DUE TO SNOW: NOW ZOOM ONLY Our meeting will start at 1 PM, one hour earlier than usual.

Michael Chaplan researched his ancestor’s original naturalization documents at the NYC Municipal Archives and found their late 1800s and early 1900s addresses in Harlem and the Lower East Side. He then explored these addresses, discovering the remarkable still surviving surrounding cultural survivals from the Great Jewish Migration to NYC (1881-1924). Also shown are old photos of shtetl life in Europe, people leaving Europe and arriving on Ellis Island, and early 1900’s community life on the Lower East Side, considered “The Jewish Plymouth Rockin America”. An urban treasure hunting adventure!

Michael Chaplan is an adventurer and a naturalist with an M.A. in Anthropology. He is widely traveled and writes for various publications. A member of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Long Island (JGSLI) since 2012, his main genealogy interest is tracing his family’s lifeways in NYC back into the 19th century. He is also the author of the popular New York City treasure hunting book, The Urban Treasure Hunter.