The Industrial Removal Office:

How a Little-known Program Scattered Jews

throughout the United States

Free Zoom program with Risa Daitzman Heywood presenter
Register in advance:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tcuiqrzssEt3Tobk55IF5BrJiTdcXWE3O#/

The Industrial Removal Office, a little-known organization in operation from 1900 to 1922, was created to help alleviate overcrowding in the Jewish areas of New York City. Its agents scoured the U.S. for businesses that needed skilled workers and matched them with immigrants in need of jobs. After accepting a job offer, an immigrant would receive a one-way ticket to a new city. Learn how to search this organization’s records and how they may help you solve the family mystery of why your family ended up in Cheyenne, Chattanooga, or some other unexpected place across the United States.

Risa Daitzman Heywood is a professional genealogist, writer, and speaker specializing in Ashkenazi Jewish research. She began researching her family more than 25 years ago after inheriting a six-generation family tree, meticulously hand-drawn by her grandfather on the back of a large piece of wrapping paper. The tree had only Americanized names and no dates or places, so she began learning about genealogy in order to figure out the family’s original surname and where they were from. Risa earned a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. She is a past president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado and served as cochair of JewishGen’s original Belarus Special Interest Group (SIG). Risa lives in Lisbon, Portugal. This program is copresented with the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon.