Spring 2017 Vol. 26 No.1 Reclaim the Records via video conference in April with founder Brooke Shreier Ganz Brooke Shreier Ganz gave us permission online, for free, for eve- to print from her website. At www.reclaimthe rec- ryone. Want to learn ords.org you will read, “Tired of restrictions and more? Read our Fre- paywalls around public data? So are we. quently asked Ques- “We’re Reclaim the Records, a not-for-profit tions.” group of genealogists, historians, researchers, You may sign up for and open government advocates who are filing their free e-mail news- Freedom of Information requests to get public letter to keep up with their latest news! You can data released back into the public domain. We’re also follow them on Twitter and Like Us on Face- collecting information about archivally important book for more updates. data sets that are not available online or on mi- “Here's what we've been up to (so far) crofilm, and we’re using Freedom of Information Records Request #1 (Pilot Project) laws and Open Data initiatives to get copies of Current Status: Litigation Successful! We won! this information released back to the public. Unfortunately, We Were Not Awarded Attorneys' “We’ve started our work in archives, librar- Fees ies, and government agencies in New York, New Records Have All Been Completely Uploaded! Jersey, and Missouri, and are expanding into dif- Records Request #1 - Records Arrival ferent parts of the country, based on demand Winner, winner, chicken dinner! These are 46 of from people like you. Along the way, we’ll be the 48 microfilms we won from the New York documenting everything we’ve learned about fil- City Municipal Archives in late 2015, though our ing Freedom of Information Act requests, and pilot project. creating a Do-It-Yourself guide for genealogists, Index to New York City Marriage Applica- open data fans, and others who want their state, tions, Affidavits, and Licenses, 1908-1929 local, and Federal records made more available. “Our goal is to get these record sets put Reclaim the Records p 16 President Amy Wachs preparing to lead our first ever presentation by Skype with Brooke at her home in California on the screen behind Amy. Thanks to the Menorah Park techni- cians for setting up the equipment. The Kol Spring 2017 Message from our President Amy Wachs For our first 2017 issue of The Kol, I’d like to The Cuyahoga tell you about the year we have planned for the County Lineage Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland. Groups Thirteenth We began 2017 with a drawing for prizes Annual Banquet that included annual subscriptions to Ances- and Induction try.com, MyHeritage.com, and Family Tree Mag- Ceremony will be azine. We had a large turnout at our January held on Sunday, meeting for our drawing and speaker. Susan May 7, 2017, from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m. Kirkman Zake spoke about the Jews of Tetiev. In February, we welcomed Israel Pickholtz from at the Holiday Inn Cleveland South in Independ- Israel. He shared his experiences utilizing DNA ence, Ohio. The Jewish Genealogy Society of in his family research. Mary Jamba offered Cleveland is hosting and planning the banquet guidance on using Google at our March meeting. this year. Ken Bravo will be the Keynote Our winter meetings were held at Park Syna- Speaker. Our member Paul Wolf will be induct- gogue East this year, and were very well attend- ed. Prepaid reservations must be received by ed. the Cuyahoga County Lineage Groups by April 25, 2017. We returned to our Menorah Park location on March 20 for a new special workshop we of- We have many projects and events in the works, and welcome your participation. Volun- fered for advanced beginners. Our former presi- teering is a great way to get more involved. dent Ken Bravo taught the workshop on how to use World War I Draft Registration records. Please let me know if you’d like to help out at meetings or programs. Looking forward to spring and summer, we have more exciting programs planned. Our April You can learn more about our activities and speaker will be Brooke Shreier Ganz, Founder of events through our emails, website, Facebook The Kol Reclaim the Records, who will speak to us via page, and . If you are not receiving our videoconference from California. In May, Pro- e-mail notifications, please let me know. We are fessor Peter Haas will speak to us about North- increasingly communicating electronically, so east Ohio Jews and the Civil War. Betty Franklin please keep us up to date on your email ad- dress and contact information. You can “like” will explain how to make the most of Fami- lySearch.org at our June meeting. Sean Martin us on Facebook to receive updates via social will return in July to tell us about the Soviet Jew- media. ry Oral History Project. In August, Ken Bravo Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you will speak about using historical newspapers. at our next meeting! Best wishes for a happy This is just a partial listing of our planned 2017 Passover! programs. You can find our full year calendar of programs listed on our website at http:// clevelandjgs.org/calendar.htm. Amy The Kol 2 Spring 2017 Index p. 34 Upcoming Meetings From April through November, meetings are held at Menorah Park’s second floor Miller Boardroom, 27100 Cedar Road, Beachwood, at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month. Board members are available from 7:00 p.m. to assist with individual research questions. Guests are welcome. See our website www.clevelandjgs.org/ . Sunday, May 7 – Lineage Society Luncheon (see flyer p. 4) Wednesday, May 3 -- Northeast Ohio Jews and the Civil War, presented by Dr. Peter Haas, Abba Hillel Silver Professor of Jewish Studies Emeritus, Department of Religious Studies, Case West ern Reserve University Wednesday, June 7 – Make the Most of Family Search.org. , presented by Betty Franklin of the Westlake LDS Family History Center Wednesday, July 12 -- Soviet Jewry Oral History Project, presented by Sean Martin, Ph.D., Associate Curator for Jewish History, Western Reserve Historical Society. Wednesday, August 2 – Using Historical Newspapers, presented by Ken Bravo, Vice-President, IAJGS and past president, JGSC Annual Conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Future IAJGS Conferences 2018 - Warsaw, Poland -- 38th Conference Future IAJGS Conferences 2018 - Warsaw, Poland -- 38th Conference and 2019 April 26-29, 2017, The Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) annual confer- ence will be held at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Sandusky, Ohio. See www.ogs.org for more information. The Kol 3 Spring 2017 You can print out just this page to make a reservation for the Cuyahoga Coun- ty Lineage Groups luncheon on May 7. RSVP is due by April 25. Our group is the host for this event. The Kol 4 Spring 2017 Membership prize drawing In January we held a prize drawing from members who had paid their 2017 dues by December 31, 2016. The winners were One-year subscription to Family Tree Maga- zine Sylvia Abrams Murray and Sondra Davis Marlene Englander Dr. Gerald Erenberg Fred and Pearl Livingstone One-year subscription to World Explorer An- cestry.com Membership V. P. Cynthia Spikell and Treas- Ivan Hurwitz urer Stuart Schulhof drew the names. One-year subscription to MyHeritage.com Dr. Brian Kaye Brian Kaye won a one-year subscription to MyHeritage.com. Sylvia Abrams and Murray Davis with their prize certifi- cates. Ivan Hurwitz won a year’s subscription to the world version of Ancestry.com. The Kol 5 Spring 2017 Reaources March workshop on “How to Use World War I Draft Registration Records” presented by Ken Bravo Sylvia Abrams and Ken Bravo planned a logged into Ancestry.com to try what Ken had workshop for advanced beginners. Ken ex- taught them. Everyone got individual help. We plained what information the records have that could hear the comments when someone found would interest us and how to access the rec- a piece of information. ords. There were three different registrations, Besides Ken and Sylvia, others who attend- with different information on the forms. He also ed to help were Amy Wachs, Phyllis Bravo, talked about the World War II “Old Man’s Draft”. and Cynthia Spikell. Participants brought their laptops and Carol Paley and Murray Davis got front row seats. Noreen Koppelman- Goldstein won the drawing Carol Paley and for a three-month subscrip- tion to Ancestry.com. Eileen Simon searching for draft information. Phyllis Bravo and Sylvia Abrams. Exam- ples of Sylvia’s research were used . Amy Wachs and Ken Bravo confer. The Kol 6 Spring 2017 Local and Ohio “Twisted, Gnarly Tree Branches? No Problem!” by Giselle Hornsby Twisted, gnarled tree-branches on my hus- KOLLENDER. Using my Cuyahoga County Pub- band’s family tree led me down a truly interesting lic Library card, I had searched the historic Cleve- yellow brick road a few years ago. Before I had land Plain Dealer online (which is an amazing an Ancestry.com account, and before I really goldmine), and had found a 1904 property trans- started delving into family tree research, my hus- fer with Toba’s name, but it led me nowhere. band had stated he thought his heritage included Well, last year, in my hometown, I attended a Jewish roots on his father’s side. No one seemed meeting of the Me- to believe him, but as I started to really research, dina County Gene- Member Giselle Hornsby, I unearthed the truth, which went way beyond alogical Society, who lives in Medina, Ohio, any expectations… and a member retired recently, and is us- My husband’s father, Jack Lewa HORNSBY there recommend- ing her time well, doing ge- (1922-1977) had a birth certificate listing his ed I look for proper- name as Elias Lewa GRAVER, with father Abra- ty records from the nealogical research.