VIRTUALLY RESTORED SYNAGOGUES ONLINE
(Please be aware this post was written in 2003 and published at that time in the Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas) newspaper. Some of the news in this post, therefore, may not be current. Current and future posts on this blog may revisit and update news on this and other posts on this blog. If you have questions and/or suggestions, please send Mic a note using the comment page -Don’t forget to use the orange “subscribe” button to receive new posts-Thanks, Mic)
Underwritten by the Texas Jewish Historical Society architect Robert P. Davis of Houston has virtually restored many of the historic Jewish synagogues located or formerly located in smaller towns all over Texas. While some of the synagogues in real life are still standing and in use many have been torn down and totally disappeared or are in a state of decay and decline.
Virtual restoration uses computer-aided design techniques to simulate the aural and visual experience of buildings that would otherwise be lost to decay.
The computerized visual restoration is accomplished in a three-part process. First, there must be descriptive documentation of the buildings via historical research, field measurement and photography. Next, a navigable 3D solid model must be constructed. And last, the model must be animated in an interactive Virtual Reality format using a software program called Quicktime Viewer which may be downloaded from the website.
To visit the virtually restored synagogues and learn about the histories of the Jewish congregations in the towns where the synagogues are or were located go to the TJHS website at http://www.geocities.com/txsynvr/txsyn.html .
JEWISH TEXANS MEET IN DALLAS
The Texas Jewish Historical Society will hold its annual gathering at the Park Cities Hilton Hotel in North Dallas on Friday, Saturday and Sunday April 25 through 27.
Co-sponsored by the Texas Jewish Historical Society and the Dallas Jewish Historical Society the meeting includes a diverse line of speakers and a bus tour of Historic Jewish Dallas.
For more information visit the TXJHS website at http://www.geocities.com/txsynvr/ or call Marvin Rich at 713-723-1406.
LEARN ABOUT AMERICAN LAND RECORDS
One of the foremost reasons Europeans came to America and Americans moved west was land. Covering the period of the colonial era to Manifest Destiny, Mic Barnette will explain the American land granting process, how property was transferred from one person to another and how genealogists use such records for tracing families.
American Land Records for Genealogists and Historians will be held at Leisure Learning’s 2990 Richmond Avenue campus on Tuesday April 22 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information and to register contact Leisure Learning at 713-835-5539.
FAMILY TREE MAKER SOFTWARE CLASS
Paula Perkins Parke will lead an Organizing Your Family Research With Family Tree Maker Software class from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday April 23. This one-time four hour class will be held at Houston Community College’s 1681 Cartwright campus in Missouri City.
Through demonstrations, students will learn step by step how to organize, document family information and sources and publish a family book. For more information and to register, contact HCC at 281-835-5539. Please note pre-registration is required.
NEWS FROM THE BOOKSHELF
The Texas Jewish Historical Society publishes an interesting and informative quarterly newsletter. The February 2003 issue contains articles about the history of the TJHS, the Holocaust, Camp Fannin in Tyler, the immigrant experience to Texas, Jewish families in Marshall,Texas and family history stories about Isaac Zinn, the Harelik family and the Leeson and Levy families of Houston.
The society has made available on CD-ROM all issues of the Texas Jewish Historical Society Newsletter from its conception in 1982 through February 2003. The CD-ROM is priced at $15 for TJHS members and $25 for non-members. Orders should be addressed to the society in care of I.L. Freed, 4208 Warnock Court, Fort Worth, TX 76109.
