Family Story Finder

The sweep of family history across the generations

Dan's 2018 research trip to Berlin and Gdansk
  • July 2018 - August 2018

Dan supplemented his attendance at a Warsaw genealogy conference with a tour of family locations. Read his blog postings and view the post-trip video coverage.

Demise of the cultured Lewi family
  • 1902 - 1942

Five siblings who stayed true to German ideals until the bitter end

Green Valley Drive—our exurban childhood
  • -

Our years in Pittsburgh were spent in a tract house in a natural wonderland—backed up against a family farm and an equestrian estate.

Janis Brenner—a Ratner in motion
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An innovator in modern dance and choreography since breaking in with the Murray Lewis Dance Company in the 1980s. The Ratners moved geographically. Janis moves artistically.

Just so—how the Rubys got their name
  • 1912 - 1939

When and why did Walter Rabinowitz take on our abbreviated last name? He may have gotten the idea during intermission at a Bronx nickelodeon

Louis Katz of Kolberg
  • 1839 - 1918

Betty’s father was a prosperous merchant who came to Pomerania from East Prussia.

On Hill Avenue
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The Ruby family comes of age in a bedroom suburb west of Chicago

The family secret behind grandfather's desk calendar
  • July 22 1939 -

A surprising artifact discovered after a parent's death leads to a series of discoveries and a new pastime in genealogy

The Klein family in the 1940s
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Leon Klein continued to work for American Spirits as its upstate New York sales representative

The Rabinowitz family in Jewish Harlem
  • 1875 - 1917

Joseph and Lena Rabinowitz were Russian immigrants who ran a corner grocery in Jewish Harlem. Their nine children were native Americans

The Ringels in Berlin—time of prosperity
  • 1881 - 1931

From 1880s to the 1930s, the Ringel family prospered in the garment trade in the German capital. Herman made men's outerwear.

The Wohlgemuths in Danzig
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Before moving his family to Berlin in 1912, Isaak Wohlgemuth prospered as a mover in Danzig. His family roots were in nearby West Prussia.