We’re honored to announce that University of Massachusetts Boston Professor Vincent Cannato will give the Lucille Gudis Memorial Lecture this year.

Lucille Gudis, 1933-2005 z”l, represented the best of what genealogy can accomplish and was a continuing inspiration to her family, friends, and fellow genealogists. She died on December 23, 2005. She was an officer of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc (New York) and instrumental in spearheading and planning the 2006 IAJGS Conference on Jewish Genealogy in New York.  Most importantly, she was an ardent and enthusiastic conference champion. The JGSNY has established a fund in her honor to sponsor programming at their local level and at IAJGS conferences.

In this evening session, Professor Cannato will discuss his new book: “American Passage: The History of Ellis Island,” the first full history of America’s landmark port of entry, from immigration post to deportation center to mythical icon.

In “American Passage,” Cannato masterfully illuminates the story of Ellis Island from the days when it hosted pirate hangings witnessed by thousands of New Yorkers in the nineteenth century, to the turn of the twentieth century when massive migrations sparked fierce debate and hopeful new immigrants often encountered corruption, harsh conditions, and political scheming. American Passage captures a time and place unparalleled in American immigration and history, and articulates the dramatic and bittersweet accounts of the immigrants, officials, interpreters, and social reformers who all play an important role in Ellis Island’s chronicle.