Upcoming Monthly Meetings
Available to JGSSN meeting attendees: private access to the resources of the FamilySearch Center!
The FamilySearch Center resources will be available for JGSSN use after the meeting until 4:00 pm. Those resources include free access to a variety of genealogy programs, such as Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, Newspapers.com, and many others. In addition, the library will make their document, photo, slide, audio and video scanners available. Bring in your family memories and convert them to digital files. See the attachment for a list of the resources. Library staff will be available to assist.
The FamilySearch Center resources will be available for JGSSN use after the meeting until 4:00 pm. Those resources include free access to a variety of genealogy programs, such as Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, Newspapers.com, and many others. In addition, the library will make their document, photo, slide, audio and video scanners available. Bring in your family memories and convert them to digital files. See the attachment for a list of the resources. Library staff will be available to assist.
| lvfsl_web_programs_and_scanning_resources.pdf |
Sunday, August 16, 2026: Guest speaker, Hal Bookbinder, will present "Ships of Our Ancestors"
Time: 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom
Members: Free. Click here to RSVP
Guests: There is a $5 charge for non-members. Go to the Donate page to pay, and then click here to RSVP.
Ships of Our Ancestors
During the active years of Ellis Island, 83,000 ship arrivals were recorded. Between 1880 and 1914, about two million Jewish immigrants arrived from Europe, with most passing through Ellis Island. Until the age of flight, immigrants arrived by sea, first on sailing ships and after the middle of the 19th Century, on steamships. This presentation focuses on the ships on which our ancestors traveled, discussing the shift from sail to steam and the governmental regulations that made ship travel safer and more humane. It will address the experience of our ancestors in getting to the port of embarkation, pre-boarding processing,, and their shipboard experiences, as well as the cost and duration of the voyage. Finally, it will address several stubborn myths related to our ancestors' immigration.
About Hal Bookbinder
Hal is a retired information systems director and university instructor. He has been actively researching his genealogy for more than three decades, identifying over 4,000 relatives and tracing two lines to the mid-1700s in modern Ukraine. He is a past president of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Los Angeles (JGSLA) and of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). Hal publishes a series of monthly articles on safe computing, which are freely available at http://www.tinyurl.com/SafeComputingArticles.
He and his wife, Marci, were raised in the Catskills of New York State, in the famed “Borsht Belt”. After attending New York University and a four-year stint in the US Air Force, they have lived in the Los Angeles area. In 2018, he made a journey to Ukraine, visiting various areas of the former Volhynia and Podolia in which his family lived for hundreds of years. He also spent time experiencing Kyiv during its Independence Day celebrations, and even visited Chernobyl.
| ships_of_our_ancestors_handout_-_2026.pdf |
Sunday, September 27, 2026: Guest speaker Bekah Purcell will lead a Hands-On Workshop on Ancestry.com Library Edition
Time: 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: FamilySearch Center, 509 S 9th St, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Members: Free. Click here to RSVP
Guests: In-person meetings are free for all attendees; however, we welcome donations from non-members to support our programs and activities. Click here to donate and click here to RSVP.
Hands-On Workshop: Introduction to Ancestry Library Edition
Learn how to discover your ancestors using Ancestry Library Edition in this interactive, hands-on workshop. Participants will use Ancestry Library Edition at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Center. Ancestry is one of the world's most popular genealogy websites, offering access to billions of historical records from the United States and around the world.
You'll learn how to navigate the search interface and use proven techniques to locate ancestors in census records, birth, marriage, and death records, immigration records, passenger lists, and other historical collections. Through guided exercises, you'll practice refining searches, handling spelling variations, evaluating record matches, and uncovering new family history clues.
The workshop will also include a brief introduction to Ancestry's newer AI-assisted search capabilities and natural-language searching tools, along with tips for getting the best results from your searches. A short concluding presentation will highlight additional Ancestry features available through paid subscriptions, including family trees, DNA testing, ThruLines, Pro Tools, and professional research services.
By the end of the session, you'll be able to search Ancestry more effectively and apply practical strategies to your own genealogy research.
How to prepare:
- Have your Las Vegas-Clark County Library District library card and PIN
- Bring a list of relatives to research, including approximate dates and places
- Bring a USB flash drive to save records and images you discover if you wish
About Rebekah Purcell:
Bekah’s interest in genealogy began as she listened to her parents and grandparents share stories about her ancestors’ origins in England, Wales, and Switzerland. She was surrounded by their pictures and their histories as she grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was always fascinated by their stories. Bekah graduated from Brigham Young University in 2014 with her bachelor’s degree in Family History & Genealogy. She completed an internship at the British Library and National Archives in London and fell in love with that area of the world. During her internship, she was privileged to visit her ancestor’s family home in Pontypool, Wales, which further fueled her love for genealogy. Bekah specializes in immigration research from the 1700-1800s to the present day, specifically focusing on people with origins in the British Isles who settled in the United States and Canada. She also has experience with complex DNA cases. She enjoys the challenges these cases provide. Her experiences have helped her complete successful research projects for clients at AncestryProGenealogists, as well as contribute to television shows like Who Do You Think You Are?, where she has been credited as one of the main researchers for several episodes.
- Sunday, October 18, 2026: Guest speaker Richard Wilson from the FamilySearch Center will lead a Hands-On Workshop on MyHeritage Library Edition
Location: FamilySearch Center, 509 S 9th St, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Members: Free. Click here to RSVP
Guests: In-person meetings are free for all attendees; however, we welcome donations from non-members to support our programs and activities. Click here to donate and click here to RSVP.
Hands-On Workshop: MyHeritage Library Edition
Join JGSSN mentors for a hands-on workshop featuring MyHeritage Library Edition! Learn to search records effectively with live demos and practical exercises on census, immigration, and newspapers. The workshop will also include a brief introduction to MyHeritage Scribe AI, a tool that can help transcribe, interpret, and provide insights from family documents, photographs, and historical records. Get personalized help accessing the LVCCLD genealogy portal, using filters, and interpreting documents.
How to prepare:
- Have your Las Vegas-Clark County Library District library card and PIN
- Bring a list of relatives to research, including approximate dates and places
- Bring a USB flash drive to save records and images you discover if you wish
About Richard S. Wilson:
Richard S. Wilson has been active in genealogical research since 1976 and was a nationally recognized lecturer from 1995 to 2004, speaking at major conferences and Brigham Young University. A pioneer in leveraging personal computers for family history since 1981, he has served as past president of the Genealogical Speakers Guild and as state coordinator for the California portion of the USGenWeb Project from 1996 to 2009.
A lifetime member of the Whittier Area Genealogical Society, he now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he coordinates Wednesday programming (10 AM–3 PM) at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Center and teaches a weekly training class open to all on Wednesdays at 1 PM. He is also a member of the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society (CCNGS). He is also a member of the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society (CCNGS).
- Sunday, November 15, 2026: Guest speaker Richard Wilson from the FamilySearch Center will lead a Hands-On Workshop on "Getting More from FamilySearch"
Location: FamilySearch Center, 509 S 9th St, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Members: Free. Click here to RSVP
Guests: In-person meetings are free for all attendees; however, we welcome donations from non-members to support our programs and activities. Click here to donate and click here to RSVP.
Hands-On Workshop: "Getting More from FamilySearch"
Learn how to discover your ancestors using FamilySearch in this interactive, hands-on workshop. FamilySearch is one of the world's largest free genealogy resources, providing access to billions of historical records, images, and research tools at no cost. You'll learn how to navigate the search interface and use proven techniques to locate ancestors in census records, vital records, immigration records, probate records, land records, and other historical collections. Through guided exercises, you'll practice refining searches, handling spelling variations, evaluating record matches, and uncovering new family history clues.
The workshop will also introduce several powerful FamilySearch tools, including Full-Text Search for finding names buried in unindexed records, the FamilySearch Catalog, the FamilySearch Wiki, and Family Group Trees, a new feature that allows you to create your own private tree within FamilySearch and optionally share it with family members or collaborators.
How to prepare:
- Have your Las Vegas-Clark County Library District library card and PIN
- Bring a list of relatives to research, including approximate dates and places
- Bring a USB flash drive to save records and images you discover if you wish
About Richard S. Wilson:
Richard S. Wilson has been active in genealogical research since 1976 and was a nationally recognized lecturer from 1995 to 2004, speaking at major conferences and Brigham Young University. A pioneer in leveraging personal computers for family history since 1981, he has served as past president of the Genealogical Speakers Guild and as state coordinator for the California portion of the USGenWeb Project from 1996 to 2009.
A lifetime member of the Whittier Area Genealogical Society, he now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he coordinates Wednesday programming (10 AM–3 PM) at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Center and teaches a weekly training class open to all on Wednesdays at 1 PM. He is also a member of the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society (CCNGS). He is also a member of the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society (CCNGS).
Friday, December 11, 2026: Holiday Brunch
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Sahara West LIbrary; 9600 W Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89117
Members: This is a members-only event
Finding the Las Vegas FamilySearch Center and where to park:
Click here for directions.
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