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Step
aside NCIS and CSI! There are no greater detectives than Jewish
genealogists when it comes to loving the hunt for information about our
ancestors, and no greater tool to find out about the people and the
personalities in our family trees than through our family photographs.
In this
fun and informative talk, Sherlock Cohn, the Jewish genealogy sleuth,
will introduce attendees to the discipline of Photo Genealogy. She’ll
explore how and why it is important to find the clues our ancestors left
for us in their photographic portraits. The program leads off with a
definition of Photo Genealogy and explodes commonly held myths about
dating Jewish photos. Participants will learn what clues an expert looks
for in photos, how to organize your approach to dating and interpreting
photos and how to match photo information with vital records to tell the
stories within the photos.
In the
second half of the presentation, Sherlock will present two of her
challenging cases, “The Case of the Mistaken Date” and “The Case of the
Immigration Snafu.” In the true cerebral style of a Basil Rathbone
character, she’ll offer examples of how accurate photo dating,
identification of individuals in our photos, knowledge of fashion and
decorative arts, and the process of matching photographs with vital
records can illuminate our relatives’ lives and the social context in
which their photos were taken.
After
the presentation, Sherlock will help attendees get started on exploring
the dates and answers to other questions they may have about their own
photographs. Attendees may bring their photo for evaluation. Limit is
one photo per person, unless a second photo is brought for purposes of
identifying the person in the first photo. Due to time constraints, not
all attendees will be able to have their photos evaluated. Selection of
attendees to have their photo evaluated will be by lottery. |
Non-members may attend one meeting a year for free!
To encourage guests and potential new
members, we have created a one-time fee waiver certificate for those who
wish to attend our monthly meetings. Normally, we charge $5 for each guest,
but if an attendee brings this certificate to one meeting during the program
year, we'll waive the $5 fee.
