+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Reversing the Paper Trail: Where to Place Your Published Research +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ A JewishGen InfoFile Jonina Duker < Jonina dot Duker at juno dot com > 23 May 1999 / 8 Sivan 5759 In the same way that we succeed in Jewish genealogy by systematically thinking about the possibilities for the paper trail our relatives may have left, we need to think systematically about how to leave a new paper trail so that other relatives who may be searching can find us. Of course, as we lead our lives we leave a paper trail, but that one isn't being created for the purposes of genealogy or to optimize the chance of a relative finding us -- it is being created in the normal course of our daily lives. So how can we leave a better trail, one explicitly designed to catch the eye of that distant relative who has just seen the genealogical light? One way to do that is to place our published research systematically in those archives and libraries where that relative is most likely to search. Think through the matrix of logical possibilities: Jewish and secular; local, national, and international; professional and personal. What follows is a list of possibilities to stimulate your imagination; not everyone's research may meet the criteria various institutions have set up for accepting materials. And as always, the variety of human experience illustrated by your families' stories will suggest unusual places not found below. (If you come up with anything wonderful please let me know, at the email address above). Identify geographic locations and other specific information both about you, the author of the published research, as well as the relatives included in your work. (The frame of reference for the detailed information below is for an English speaker living in the States; if your situation differs you may want to keep reading anyway to help you think of the anologues that apply to you.) Remember that people in other countries are often polyglots; placing an English-language work in an archive or library in another country is not as outlandish as an American might think. Of course, placing your research may be limited by both your energy and your financial resources -- so make sure you are making the best choices you can. National institutions: American Jewish Archives (HUC-JIR in Cincinnati); American Jewish History Society; Library of Congress' Local History and Genealogy Room; rabbinical seminary libraries; university libraries with outstanding Judaica (Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Brandeis, UCLA, UC Berkeley); Judaic educational and related institutions (Annenberg, Balch, Baltimore Hebrew, Gratz, Hebrew College, Philadelphia Jewish Archives, Spertus, Western Jewish History Center, the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience); city libraries with outstanding Judaica (Boston, Chicago's Newberry, LA, NY, Philadelphia); National Genealogy Society; Jewish Women's Archive if you have been lucky enough to find detailed documentation about a notable woman or women's lives in a particular time period. (Please note that while I am very grateful for the wonderful resources available to Jewish genealogists through the Church of the Latter Day Saints, I do not think Jewish family histories and genealogies should be filed at other religions' institutions.) Specialized national institutions: Leo Baeck for German Jews: YIVO for Eastern European Jews; Holocaust Research Institute at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for documenting the Shoah; the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts branch of the NYPL for those in Yiddish theater; Bloom Southwest Archives (University of Arizona) for both pioneer Jews and the B'nai Anusim (descendants of Iberian crypto-Jews); Zionist archives and library for those involved in the movement to establish the state of Israel; National Museum of American Jewish Military History for those who served the country in the armed forces; National Yiddish Book Center for Yiddishists; National Archives for those with serious American yichus. Local: Jewish Genealogy Societies with libraries; Jewish History Societies with libraries; Jewish community public libraries; county and state historical societies; city, county and state libraries with genealogy collections; general and regional genealogical societies (New England Genealogy Society Library); Jewish Community Centers with libraries; synagogues (especially those founded or supported by anyone included in the published work) with libraries; YMorWHA (especially the 92'd St Y). International: the general library, surviving synagogue, Jewish center, etc. in the shtetl or city your ancestors lived in; the main library or archive for the country if your ancestor played a significant role in its history.. International -- Israel: Archives of the Sephardic community; Ben Zvi Institute; Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People; Central Zionist Archives; Diaspora Research Institute; Hebrew University's Jewish National and University Library; Museum of the Diaspora Douglas E. Goldman Dorot Genealogy Center; Yad Vashem; and many more (consult "A Guide to Jewish Genealogical Research in Israel", revised edition). Other: educational institutions with alumni ties; professional association libraries; archives of Jewish organizations for machers of those organizations. In terms of the electronic universe, clearly anyone who has succeeded in publishing a family history has already entered family names and towns on the Jewish Genealogical Family Finder and entered family trees on the Family Tree of the Jewish People (both on JewishGen). Right? While the web is not suited for reading long documents it does make sense to publish a short summary on a personal web page with family names and towns as searchable keywords. Another good place for a summary is a web database devoted to family histories from a particular background, if an appropriate one exists. Painful as it might be, you should reread what you have put together with two very focused frames of reference. (1.) Is there any chance that during the Shoah your family hid young children who might now be searching for their identities before time runs out? If yes, abstract identifying information and contact Yale Reisner at the Lauder Genealogy Project in Poland to see if there might be a match with someone who is searching. (2.) If your family is still searching for those lost in the Shoah or for a branch set adrift during the Soviet Union's fifty years of silence, contact the miracle-worker Batya Unterschatz at Israel's Search Bureau for Missing Relatives. Neither Yale Reisner nor Batya Unterschatz would be able to read or store your entire publication; you need to summarize what you have found in a way that makes it easy for them to use the information. As the final step, do not forget to announce your new publication in Avotaynu's "New Family Histories in Print" winter issue annual summary. Happy hunting, happy publishing, and may all of you go from strength to strength. And may some of you be my cousins. L'Shalom. Vocabulary: * crypto-Jew: hidden Jew, one who observes Judaism in secret due to persecution or prejudice * L'Shalom: Hebrew, toward peace * macher: Yiddish, someone active or well-known in an organization, a leader * Shoah: Hebrew, the terrible destruction of the Jewish people that took place before and during World War II, (the Yiddish word Churban was the first term used after the War, the English term Holocaust came into use later) * yichus: Hebrew, family status derived from one or one's ancestors learning, good deeds, charitable actions, community service, etc. Taibel bas Ruchel Leah v' Shlomo Yehoshuah, also known as Jonina Duker, has spoken and taught for the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington, and represented the Society on the Jewish Community Council. -------------- [11Jun99jd]bik Copyright 1999 JewishGen Inc. http://www.jewishgen.org +----------------------------------------------------------------------+