I bring a fresh perspective on combining creative research, cutting-edge technology, and meaningful storytelling to make family history more engaging. My talks combine real-world research and storytelling examples to demonstrate how to make meaningful discoveries, and no one in genealogy uses technology the way I do to find layers of history buried in records.
Upcoming
The Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh
May 8, 2024, 6 PM
- Putting Your Family in Context: The History of Jews in Ukraine
Chula Vista Genealogical Society
May 29, 2024; 1 PM Pacific
- When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: Fraud in the 1920 Census
The Homestead Steel Strike and the Growth of America as an Industrial Power
July 7-13, 2024; July 14-20, 2024; University of Pittsburgh (invitation-only NEH workshop)
- Milltown and Hometown: How the Homestead Strike Shaped a Community
Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh
July 15-19, 2024
- “There’s No One Left to Talk To”: Using Synagogue Records to Reconstruct a Community (Using U.S. Church Records for Family History track)
- I Found People To Talk To: Reflecting on the First Decade of a One-Place Study Everyone Said Was Crazy (keynote)
IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy
August 18-22, 2024
- Using Synagogue Records to Reconstruct a Jewish Community
Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy
Advanced Techniques: Material Culture Research
January 27–31, 2025
- Signature Tablecloths: An Evocative Heirloom and a Genealogical Treasure
Past year
Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy
Exploring Their Life: The Social History of Your Family
January 22–26, 2024
- Homestead Hebrews: A Social History Study
Beth El Congregation of the South Hills
December 4, 2023, 12 PM
- Jewish Signature Tablecloths: An Evocative Heirloom and a Genealogical Treasure
North American Cartographic Information Society annual conference
October 12, 2023, 2-3:40 PM
- When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: Mapping Census Data to Uncover a Case of Fraud
Carnegie Library of Homestead
October 10, 2023, 6 PM
- The Destruction of the Ward: Eight Decades Later
Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State
October 9, 2023
- When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: Fraud in the 1920 Census
Jewish Genealogical Society of Boston
September 10, 2023
- The Margarine Moonshiners from Minsk: A Journey Through Lesser-Known Records
Jewish Community Center of Youngstown
July 16, 2023, 11 AM
- Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family from My Couch
Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh
Beyond a Name and Date: Advanced Practices in Social History
July 13, 2023, 9 AM
- Homestead Hebrews: A Social History Study
Jewish Genealogical Society of Pittsburgh
April 16, 2023, 11 AM
- When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: Fraud in the 1920 Census
Battle of Homestead Foundation
March 23, 2023, 7:30 PM
- Steeltown Jews: History and Legacy at Work in Homestead, Pennsylvania
Carnegie Mellon University Department of History and CMU Statistics & Data Science
February 23, 2023, 5-6 PM (Kresge Theatre)
- Data, Democracy, and the Census: History and Genealogy in Conversation (with Dan Bouk, author of Democracy’s Data: The Hidden Stories in the US Census and How to Read Them)
Beth El Congregation of the South Hills
February 6, 2023, 7:30 PM
- Putting your Family in Context: The History of Jews in Ukraine
Older highlights
The Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies
August 3, 2022, 7:30 – 9 PM eastern (virtual)
- Steeltown Jews: History and Legacy at Work in Homestead, Pennsylvania
The Homestead Steel Strike and the Growth of America as an Industrial Power
July 10-16, 17-23, 2022; University of Pittsburgh (invitation-only NEH workshop)
- Milltown and Hometown: How the Homestead Strike Shaped a Community (July 15 & July 22 10:15 AM – 12 PM)
Software for the Past: Digital Technologies to Study the Past and Present
Online conferenced hosted by Kinneret College
December 8, 2020
- Homestead Hebrews: A Case Study in Digital Community Reconstitution and Analysis
North American Cartographic Information Society Annual Meeting
October 16–19, 2019; Tacoma, Washington
- October 17, 2 PM: Merging GIS and Genealogy to Recreate a Forgotten Community
Personal Digital Archiving Conference
May 2-4, 2019; University of Pittsburgh
- Small Town, Big Data: Reconstructing the Forgotten History of Jewish Homestead through Mass Digitization
Congregation Beth Shalom
January 5, 2019, 12:45 PM; Pittsburgh, PA
- Secrets of the Homestead Hebrew Chapel: Variations of a Theme of Sunt Lacrimae Rerum
Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives
November 12, 2017, 10:30 AM; Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, PA
125th Anniversary of the Battle of Homestead
April 6, 2017, 7 PM; Rivers of Steel Museum, Homestead, PA
- From Milltown to Hometown: How the Homestead Strike Shaped a Community
Skirball Cultural Center
December 2, 2015; Los Angeles, CA
- Annual Herscher Dialogue: Jack Skirball, A Boy from Homestead
The Library of Congress
May 18, 2015, 12 PM; Washington, DC
- In Search of a Usable Past: Reconstructing the Jewish History of Homestead, Pennsylvania
Appearances
Conferences:
- Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) 2023, 2024, 2025
- Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) 2023, 2024, 2025
- National Endowment for the Humanities workshops 2022, 2024
- International Conference on Jewish Genealogy 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024
- Family History Technology Workshop 2017, 2020, 2023
- North American Cartographic Information Society 2019, 2023
- RootsTech 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
- Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference 2017
- National Genealogical Society 2014
- New England Regional Genealogical Consortium 2015
- Jamboree 2012, 2013, 2014
- Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society 2014
- A.J. Jacobs’ Global Family Reunion 2015
Venues:
- Library of Congress
- Skirball Cultural Center
- New York Public Library
- Ellis Island
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Penn State
- University of Pittsburgh
- Haberman Institute
- Heinz History Center
- Carnegie Library of Homestead
- BYU Radio
- SCGS Webinars
- Family History Fanatics
Local groups:
- AZ: Arizona Jewish Historical Society
- CA: Southern California Genealogical Society, Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, JGS of Conejo Valley & Ventura County, Chula Vista Genealogical Society
- CT: Darien Library-Family Search “Come Discover an Ancestor Day,” JGS of Connecticut
- DC: JGS of Greater Washington
- FL: JGS of Palm Beach County
- IL: JGS of Illinois
- MD: JGS of Maryland
- MA: JGS of Greater Boston
- NJ: New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Monmouth County Genealogical Society, Ben Porat Yosef
- NY: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, New York Metro Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, JGS of New York
- OH: JCC of Youngstown
- PA: Carlow University, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, Bucks County Genealogical Society, North Hills Genealogists, South Hills Genealogy Day, JGS of Greater Philadelphia, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Women’s Club of Upper St. Clair, Beth Samuel Jewish Center, Beth El of the South Hills, Beth Shalom Pittsburgh, JGS of Pittsburgh, Johnstown Area Heritage Association, South Hills Women’s Club, Squirrel Hill Historical Society, African American Genealogy Group
- UT: Utah Genealogical Association
- WA: JGS of Washington State
- Canada: London Jewish Book Fair & Family Festival, Active Jewish Adults of Ottowa
- Israel: Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Tel Aviv University, Israel Genealogy Research Association