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The Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County will hold a general meeting, co–sponsored with Temple Adat Elohim, on Sunday, August 1, at Temple Adat Elohim 2420 E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
The Topic for the day is, “One Foot in America: Eugeen Van Mieghem (1875-1930) and the Jewish Emigrants of the Red Star Line.”
The Red-Star Line transported 2.7 million people emigrating from Eastern-Europe from Antwerp to American ports (Philadelphia, New York and Boston) between 1873 and 1934. It is estimated that 50 percent were Jewish. The greatest number came over after the pogroms, (a pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack, either approved or condoned by government or military authorities, directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centers, property. The term was originally used to denote extensive violence against Jews in the Russian Empire), between 1900 and 1914.
Special attention will also be paid to the Jewish writers who described their emigration experience from Antwerp. The estimate is that between 30-40 percent of Jewish Americans have ancestors who sailed with the Red Star Line, which was one of the most important American shipping lines. The Antwerp artist Eugeen Van Mieghem is probably the only artist in Europe who made a cycle of works of art about these Jewish emigrants. He lived in his parent’s tavern in the Montevideostreet just in front of the warehouse of the Red Star Line.
The key speaker will be Erwin Joos, curator of the Eugeen Van Mieghem Museum, (www.vanmieghemmuseum.com), and president of the Eugeen Van Mieghem Foundation, a nonprofit organization with more than 1,100 members.
He has given some 100 lectures in Dutch, English and French in Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Philadelphia. Joos has written five art books and 12 albums and organized 15 major exhibitions.
The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County is dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques and research tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and family history.
There is no charge to attend the meeting. Anyone may join JGSCV. Annual dues are $25 for an individual and $30 for a family.
For more information contact: publicity@jgscv.org Jan Meisels Allen@ 818-889-6616.