Our Family History Web Site was born on March 16, 1999.

Dianne and Leighton Siegel

We are connected to our families through our individual histories and that we must record them or they will be lost.

Dianne spent countless hours in Washington, D.C., at the National Archives, tracking down microfilm of as many relatives as she could find, as well as, interviewing anyone who could tell her stories. Dianne became interested in family history when she read about some ladies who were collecting family histories of Jewish families from North Dakota in order to write a book. Dianne’s mother, Pauline, grew up in Devils Lake, North Dakota and Dianne began her research that lasted a life time! The original ladies never wrote their book..

In addition to their devoted work on family genealogy, Dianne and Leighton were instrumental in the following two projects:

Sons of Jacob Cemetery and Monument Honoring Jewish Homesteaders in North Dakota
The Garske Colony near Devils Lake, North Dakota was settled by Jewish pioneers beginning in 1883. A dedication took place at the Sons of Jacob Cemetery and Monument Honoring the original Jewish homesteaders near Devils Lake, North Dakota on September 17, 2006. Dianne’s great-grandparents, grandparents and parents came from Devils Lake and they worked with others to bring the dedication about.  Sons of Jacob

B’nai Abraham Cultural Center, Virginia, Minnesota
B’nai Abraham, a beautiful, but deteriorating and abandoned, historic building, in Virginia, Minnesota that was once a synagogue. It is now restored as a community cultural center for music, exhibits and houses a small museum documenting the history of Jewish settlement on the Iron Range. It is the only synagogue building in Minnesota to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Virginia Cultural Center