Mr. Gostin has been conducting genealogical research since 1980 and has worked as a full-time professional genealogist since 1994. He has twice been President of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Los Angeles, and has taught genealogy for several adult school and university extension programs.
Mr. Gostin has helped plan and organize three national genealogical seminars, and has been a featured speaker at a half-dozen such conferences. He lectures widely on Jewish genealogy, Southern California resources and naturalization and immigration records. Mr. Gostin is the author of
Southern California Vital Statistics: Volume 1, Los Angeles County 1850-1859, and the owner of Generations Press publishing company. He is very active in the international Jewish genealogical community, and maintains contact with genealogists throughout the world. Mr. Gostin is also an active member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
SA028 Saturday June 6, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Polish State Archives Databases
The Polish State Archives website has several databases useful to genealogists, including PRDZIAD (lists vital records), ELA (censuses), IZA (fond descriptions), and ZoSIA (document images).
SU004 Sunday June 7, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Reading Jewish-Russian Vital Records for the Non-Russian Speaker
Russian records are a problem because of both the foreign language and alphabet. This session reviews the Cyrillic alphabet, offers a 40-word vocabulary, decribes record formats, and provides handwriting tips.
SU028 Sunday June 7, 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Finding Anatevka: Maps and Gazetteers in Jewish Genealogy
Discusses sources, and strategies for locating
shtetle (like the fictional Anatevka), in which Jews lived in Europe. Covers gazetteers, maps and map scales, border changes, and research strategies.
