Suzanne Hoffman to speak on early history of Jews in Illinois for May 17, 2026, JGSI hybrid meeting 

“Early Jewish Settlement in Illinois” will be genealogist Suzanne Hoffman’s lecture topic for the Sunday, May 17, 2026, Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois hybrid meeting. Her talk will begin at 2 p.m. CDT via Zoom and at Temple Beth-El, 3610 Dundee Road, Northbrook, Illinois. She will be speaking in person at Temple Beth-El.

A registration/RSVP button will be available here soon.

The JGSI meeting facilities at Temple Beth-El will open at 12:30 p.m. CDT for those who want to use genealogy library materials, get help with family history websites or ask genealogical questions before the main hybrid program begins at 2 p.m. CDT.

Suzanne Hoffman is the immediate past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists, current president of the Illinois State Genealogical Society, a member of the JGSI board, and a professional forensic genealogist. She also volunteers at the Wilmette FamilySearch Center and serves as Advocacy Chair for Illinois with the Records Preservation and Access Coalition. This year, she will be presenting at the NGS Conference in Ft. Wayne, Indiana; serving as a keynote speaker at the “Beyond the Family Tree” Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, and presenting at GeneaQuest in Schaumburg. Genealogy is her passion.

In her May 17, 2026, lecture for JGSI, she will follow the history of Illinois settlement and identify the impact of early Jewish settlers on the development of the state both prior to and post statehood. Illinois was developed from west to east and from south to north, and Suzanne will describe the allure and opportunities in the state for early Jewish settlers. We will learn the impact that early Jewish merchants and politicians had on defining the state and how they earned their place in history. She will briefly touch on the more notable early Jewish settlers in Chicago, but the focus will be on Illinois as a state emerging from the Northwest Territory.

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