Ready to Explore Your Family History?
We can help! The Genealogy Institute is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10am to 4pm. Walk-ins are permitted, based on availability, though appointments are recommended. You can make a half-day appointment through your research account. (Make sure to choose Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute in the Appointments drop-down menu.) We are also responding to your inquiries via email and phone, and are available for more intensive one-on-one zoom sessions, as needed. To help you get started on your genealogy research or to learn how to access the Center's resources, see our genealogy guides here.
Check out the Center’s Facebook page where we post videos on a broad range of topics every month in our “Genealogy Coffee Break" series. Like and follow us to receive updates when a new episode is online, and watch our past episodes on Facebook or YouTube.
Schedule a free 45-minute one-on-one Zoom with a Librarian to receive suggestions for your research or a free Zoom workshop for your senior center, synagogue, school, or community group.
All in the Mishpocheh: Intro to Jewish Genealogy at CJH
10-session classes run from November 2022 through January 2023
Section 1: Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m. ET beginning November 1, Instructor: Moriah Amit, or:
Section 2: Fridays at 10 a.m. ET beginning November 4, Instructor: J.D. Arden>
Join the staff of the Center for Jewish History for this 10-week online genealogy course, suitable for beginner and intermediate researchers. You will benefit from the unique experience of one-on-one mentoring from our expert genealogy librarians and enjoy access to digitized archival material found in the collections of our onsite partner organizations which will touch on numerous topics, including family tree building, DNA and endogamy, search strategies, common genealogy myths, Holocaust records, Landsmanshaftn, Jewish orphanages, and much more, with a particular focus on collections housed at the Center. By the end of the 10 weeks, you will have compiled a basic family history portfolio and will be equipped with a strong foundation for further explorations.
Students are encouraged to participate live but are welcome to watch or review class recordings as needed.
Registration Info: $300 general, $275 CJH members (members are those who have donated $50 or more to the Center in the past year)
Register for Tuesday 4:30 PM ET class here
Register for Friday 10 AM ET class here
Search by Region
Click on a country or region on the map to discover resources about your ancestral town. For guides to additional countries (including the U.S.) and topics, please click here.
Visit Us
The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute provides access to a wealth of genealogical resources through the Center for Jewish History's partner collections and the Institute's extensive reference collection, online databases, and a variety of research guides.
Group Visits
The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute welcomes groups and classes of all ages and backgrounds. Visitors may learn how to begin tracing their roots, explore primary sources useful to genealogy research, and gain hands-on experience searching for their ancestors in online databases. We have provided personalized sessions for high school, undergraduate, and graduate classes, non-profit organizations, synagogues, and senior centers. All classes can be customized to suit your needs. To schedule your group visit, please fill out this form.
Image: Detail, The Written World (Diane Samuels, 2014)
Commissioned by The Center for Jewish History for the Lillian Goldman Reading Room
Did you know?
The collections of the Center’s five partner organizations—The American Jewish Historical Society, The American Sephardi Federation, The Leo Baeck Institute, The Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research—as well as the collection of the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute and the Center’s digital collections can all be accessed through one central online catalog? Go to http://search.cjh.org to begin exploring the breadth of modern Jewish experience as documented in our collections.
Image: Unidentified Family, 19th century
Photograph black-and-white postcard
From the Leo Baeck Institute LBI Photograph Collection
Courtesy of the Leo Baeck Institute
PID: 891299
Call Number: F 1966F
Family History Collections
The American Jewish Historical Society located at the Center for Jewish History has indexed a number of their genealogy-related collections. Search for your family name in these collections here.
Image: Fischer Family, 1870
Black-and-white photograph
From the Johanna Fischer Family Collection (AR 4289)
Courtesy of the Leo Baeck Institute
PID: 854990
Call Number: F 17066