Join us for an introductory lecture on how to begin researching your family history. The same lecture will run on April 3 at 11:00 AM.
Currently the President of the Board of Directors of the Vilna Shul, Marilyn Okonow is also an avid genealogist. She was the Outreach Coordinator for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston for ten years. She began her research in earnest eleven years ago; she now has 2500 family members in her family file. She traveled to Poland in April 2010, when she visited her ancestral towns on her mother's side and found her great-grandfather's birth record from 1862. Marilyn is co-founder of the Vilna Shul Genealogical Project. Together with fellow genealogist and board member David Rosen, over the past 6 years, they have located over 500 living descendants of the original Vilna Shul founders from the early 1900's in the West End of Boston. Their work and three annual Descendants' Days at the Vilna have been featured in The Boston Globe and The Jewish Forward.
Marilyn's presentation will include helpful Internet sites and examples of documents that she has found for herself and others. You will be amazed at the documents and resources available- you just need to know where to look!