History of Oak Park Jewish community to be focus of Aug. 30, 2026, hybrid meeting lecture co-sponsored by JGSI and Chicago Jewish Historical Society

“From the Basement of the Shul to the Basement of City Hall: Uncovering the Hidden Records of Oak Park’s Jewish Community” is the title of a hybrid lecture to be co-hosted by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois and the Chicago Jewish Historical Society on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.

Michael Zmora will guide us through his research process with a focus on his hometown of Oak Park, Illinois. He will be speaking in person at Temple Beth-El, 3610 Dundee Road, Northbrook, Illinois, and online via Zoom.

Temple Beth-El will open at 12:30 p.m. CDT for sign-ins. Please join us for a social hour at 1 p.m. CDT before the lecture begins at 2 p.m. CDT.

Registration/RSVP will be available here soon.

Jews have been an integral part of Oak Park and River Forest since before these suburbs had their names. These early Jewish pioneers of the western suburbs helped pave the way for an organized community that established itself in the early decades of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1930s, Jews in both Oak Park and River Forest faced community antisemitism and institutional discrimination from the governing bodies of the two villages on their way to establishing two synagogues in the mid-20th century.

Michael Zmora will present this compelling story while explaining how he uncovered documents from unlikely sources, ranging from synagogue correspondence files to real estate board minutes to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds’ archives, in order to reveal this hidden history.

After two years of extensive research, Michael Zmora wrote two articles for Chicago Jewish History (the quarterly journal of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society), on the Jewish communities of Oak Park and River Forest. An attorney by profession, Michael has lived in Oak Park with his wife and two children for the past eight years.

For more information about JGSI, visit our website. For more information about membership benefits, click here.  To learn about the Chicago Jewish Historical Society, visit www.chicagojewishhistory.org.