Finding Alice Conlin: A Life Reconstructed from a Single Clue

   Starting with only an envelope postmarked 1924 and basic genealogical resources, Alice Conlin, who survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, comes alive as a progressive woman ahead of her time. Despite starting with only a name and an address, the speaker was able to put “flesh on the bones” using the same steps that any novice genealogist might use when starting family research having only minimal information about an ancestor. Learn how the speaker anchored Alice in place and time using U.S. censuses, sought birth and death records for her and her family, pored over newspapers, and used online resources to create an engaging profile. 

     Jane Neff Rollins is a professional genealogist who works primarily with clients whose ancestors came from the former Russian Empire, providing research and translation of Russian documents. She has researched in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Washington DC, and Jerusalem. She is an alumna of ProGen Study Group 29, and a multi-time attendee of the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and the Forensic Genealogy Institute.

     Jane has lectured at the annual conferences of the National Genealogical Society, the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, the Southern California Genealogical Society, and virtually and in-person for societies throughout the United States. 

     Jane’s genealogy articles have appeared in NGS Magazine, FGS Forum (for which she won the 2020 Forum Writer’s Award), Crossroads, and Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy: “Researching Jewish Ancestors Who Served in the Civil War.” Other writing has appeared in Roots-Key, the LA Jewish Journal, and medical trade magazines. 

A Zoom link will be emailed to members and mailing list subscribers the morning of the event.