Mary Barkan, We Salute You!
February 2007 - Mary Barkan has been selected for the first IAJGS Salute for her work in preserving archival material from the original Hadassah chapter in Las Vegas, Nevada which included scrapbooks, photos, articles, awards, plaques, pins, and banners documenting various Hadassah events held from 1964 through 1971.
The loose material wandered from the garage of one Hadassah member to another until Mary took possession of the numerous boxes. It took Mary the greater part of a year to create an index of over 4000 names for the varied materials, making future access to the collection easier than before.
Once the project was completed, JGS of Southern Nevada donated the scanned images and a copy of the index to the Special Collections Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. You can contact Mary at JGSSN to gain access to the index.
Mary learned a great deal about the importance of local history projects after attending a program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She used the information and skills she learned when she volunteered to collect temple bulletins from Las Vegas synagogues for the millennium. The index contained almost 13000 names and the project provided a snapshot of affiliated Jews from eight of the Las Vegas synagogues.
Mary has been interested in genealogy for almost twenty years. For nine years was the editor of the quarterly JGSSN bulletin "Family Legacies", and continues to produce the monthly newsletter "News to Note". All her publications are full of important genealogical information. She helps JGSSN members by teaching them how to document information.
Thank you so much Mary for your hard work. Your efforts will be an asset to all genealogists, especially those with family ties to Las Vegas!
Lyn Blyden
Chair, IAJGS Salutes
