NEW YORK, NY (April 11, 2013) — The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. announced today that Christopher “Kip”  Forbes of the Forbes publishing family and real estate magnate Jeffrey Gural have joined its Board of Directors.

Mr. Forbes is currently Vice Chairman of Forbes Media LLC and serves on several boards. He  and his family were honored with the 2008 Ellis Island Family Heritage Award in the field of Business in tribute to his grandfather B. C. Forbes, who immigrated to America in 1904 and founded Forbes Magazine 13 years later. Since 2009 the Forbes Family has annually underwritten the B. C. Forbes Peopling of America Award which recognizes individuals who have immigrated to America and made a major contribution to the American experience. A magna cum laude graduate of Princeton, Mr. Forbes was promoted to the rank of Officier of the Legion of Honour by the French government in November 2011.

Mr. Gural is Chairman of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, which currently manages approximately one hundred fifty buildings in the Metropolitan area, of which Mr. Gural has an ownership interest in forty-one of them.  He sits on many corporate and non-profit boards, including The Real Estate Board of New York and the Eldridge Street Synagogue.  Mr. Gural is a major owner and breeder of Standardbred racehorses and has recently become the lessee of the Meadowlands Racetrack, the leading Standardbred track in North America.  He and his family underwrote an Ellis Island Museum gallery in memory of his great-grandfather, Jacob Rabinowitz, a Russian immigrant and founder of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).

“We are so honored and pleased to have Messrs. Forbes and Gural join our Board of Directors at this important and challenging time in our history,” said Stephen A. Briganti, Foundation President and CEO. “As we work with the National Park Service to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, we continue construction of the second phase of The Peopling of America® Center, a major expansion of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum which will explore immigration in the post-Ellis Island Era, right up to the present. We welcome their guidance and support as we work toward the completion of this and future projects.”

The Foundation’s full board list is available at http://www.ellisisland.org/EIinfo/board.asp.

About The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.

The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization founded in 1982 to raise funds for and oversee the historic restorations of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, working in partnership with the National Park Service/U.S. Department of the Interior. Its endowment has funded over 200 projects at the islands.

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I wonder how many know that Wikipedia is a non-profit organization that operates off of donations. I didn’t, and yet I use it all the time. And yes, as genealogists, we know that it’s a good idea to double check information found here, but what a terrific resource for getting a running start on just about any topic. I know I hit it up for everything from 19th century politicians to obscure Ukrainian villages, so this month’s grant goes to the Wikipedia Foundation in gratitude for a resource that’s often taken for granted.

You can apply for a grant here.

The post Seton Shields Genealogical Grant Awarded to Wikipedia Foundation appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Like so many genealogists, I hold a special place in my heart for Ellis Island, so when it was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy, it seemed a fitting time to make a donation to the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation (SOLEIF). If you had one or more ancestors who came to America via Ellis Island, please consider making a donation in their name to help this national landmark re-open as soon as possible.

You can apply for a grant here.

The post Seton Shields Genealogical Grant Awarded to Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.