Currently accepting clients for...

• Family History Research
• Speaking / Presenting
• Writing /Publishing

Susan Weinberg is an artist, author, professional genealogist, and frequent speaker on genealogy topics. Drawing on her long career in finance, she often applies spreadsheets as an analytic tool in her genealogy research. Her artwork and writing often involve storytelling and frequently explore family history themes. Susan developed the Jewish Identity and Legacy Project, an oral history project with elders, then authored the book We Spoke Jewish: A Legacy in Stories that includes oral history, artwork, and history on three groups of Jewish immigrants who spanned the 1900s. Susan has created and manages websites on the former Jewish communities of several ancestral towns. She writes frequently for publications on genealogy topics and does genealogy research for clients around the world. Susan is active in organizations within the world of Jewish genealogy, serving as president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS), past president of the Minnesota Jewish Genealogical Society (MNJGS), and vice president of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest (JHSUM).

Geographic Specialities
Primary focus in United States and Eastern Europe especially Poland, Lithuania, Latvia.

Testimonials
Presentations
Very successful and inspiring program. Susan Weinberg modeled how one can bravely start a project and allow it to carry one to new skills, horizons, and combinations of talents!   Sparked lots of memories, questions, and positive responses from the audience. - Alicia M.

What a wonderful, fascinating, engaging program . . .Susan is a wonderful storyteller and the people in the clips she showed shared deeply moving, informative, and often humorous stories of their own.- Anita R. 

The program was informative, fascinating and beautifully presented. Susan is a dynamic speaker, who, along with her art, captures your attention and holds it. Her skills and talents are many and varied. -Sandi S.  

What a great project-- I was expecting a dull talk about laws. Thank you for surprising me with a fun approach to immigration & naturalization. The stories truly brought the law to life. Wonderful presentation (Immigration Laws, Documents and Stories)

Regardless of experience level, this presentation would help any researcher. The presentation presented each idea and then an example -- and that's perfect. Attendee questions were addressed compassionately and clearly. (Tracing the Manifest)

I  was familiar with many of the programs described -- but almost NONE of the resources that would help with genealogy! This was a brilliant way to bring it all together for those of us who are "resource challenged! (A Helping Hand to Immigrants)
 

Book Reviews
A moving story that captures much of the fabric of Jewish life in the early 20th century in Minnesota, a sensitive rendering of the accounts of the Holocaust survivors, a compelling narrative of the most recent wave of Jewish immigrants from what was the U.S.S.R.   Compelling and insightful...a touching, and important contribution...                                                                               Annette Atkins, renowned historian, author of Creating Minnesota: A History From the Inside Out

The paintings allow the viewer to feel the heartbeat of the subject and their testimonies open the doorways to create an emotional connection to historical moments. 
Meryll Levine Page, co-author of Jewish Luck

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Publications/Media
We Spoke Jewish: A Legacy in Stories at http://www.wespokejewish.com/

Writes for a number of newsletters. Past articles in publications can be found at http://www.studio409art.com/Genealogy/Articles.html

Lectures

1. A Helping Hand to Immigrants: How Immigrants Spread Throughout the US
2. The Fluidity of Names
3. Unraveling the Puzzle: Finding the Thread
4. Crossing the Ocean: Sources to Ancestral Towns
5. Tracing the Manifest: Navigating a Time of Change
6. Mining the Manifest
7. Immigration History: Laws, Documents and Stories

More description available at http://www.studio409art.com/Genealogy/Talks-and-Bio-2025.pdf

Research Time Periods

• 21st Century
• 20th Century
• 19th Century

Affiliations
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies - President
Minnesota Jewish Genealogial Societies - Founding Member, Immediate Past President
Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest - Vice President

Degrees
BSW - Social Work, University of Illinois
MBA - Finance, University of Minnesota
CFA  - Chartered Financial Analyst