Our next meeting will be June 22, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. at the Johnson County Central Resource Library.  Richard “Dick” Rosenstock will be our presenter, and the topic will be “Do you think you have Jewish Ancestors?”.

 

The presentation will briefly cover the background of the Jewish people, the diaspora and the evolution into present day. He will present tools useful to those who believe they may have Jewish ancestors that are undiscovered and where and how to search for them.

 

Dick began his adventure in family history in 1974 when he assisted his mother in preparing for a family reunion. He didn’t follow up until her death in 1992 when a treasure trove of pictures, letters and documents she had saved from that reunion as well as a notebook with the family history. Resuming the quest for family history in 1999 after receiving a Kidney transplant he began recording the information in an early version of Family Tree Maker. Today he is the moderator of the Family Tree Maker SIG and leads discussions on the 2nd and 4th Thursday afternoons at the CRL at 1:00 PM.

 

In 2018 Dick was a founder of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Kansas City. Today he is the president and also the Webmaster for the Society’s website JGSGKC.org. His DNA ethnicity indicates he is 100% Jewish and 98% German, he has traced his origins back 5 generations on one side and 4 generation on the other in Germany.

 

JCGS volunteers are available Monday - Saturday from 9-5 at the Genealogy Desk at the Johnson County Central Resource Library for general questions.  For those looking for a little extra help with either Basic Genealogy or DNA & Genetic Genealogy we also offer free one-on-one sessions that can be booked in advance.

 

Basic Genealogy sessions are available most Tuesday mornings. This is not for brick wall or advanced research help.

 

 

 

DNA & Genetic Genealogy sessions are available most Friday mornings.

 

 

 

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Congratulations to Joyce A. Mitchell, JCGS member, for her first-place award from the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors. The award-winning article, "Gold Star Mothers Visit Overseas Cemeteries," appeared in the September 2017 quarterly on page 7.

 

Joyce has been a regular contributor to The Genealogist since 2014. Lately she has researched and written a WWI series, focusing on men from Johnson County who served in that conflict. At other times, she contributes an article just because the topic is of interest to her. In addition to her writing, she works behind the scenes as a proof-reader for the quarterly and spends a lot of time finding the little things we miss, thus making us look good. We were thrilled when we heard she had won an award and are thankful for all her contributions to JCGS.

 

In honor of her award, the full September 2017 Quarterly is available to everyone by clicking here. Other issues of our Quarterly can be accessed on our website by current members of JCGS.  To become a member, please click here.