More than a famous tourist landmark the Prague Old Jewish Cemetery is one of the most important sources of information on the Jewish community of Early Modern Prague. As a seminal community—particularly, as one of the only ones with both documentation and surnames dating to the fifteenth century—this population plays a pivotal role in our understanding of Ashkenazi genealogy. While the cemetery was documented in the late nineteenth century, only a small part of this work was published.

In coordination with former Los Angeles Holocaust Museum president E. Randol Schoenberg, Dr. Joshua Grayson is working to create a complete database of names from the cemetery using the most important manuscript sources. This multimedia presentation will cover background information on the cemetery and its history, outline some of the many challenges and solutions, and offer a tantalizing look at some of the insights that this project can provide.

Since childhood, genealogy has connected Dr. Grayson with his beloved grandparents -- although back then, he had no way of knowing that it would become an obsession that would change the course of his life. During the course of his doctoral studies at the University of Southern California, he acquired a wide assortment of research skills -- gathering historical evidence, critically evaluating sources, developing knowledge, and effectively communicating ideas and research findings. Since then, he has conducted genealogical research in German, Russian, Polish, Hebrew, Yiddish, French, and Spanish, and is proficient in many historical scripts including Kurrentschrift, pre-1917 Russian cursive, 19th-century Hebrew/Yiddish cursive, and Rashi typeface. Since then, he has put those skills to use for his personal genealogy research and for his services as a professional genealogist.