Proposing two projects

I was thinking Jewish Blacklisted Writers myself yesterday when I was reading more about Clifford Odets. Many of my mother and father's friends were blacklisted.

I would be willing to help with both the dancers and the blacklisted projects.

I studied modern dance in elementary school and college and saw quite a few of the then well-known groups.

Judith Berlowitz There are two existing Projects that you might find helpful.

Related to Jews of Jamaica idea.

1. http://www.geni.com/projects/Portuguese-Spanish-Jewish-Journey-to-J...

Backlisted Writers, though not specifically Jewish

2. http://www.geni.com/projects/Banned-Authors/12769

@Malka, thanks so much for this helpful information. No need to "re-invent the wheel!" and I've just asked to join the project (of course, there was/is a fairly sizable Ashkenazi population in Ja - separate synagogue, etc.)

Thanks, Hatte Blejer (absent until Nov 1)! I hope to start the projects soon, though I'm plodding through (to borrow Randy's terminology) Plzen records and the MACK tree, etc., etc. Maybe you can start them. Here are a couple of interesting links:
http://www.thejc.com/news/on-day/41684/on-day-hollywood-ten-are-bla...
http://www.pennilesspress.co.uk/prose/ben_maddow.htm - I knew Ben & his wife, Frieda Flier, who danced w. Martha Graham and Benjamin Zemach. Neither of the Benjamins has a profile on geni :-(

http://www.geni.com/projects/The-Hollywood-Blacklist/16955

As I responded to Erica, I plan to have this project be on all the Hollywood blacklisted, including The Hollywood Ten.

I realized that a college roommate was the step-daughter of Lester Cole. I also knew quite a few other families affected.

Another roommate was a Zemach :)

I can see that California was full of interesting people.

Arthur Strawn I now realize was my aunt's mother's brother. When we moved to California of course we looked him up. By that time he was in Los Gatos, so that is where I first heard about the Blacklist.

I hope many people join this project and help add profiles, as well as enhance existing profiles.

Remember that you cannot add private profiles to a project. The best thing is to send a polite note asking if the manager(s) will consider making the profile public and also adding a short About Me with the individual's accomplishments and bio.

Hatte Blejer (absent until Nov 1), I have indeed asked the manager(s) to make the profile public, which is what I usually do. I think that curators can sometimes accomplish this, if the profile is obviously deceased and maybe based on other criteria.

Yep, California is full of interesting people largely because of "tinseltown" - drawing arty, quirky types (guilty!) .
Do you know abt Margot Zemach? (not on geni)

Not sure if you offered to help w Jews of Jamaica, but Malka Mysels reminds us that there is already a website on that theme, to which I'll add some info and profiles.

My roommate was Amiel Zemach and she told stories about her famous family but that was 1970 I think and I don't remember anything except that I think there was a children's illustrated book involved.

From Margot Zemach's obituary -- At the time of her death Ms. Zemach was working on a picture book of ''Mother Goose'' nursery rhymes. Her principal publisher, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, plans to issue it in 1990.

She is survived by her stepfather, Benjamin; a sister, Amielle; four daughters, Heidi, Rachel, Rebecca and Kaethe Zemach-Bersin, and two granddaughters.

That's why I associated Zemach with children's books and theater, because Amielle and Margot were sisters and their father was a theater director. Not sure of his name. And their mother was something creative too.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/30/arts/benjamin-zemach-95-dancer-wo...

Yes, Hatte - but no Geni profile yet! I know it can be done but am soooo busy!

And Benjamin and his much older brother Nachum Zemach were founders of haBima, if I read the articles correctly, so a fascinating family. Definitely need a family tree. I did some research on them yesterday. I found a lot about Benjamin and about his mother and siblings, but not about his wife or wives.

Yes, I remember talk of HaBima. Who has time to make a new tree? Pas moi!!
jb

Maybe in a week or two I can do it.