Fort Wayne, Ind. — site of one of the largest family history research centers in the world — will host the 45th International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Conference, Aug. 10-14.

Only a two-hour, 15-minute drive from Dayton, Fort Wayne was chosen as the location for this year’s IAJGS conference because of the expansive genealogical resources housed at the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.

Its collection of more than 1.2 million physical items is fully open and available to visitors, who can also access several genealogical databases on site. Jewish resources at the center are:

• Holocaust-related materials, including a large collection of Yizkor books
• Temple and synagogue histories
• Jewish genealogy research guidebooks
• Jewish periodicals
• Jewish diaries and personal memoirs
• The Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 database from the American Jewish Historical Society

The genealogy center, which will serve as the conference’s resource center, is led by Curt Witcher, former president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society.

Miami Valley Jewish Genealogy & History, a project of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton led by The Dayton Jewish Observer’s Marshall Weiss, is a member of IAJGS.

Conference tracks are available for those new to Jewish genealogy, as well as intermediate-level and advanced researchers.

An estimated 1,000 people from around the world are expected to attend the conference, which will include:

• Programs and workshops on DNA analysis, historical migration, records available worldwide, and Holocaust research
• Special events with research divisions focused on a particular country or region of research
• Networking opportunities with hundreds of genealogists
• An exhibit hall with vendors from genealogy companies and local societies

The keynote speaker for the conference will be American genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, most recently known for her work on Finding Your Roots.

Moore has assisted law enforcement in more than 300 cold cases of high-profile human identification using DNA and genetic genealogy.

The IAJGS Conference will be held at the Grand Wayne Convention Center, adjacent to the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.

The conference’s film festival will feature more than 30 rare, historically significant Jewish-themed films, shorts, and television programs spanning the first films of the early 20th century to the present, across major themes of immigration, the Holocaust, and North American westward expansion.

A highlight of the festival will be a screening of the 4K restoration of Joan Micklin Silver’s 1975 Hester Street, to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The festival is curated by Steve Carr, director of the Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Purdue University, Fort Wayne.

For more information and to register for the conference, go to IAJGS2025.org.

To read the complete May 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.