to $100 but the final rule has the fee at $30 a $55 reduction (-54%).
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G-1041 Genealogy Index Search Request (paper filing) currently is $65 going to $120, an $80 increase or a 23% increase.
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G-1041A Genealogy Records Request (online filing) currently $65.00, the proposed rule was $240, the final fee is $30 a difference of $30 is a difference between current to final of -$35 or a -54%
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G-1041A Genealogy Records request (paper filing) currently $65, proposed $260, final fee $80 currently to final amoung$15 or a 23% increase.
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G-1566 Request for Certificate of Non Existence is $330 same as in the notice …there was no fee previously.
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If you file your form online (see https://www.uscis.gov/file-online), the system will guide you through the process of paying your fees with a credit, debit, or pre-paid card. Bank account withdrawals are also available when paying online. There is often a $50 discount when filing a form online. If online PDF intake is available for your form and you file using this tool, the $50 discount also applies.
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Information on Form G-1055 regarding genealogy may be found at: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/g-1055.pdf
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You can read about the arguments made by the public and the DHS's decision in the Federal Register here.
Gesher Galicia launches new education division
The division will offer courses running the gamut from Jewish genealogy to history to culture. Courses will be available for a variety of skill-levels, and course lengths will range from single-class explorations to more in depth multipart courses that span many weeks. All courses will be offered online, live with the instructor, allowing for a high level of interactivity with your instructor and fellow students. Each class will be recorded and available to registrants for a designated period after it initially airs. Check out the first course being offered and pricing information here.
New epitaphs database online for Lviv recovered headstones
Jewishstonesusa.org is a special collection of 'recovered' grave markers that had been stolen from Lviv Jewish cemeteries during the German occupation of WWII and repurposed, usually as building materials for the occupying forces. Most in this collection were recovered from under a street southwest of the city center in 2018 by volunteers, by hand and with machinery, but others were recovered from nearby locations and elsewhere in the city in a number of smaller efforts between 2017 and 2021.
​Reclaim the Records creates database of veterans' records
Reclaim the Records won access to a once-inaccessible database, the Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS), which includes people who served in the US military and received veterans' benefits in the twentieth century. The organizaiton created its own search engine that gives basic information and an automated way to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the records. Read more here. Start your search here.