Morris (z”l) and Betty Starkman Annual Genealogy Lecture and Election of Officers with Ava Cohn, aka Sherlock Cohn, The Photo Genealogist

Sunday, June 24, 2012
11:00 am, Adat Shalom
$35 per person

This is a glatt kosher event supervised by the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit. Click here to see menu.

Clued-In: Case Studies from Sherlock Cohn, The Photo Genealogist
Speaker: Ava Cohn aka Sherlock Cohn, The Photo Genealogist

Step aside NCIS and CSI! There are no greater detectives than Jewish genealogists when it comes to loving the hunt for information about our ancestors, and no greater tool to find out about the people and the personalities in our family trees than through our family photographs.

In this fun and informative talk, Sherlock Cohn, the Jewish genealogy sleuth, will explore how and why it is important to find the clues our ancestors left for us in their photographic portraits. The program leads off with a definition of Photo Genealogy and explodes common myths about dating Jewish photos. Participants will learn what clues an expert looks for in photos, how to organize your approach to dating and interpreting photos and how to match photo information with vital records to tell the stories within the photos.

In the second half of the program, Sherlock will present two of her challenging cases, “The Case of the Mistaken Date” and “The Case of the Immigration Snafu.” In the true cerebral style of a Basil Rathbone character, she’ll offer examples of how accurate photo dating, identification of individuals in our photos, knowledge of fashion and decorative arts, and the process of matching photographs with vital records can illuminate our relatives’ lives and the social context in which their photos were taken. Attendance is Elementary, my dears (though all levels are welcome).

Attendees are invited to bring one photo for her to evaluate, as we will have time for Ava to look at between 8 and 10 photos. Limit one photo per person, unless a second photo is brought for the purposes of identifying the person in the first photo. Selection will be done by lottery at the event. Originals are preferred. If the photo is in a frame, be sure to bring it inside its frame, particularly if there is a photographer’s mark or written information on the frame.

Menu
~ Beverages ~

• Assorted Juices: Orange Juice, Cranberry, Apple
• Decaf & Regular Coffee, Hot Tea
• Pitchers of Water, Lemons, Limes & Ice

~ Lunch Buffet ~

• Tuna Salad, Egg Salad
• Sliced Cucumber, Tomato & Bermuda Onion
• Pareve Cream Cheese, Assorted Preserves & Compotes
• Assorted Bagels & Challah Rolls
• Fresh Cut Fruit
• Sour Cream Coffee Cake & Assorted Pastries

Proposed Slate of Officers