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| Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois |
About the JGSI
STATE OF THE SOCIETY 2024-2025
The By-Laws of Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois (JGSI) require the President of the organization to present a "State of the Society" at the last general meeting of the fiscal year. In lieu of any presentation, you can read about the state of the society here.
Society HistoryHistory The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois (JGSI), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1981 as a society dedicated to helping members collect, preserve, and perpetuate the records and history of their ancestors, and as a resource for the worldwide community to research their Chicago-area Jewish roots. Our first newsletter, which later became the society’s journal, Search, can be seen here: Vol. 1, Number 1, Fall 1981 An article about the JGSI’s first decade can be found in the Fall 2011 issue of Morasha, the JGSI newsletter. |
Affiliations
The JGSI is affiliated with the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS), the umbrella organization coordinating the activities of many national and local Jewish Genealogical Societies (JGS) around the world.
Board Members
JGSI Board of Directors 2025 - 2027:
Your Board of Directors are elected for a two-year term: July 1st through June 30th
- President: Doug Bank
- Executive Vice-President: Mike Karsen
- Recording Secretary: Scott Meyer
- Corresponding Secretary: Barry Finkel
- Treasurer: Debbie Soren
- Vice-President - Membership: Diane Grauer
- Vice-President - Programming: Jackye Sullins
- Vice-President - Publicity: Marty Fischer
- Director At Large: Terry Taylor
- Director At Large: Sandra Parker
- Director At Large: Alexander Feller
- Past President: Debbie Kroopkin
Board meetings
JGSI Board meetings are open to members. They are not always on the same day of the month, but they are typically held over Zoom at 7:00 pm during the first week of the month. Contact president@jgsi.org to verify date, time, and Zoom link.
Past Presidents
Our thanks to past presidents and co-presidents who laid the foundation and grew our organization.
- Stuart Feiler z"l (Founding President)
- Freya Maslov z'"l
- Judith R. Frazin
- Scott E. Meyer
- Harriet Rudnit
- Mike Karsen
- Robin Seidenberg z"l (Co-President)
- Wendy Hauser (Co-President)
- Debbie Kroopkin (Co-President and President)
- Alvin Holtzman (Co-President)