A MNJGS Event: Immigration Through a 3-D Lens: Laws, Documents and Stories

Susan Weinberg , artist, author and genealogist will talk about Immigration Through a 3-D Lens, presenting a perspective on immigration through the lens of law, documents and family story. With a focus on the 1900s, Susan will examine the immigration laws that affected entry, the immigration documents that were created with each change in the law and the stories of the Jews of the 1900s who came to America.

In addition to her work in the genealogy community, Susan is the author of We Spoke Jewish: A Legacy in Story published by the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest. Based on interviews with elders from Sholom Home, Susan has gathered stories from Jews who grew up in early immigrant communities, Holocaust survivors who came in the 1940s-50s and immigrants from the former Soviet Union who came here in the 1970s-90s. Using video clips from those interviews, she will tell a lively story of Jewish immigration to the United States and the life of an immigrant juxtaposed with the documents and laws that framed that experience.