Karen Franklin

Karen S. Franklin
104 Franklin Avenue
Yonkers NY 10705

Karen is a consultant, exhibition researcher at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.   She is Co-chair of the Board of Governors of JewishGen, a past president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, and has been an active leader, lecturer, and author in the field of museums, genealogy and looted art. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the European Shoah Legacy Institute and is currently a vice-chair of the Memorial Museums committee of ICOM (International Council of Museums). She was awarded the 2012 ICOM-US Service Citation "for contributions to international cooperation among museums and scholars in the field of Holocaust-era property restitution." The citation is the highest honor of ICOM-US.

In addition, Karen served as director of both the Judaica Museum of the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale and the Family Research Program at the Leo Baeck Institute.

As a “Southern” genealogist, she has given presentations at meetings of the Southern Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina illustrating “how to” sessions with southern families.  Families from Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina are among those she has researched. In recent months she lectured in France, Germany, Austria, Colorado and Los Angeles (on other topics).

In addition to general genealogy topics, Karen’s favorite lectures are:

“Shayna Punim Stone: the Jewish Bank Robber in Texas, A True Story”

“Finding Josephine: the Genealogy of Josephine Marcus, Common Law Wife of Wyatt Earp,” research for the author of an upcoming book. (ok; a little southwest)

Fee: $500 (negotiable) plus expenses