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| Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois |
About the JGSI
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
JGSI is affiliated with the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS), the umbrella organization coordinating the activities of the many national and local Jewish Genealogical Societies (JGS) around the world.
Board Members
JGSI Board of Directors 2021 - 2023:
Your Board of Directors are elected for a two-year term: July 1st through June 30th
- Co-President: Debbie Kroopkin
- Co-President: Wendy Hauser
- Recording Secretary: Scott Meyer
- Corresponding Secretary: Barry Finkel
- Treasurer: Debbie Soren
- Vice-President Membership (Co-Chair): Sandy Kiferbaum
- Vice-President Membership (Co-Chair): Terry Taylor
- Program Chairman : Michael Tarkoff
- Publicity Vice-President: Marty Fischer
- Director At Large - Douglas Bank
- Director At Large - Gary Barron
- Director At Large - David Sterlin
- Past President: Mike Karsen
2021 Board meetings
JGSI Board meetings are open to members and are held at 6:45pm and are typically held at the Niles-Maine District Library in Niles, Illinois (in pre- and post-pandemic times. Zoom meetings, for now).
- Contact info@jgsi.org to verify date, time, and location (or Zoom link).
Past Presidents
Our thanks to past 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)