101st Carnival of Genealogy - Genealogical Goodness in 2011 - My Genealogy Research/Writing Plan for 2011

Maybe I need to grow up some more. Perhaps everyone has this problem. Plans make me want to do the opposite of what is written in them. They make me want to rebel and do anything else. Eat cookies. Read a book. Even do laundry. Is this weird?

 

If I make a genealogy research/writing plan for 2011, the subject of the 101st Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene (Thank you, Jasia!), will I be setting myself up to fail? I’m feeling anxious. Anything I put in my plan should be things I am strongly motivated to do like eating cookies, reading books and well, maybe not doing laundry. What else am I strongly motivated to do in 2011? My list (okay plan if you must) of genealogy goals is called Genealogical Goodness in 2011. I wrote about my genealogical goodness in 2010 here. Who doesn’t like goodness? It has a nice ring to it. Nice rings are motivating. So is good music or a good book on your iPod. Oops, off subject. Back to the list (I mean plan). 

Genealogical Goodness in 2011

WRITING: Practice, practice, practice. This is one of the main reasons you started The Scrappy Genealogist. Keep doing it, daily if possible. Use your brand new At-a-Glance outlink planner to write and post ahead.

EDUCATION: One thing I know for sure is that I have a lot to learn. I started writing about this topic here. In 2011 I am going to take classes through the National Genealogical Society, starting with the online course American Genealogy Special Topics Series: Working with Deeds and then beginning on the American Genealogy: Home Study Course. Some of the material will be a review from the Boston University Certificate course I took in 2009, but there is a lot on the syllabus that will be new for me.

RESEARCH: Hoped for goodness:

1.   Identify the siblings and parents of Sarah BRISK SHOER of Riga or    Waldenruda, Livland (Latvia).

2.   Identify the parents of Alvin BURRELL of Weymouth, MA.

3.   Determine if any of Bubba’s SMITH half siblings are still living or have descendants.

MEMBERSHIPS: Branching out.

1.   Complete and submit DAR application. This hinges on successfully identifying the parentage of Alvin BURRELL. Start attending meetings of the local DAR chapter, Ranger.

2.   Join and get involved with the New England chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

CONFERENCES: There are three I wish to attend.

1.   New England Regional Genealogical Conference

6-10 April 2011 Springfield, MA

2.   National Genealogical Society Family History Conference

11-14 May 2011 Charleston, SC

3.   31st IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy

14-19 Aug 2011 Washington, DC

PHOTOS: This job is as good as eating cookies.

1.   Review personal 2011 photos. Purge rejects. Label all folders. Choose favorites, print and put in storage binders.

2.   Take Jessica Sprague’s online Family History Album Class 1.  

3.   Scan photos at cousin Lisa’s in Colorado.

4.   Scan photos at cousin Suzie’s in Florida.

5.   Continue scanning Bubba’s printed photos.

6.   Make a plan for scanning and archiving Bubba’s slides.

ORGANIZATION: Thinking of going through Dear Myrtle’s monthly organizational challenges from 2009. I saved them on my computer, but never did them. Anyone else like to join me? Breaking news! Just saw that Dear Myrtle is updating them for 2011!!! Click here for January 2011. Thank you Dear Myrtle!

That’s my wish list of genealogical goodness for 2011. Hopefully I filled it with enough cookies. I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s lists. This was a great exercise.

Happy New Year!

Scrappy Gen

Riga and Back in One Morning - The Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum

I flew to Riga and back this morning. My virtual trip was sparked by a bittersweet gift that arrived in my Google Reader feed yesterday from Ann Rabinowitz of the Jewish Gen blog. Her post, titled The Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum. reported that the museum, Rigas Geto Muzejs in Latvian, has online databases. Quickly I flew over to the new website and plugged in Bubbie's maiden name, Brisk, into the database for The Names of the Victims of the Holocaust.

Several Brisk names appeared including; 

Brisk, Benno

Brisk, Bunja

Brisk, Elias

Brisk, Jossel Mer

Brisk, Leib

Brisk, Minna

Brisk, Zila

The names Jossel Mer and Leib are familiar from earlier research findings. Jossel Mer may or may not be the Yiddish name of Bubbie's brother, Joseph. Leibe is the name given by Bubbie's sister, Ida, as the closest relative she left behind in Latvia in 1908.

Plugging the Brisk name into the other available database, somewhat disturbingly titled Names of the Dead Jewish children, results in information for a male child, Leib Brisk. He is identified as having been born in Riga on January 11, 1937 to Moisey Meise Aisik Brisk and Tsila (no maiden name given). Place of death and fate are listed as unknown.

The databases give good clues, but results from searching the two databases are to be taken with a grain of salt. The museum purports to have over seventy thousand names of victims. According to Victoria Shaldova, Executive Director, the list is a work in progress. The database of children includes not only Jewish children, but all Latvian children. The databases are vaguely referred to as being based on archive information. A comment by 'admin' in September 2010 stated that the website was not public yet, which may explain the lack of source information.

The website does have photographs showing the museum in several stages from rubble to opening day. It is well worth a visit to look at them. I said that finding out about this museum and its databases was a bittersweet gift. I am driven to find out what happened to the Brisks and other members of the family so that we can make certain that they will always be remembered. Finding more clues to Bubbie's family's fate is sweet, but bitter is the sadness I feel when seeing their names and thinking about so many lives cut short. This may also turn out to be an expensive gift as well. Virtual trips are free, but I really want to jump on an airplane and fly to Latvia tomorrow.

Thank you for sharing my virtual trip to The Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum and thank you to Jewish Gen for alerting me to this great website! 

Scrappy Gen

Photo Clues for Genealogical Success – Bubbie’s Parents and Siblings

MJ’s cousin Cathy brought some treasures to show us during our dinner at Sammy’s. This jewel was particularly touching:

According to Cathy, this is a picture of Bubbie’s parents, sisters and brother. Someone identified the oldest girl as Ida and the youngest girl as Esther. The boy she believes is Bubbie’s brother, Joseph. She cannot identify the middle daughter. Bubbie left Latvia for Michigan in 1909. Her sister, Ida, left in 1908 for New York, where another sister Lena had settled in 1906. If the oldest girl is Ida, then this picture was most likely taken in Russia after Lena had gone, perhaps to send to her in America. This means that one of the two younger daughters is probably Bubbie, but that is a photo clue adventure for another day.

Seeing this photograph was an emotional experience for MJ and me. Growing up MJ knew that his Bubbie’s family had perished in the Holocaust, but to gaze into the eyes of these souls and to picture their tragic fate was deeply moving. At the time of World War II, Esther was married and had a family in the Riga area. Joseph may have as well. Cathy knows this because of the treasure trove of memorabilia that her family has collected since the early twentieth century. She has letters from Esther and other family members in Latvia, letters that suddenly stopped in 1941.

We feel so grateful that we met Cathy and that she is so generously sharing a big piece of Bubbie’s ancestry with us through, as she puts it, her family’s pack-rat habits. Personally, I love pack-rats. Thank you Cathy!

Love,

Scrappy Gen

The Scrappy Genealogist Goes to New York - Part 2 The Long Lost Cousin

Saturday’s crowning jewel was a visit with my husband’s “long lost” cousin Cathy and her husband and daughter. We met for dinner at Sammy's Roumanian Style Restaurant on Chrystie Street in the Lower East Side. Sammy’s is a story unto itself. The walls are plastered with pictures of guests of old and it is (at least according to my husband, MJ) like being at a Bar Mitzvah back in the day. That day must have been a long time ago!

Cousin Cathy is in the middle. MJ is seated to her left, I am on the right.