Vilna Shul Genealogical Project

The earliest known congregation records from the Vilna Shul are the Hebrew names that appear on four plaques in the sanctuary: the 1923 Men’s Wall, the 1923 Women’s Auxiliary Wall, the 1907 Women’s Auxiliary Plaque and the 1936 Women’s Auxiliary Plaque. The people listed are considered the “founders” of the original congregation.

In 2013, Vilna board members Marilyn Okonow and David Rosen, both genealogists, founded the Vilna Shul Genealogical Project, and began researching these Hebrew names and locating living descendants.

To date, they have located approximately 500 living people who descend from approximately one third of the 400 names that appear on our plaques. Over the course of three annual Descendants’ Days, the Vilna community has welcomed multiple generations of families and shared pertinent historical documents with their families. Many more people have shared that their ancestors did, in fact, worship at the Vilna.

If you know that your ancestors were members of the Vilna Shul, we want to hear from you! If your ancestors settled in Boston, and more specifically in the West End, and you are curious to learn if your ancestors’ names appear on our plaques, we want to hear from you too! Please fill out this Google Form and someone will get back to you shortly. While these plaques are only snapshots in time and many of the families moved out of the city soon after the plaques went up, inquiries are always welcome.

Your stories are important to us as we fulfill our mission of preserving history while engaging future generations in the Greater Boston area.

Happy Hunting!

Resources:
For Lisa Wangness’ 2013 article in The Boston Globe, click here.
For Anna Goldenberg’s 2015 article in the Jewish Forward, click here.
To learn more about how to find records for your Boston ancestors, please visit the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston.