Society History

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois (JGSI) is a non-profit 501c-3 organization dedicated to helping members collect, preserve, and perpetuate the records and history of their ancestors. We serve as a resource for the worldwide community to research their Chicago area Jewish roots.

The Society was founded in 1981 and today has over 230 members.

JSGI published Search, a publication dedicated to presenting search techniques related to Jewish genalogy. View the first issue: Vol. 1, Number 1, Fall 1981. (PDF 2.5MB will open in new browser window or tab.) Search archived issues are available in our research library.

The JGSI logo is a very full healthy tree, suggesting a prodigious, healthy future.

The center of its very sturdy trunk shows where the a bark has split to make a slightly oval shape (as sometimes happens with these large older trees). Actually, this kind of shape is sometimes caused by the loss of a branch, and therefore this shape represents those branches on our trees that may be completely lost to us, though their influence may be seen. Those familiar with the shape of the state of Illinois will recognize it in this shape. It's central location on the trunk indicates that it is the center of our society's activities.

Emanating from the trunk are seven branches-- a reminder of the seven branched menorah which stood in the Temple in Jerusalem and which has been a symbol of the Jewish people for over 2000 years.

The three large roots of the tree are just visible above the ground, but look like they'll become more uncovered as time goes by, which is our hope for all our members. The three represents the three groups of Jews: Kohanim (the priestly class, Levites (the assistant priests) and Israelites (the rest).