Page 6-THE NEWS-February 1992
Library Lines
You, Your Child and the Library
Roots and Branches
By Miriam Weiner
By Amalia Warshenbrot
Librarian, Speizman Jewish Library
Every year we celebrate Jew
ish Book Month. I feel that it
should become Jewish Book
Day or just Book Day. Parents
should encourage reading
through use of the library to
support their children’s growth
and enjoyment of reading.
Some suggestions that can
make reading a natural part of
your child’s life;
• Take your child to the
library at an early age.
• Let your child choose his
book. Young children may take
wordless books and become
storytellers. Older children
should learn how to use the
library.
• Read aloud to each other
at a regular time, becoming a
part of the day’s routine.
• Discuss the story with your
child.
• Make regular visits to the
library.
• Give books as gifts.
• Treat reading as a joy.
Picture from "Books are Treasures"
By Howard Bogot
Illustrated by Cara Goldberg Marks
• Put books at places within
a child’s reach.
• Reread books you loved as
a child.
• Read with expression.
• Take books along when
going on trips.
Use the Jewish library to open
the Jewish world to the young
reader and instill in him respect
and love of his Jewish heritage.
Some of these suggestions were
published by the Book and Child
ren 's Center, Library of Congress,
to help adults celebrate 1989 as the
year of the Young Reader.
Library Funds
If you wish to honor someone
on a special occasion, or extend
a condolence, the following is
the list of funds towards which
you may contribute:
The Tulman Library Fund —
to purchase books and maga
zines which are published in
Israel.
The Speizman Library Fund
— to purchase books and ma
terials for the library.
The Cheryl Katz Memorial
Book Fund — to purchase
books for the library.
Checks should be .made pay
able to The Foundation of the
Charlotte Jewish Community.
For additional information
call Amalia Warshenbrot,
366-5007.
Allan S. Oxman, CLU, ChFC
Gilley, Oxman, and Riggins
“For The Best In Life
LIFE • DISABILITY - GROUP • PENSION *401 (K)
1043 E. Morehead St., Suite 301, Charlotte, NO 28204
704-342-2277 Fax 704-375-3834
CARMEL
ONPPCVIDENCE
One-half mile from the Jewish Community Center
is a beautiful cluster of apartment homes that
many Jewish families call home.
Nestled in a beautifully landscaped setting, you
will find these touches of grace:
vaulted ceilings, French doors, large
windows, kitchen pantries, screened
balconies, private walled courtye^ds,
patios and much more...
YOU HAVE AN OPEN INVITATION TO VISIT OUR COMMUNITY.
Comer of Fairview and Providence Roads
366-9086
A Network of People Finders
Prior to my genealogical pur
suits, I was a licensed private in
vestigator in California, a back
ground which taught me me
thods of obtaining information
and the utilization of sources not
widely used by most family
historians.
There are a number of resour
ces which include private agency
location services, government
agencies, institutions and direc
tories which can be utilized in
tracing your family members,
although their existence is not
primarily for the purpose of
aiding genealogists.
The Hebrew Immigrant Aid
Society (HIAS), founded in
1892, has long been the most
important Jewish migration
agency, with offices throughout
the world. Few Jewish families
in the U.S. have not had relatives
helped by HIAS upon arrival in
America.
Case records for immigrant
arrivals from 1956 to the present
can be found in the HIAS New
York office and a search form
can be requested from HIAS
Location Service, 333 Seventh
Avenue, New York, NY 10001.
There is a $25 fee for this service.
Pre-1956 HIAS files have been
transferred to the YIVO Ar
chives, 1048 Fifth Avenue, New
York, New York 10028.
In New York, the Jewish
Board of Family Children’s
Services, Inc. has a department
known as the family Location
and Legal Service Division
which helps people find close
relatives. It utilizes such sources
as telephone directories, phone
company records, universities,
Jewish cemeteries, professional
licensing associations, motor
vehicle departments, the Social
Security Administration, voter
registration lists, unions, mili
tary records and other agencies.
Family Location Services
developed in the early 20th
century when hundreds of thou
sands of European Jews emi
grated to various parts of the
world. With the great migra
tions, individuals were often
uprooted and families separated.
In the post-Holocaust period,
survivors needed help in locating
family in the United States. Still
later, Russian Jews coming to
the United States sought help in
fmding relatives whose ancestors
had come to these shores many
years before. For informaion
about services, write to: Family
Location Services, Jewish Board
of Family and Children’s Servi
ces, Inc., 235 Park Avenue
South, New York, NY 10003.
The county courthouse has
voting records including voter’s
name, address, occupation, birth
date, social security number
(sometimes), year and court of
naturalization. When an individ
ual moves, the voting record
follows him to the Board of
Elections servicing the new
address and the trail of addresses
can then be followed. Copies of
the voter’s application card are
accessible by completing a form
and paying a small fee. Consult
the Board of Elections office
servicing the last known address
of your relative.
Tracing relatives through out-
of-town telephone books is a
frequent pastime for many of us
when we are visiting a city away
from home. Taking this one step
further, it is possible to trace
relatives in the USSR by looking
up their name in the collection
of Soviet telephone books found
in large libraries such as the New
York Public Library or the
Library of Congress in Washing
ton, DC which has directories
for the following cities: Baku,
Bukhara, Donetsk, Dushanbe,
Irkutsk, Kharkov, Kiev, Kishin
ev, Leningrad, Moscow, Odessa,
Riga, Simferopol, Tallin, Tash
kent, Tbilisi, Uzhorod, Vilnius
and Yerevan. Write to: Library
of Congress, European Reading
Room, Jefferson Building, 10
First Street SE, Washington,
DC 20540.
Much like a telephone direc
tory, city directories identify
people by name and address.
City directories have been pub
lished in hundreds of cities and
towns since the 1800s. Some
cities still publish these directo
ries; however. New York
stopped in the 1930s. Listings
include name, address, occupa
tion (usually), and sometimes
the wife’s name. The directories
enable you to establish when a
person arrived in the city and
when he left or died. Generally,
these directories can be found in
the local library. The largest
known collection of current and
past directories in the United
States can be found in the
Library of Congress in Washing
ton, D.C.
Most professions have formed
national associations and soci
eties which vary in their mon
itoring of membership. For
instance, the American Medical
Association maintains records
of doctors and is responsive to
inquiries. Write to: American
Medical Association, Division
of Library and Archival Servi
ces, 515 N. State Street, Chica
go, IL 60610.
Tracing relatives through
mortuary records should not be
overlooked. A mortuary record
usually contains the name and
address of the next of kin along
with other pertinent data of the
deceased. For name/address of
a Jewish mortuary in a partic
ular locality, write to Jewish
Funeral Directors of America,
Inc., 250 West 57th Street, New
York, NY 10107.
Depending upon the state,
both driver’s license records and
vehicle records are available to
the public and can be indexed
in several ways. There is a small
fee required along with the
completion of a form. Contact
the Department of Motor Ve
hicles in the appropriate state
capital. You may need to supply
the date of birth of the person
you are seeking.
The “Network of People Find
ers” continues to expand and
with the vast amount of data
available through computor
databases, the potential is unlim
ited.
•
Miriam Weiner is a columnist
and lecturer specializing in
Jewish genealogy and Holocaust
research. For information on
how to research your family
history, send a stamped self-
addressed envelope to Weiner at
136 Sandpiper Key, Secaucus,
NJ 07094. Her column comes to
us through the Charlotte Jewish
Historical Society.
11992
SINCE 1883, IT HAS BEEN OUR PRIVILEGE TO
SERVE THE JEWISH FAITH.
500 Providence Road
332-7133