IAJGS 2016 Speaker Profile: Mike Karsen

KarsenMikeA professional speaker, Mike Karsen is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG), and is Past President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois. He has presented over 300 talks on genealogy topics locally, nationally, and internationally including Newberry Library and Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago.

Mike is the author of the JewishGen website “Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Chicagoland” and has published articles on genealogy.

He holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics/computer science and a Master’s in operations research alongside 30 years in telecommunications management.

See his website at http://www.mikekarsen.com/

“Resources for Jewish Genealogy in Chicagoland” (Weds 169), 10:30 – 11:45 A.M.

[This presentation is included in LIVE!]

This comprehensive presentation covers a brief history of Jews and Chicago and then launches into records and resources available for the researcher today.

Chicago was a major location where Jews settled starting in the 1840s. The talk covers records for underground research as well as those above ground.

Today with so many records available online you hardly have to leave you home to research your Chicago roots. Case studies are utilized to pull the process together.

Topics: Immigration and migration over the ages, Westward Ho! (Chicago)

Sleepless in Seattle: “My Cousin, the Gangster” (Tues-162), 8:00 – 8:25 P.M.

Frank Frost, a.k.a. Frank Foster, was a real Chicago gangster who first worked for the north side gang under Bugs Moran and moved up to south siders under the infamous, Al Capone.

While starting with family lore, the facts need to be verified through outside sources. In this case, the problem was not too little information but too much. How to you sort through the scads of information in newspapers, books, and websites and determine which is the truth and which is “speculation and guesswork?”