The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies bestowed four awards for 2003, recognizing outstanding individual and organizational contributions to Jewish Genealogy. These awards were presented by the 2003 awards committee chairman, Daniel Schlyter, during the banquet held in conjunction with the 23rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, Washington DC, 24 July 2003.
IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award: Miriam Weiner
In recognition of a lifetime of distinguished service and outstanding works to the benefit to Jewish genealogy. Miriam has devoted her life and significant resources to finding and researching resources and records for Jewish genealogical research. Miriam’s negotiations and collaboration with archivists has yielded a trove of data about the whereabouts and accessibility of important records which she has shared in numerous publications and on the website of the Routes to Roots Foundation. She has shared her findings and expertise through lectures, tours, genealogical columns, articles, publications and interviews, motivating countless people to research their Jewish ancestry.
IAJGS Outstanding Contribution to Jewish Genealogy: Stephen Morse
In recognition of his extensive effort and perseverance in producing his One-Step Research Tools. These tool on his website enhance the use of the Ellis Island Database, Ancestry’s 1930 census database and other databases. His web pages and programs provide genealogist-friendly interface with these databases which has helped and encouraged countless researchers both Jewish and non-Jewish.
IAJGS Outstanding Project Award: the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal for the Drouin Project
In recognition for the extensive effort on the part of its officers and many volunteers in finding, analyzing and indexing the Jewish entries among the vital records of Quebec in the microfilms of the Drouin Genealogical Institute/L'Institut généalogique Drouin. The resulting database makes more than 75,000 entries for Jewish vital events available to researchers. The successful completion of this complex and time-consuming project demonstrates the exceptional dedication of JGS Montreal to the cause of Jewish genealogy.
Stanley Diamond, Ruth Diamond and Alan Greenberg of JGS Montreal accepted the Outstanding Project Award.
IAJGS Award for Outstanding Publication by an IAJGS member Society: the Jewish Genealogical Society of Palm Beach County
In recognition of their “Beginners and Intermediate Genealogical Workbook,” a compilation of genealogical resource materials. This book is an outstanding publication that gathers together an impressive array of information, examples, and instructions, making it a useful tool for use in teaching the procedures for Jewish genealogical research, in encouraging its users to pursue their Jewish Genealogical research and in providing them with the instructions and procedures to do so.
Marvin Hamburg, President and Sylvia Furshman Nusinov, President Emerita accepted the Outstanding Publication Award on behalf of JGS of Palm Beach County.