Howard Margol is considered one of the foremost authorities on Lithuanian genealogical research.
Howard Margol began tracing his family history in 1990. After retirement, he plunged into genealogy, traveling to Lithuania in 1993. He joined the newly formed Jewish Genealogical Society of Georgia, and his research took on a much more serious tone. Howard attended his first International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Washington, DC in 1995 and has attended every annual conference since then.
Howard served a two-year term as President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Georgia. Under his leadership, the membership in JGSGA grew from 65 members to a total of 130 members. Howard has continued to serve on the board of JGSGA.
He was elected to the board of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (then called the Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies) in 1996 and has served on that board for a total of nine years during which time he also served a two-year term as President of IAJGS. Howard was also Chairman, or a committee member, of a number of special IAJGS committees.
At the 2008 International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Chicago, Howard was awarded the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award.
Howard has lectured in various parts of the world on genealogical topics. He has written numerous articles for Avotaynu, JGS newsletters, and Jewish newspapers.
Howard is considered one of the foremost authorities on Lithuanian genealogical research. Over the years he has acquired many thousands of records for LitvakSIG, BelarusSIG, as well as for JewishGen.
Howard has organized and led thirteen different group trips to Lithuania. Seventy five per cent of his group members (almost 300 individuals) were not involved in genealogical research before they took the trip but many of them became involved afterwards. The trips also afforded the opportunity for a number of survivors to return to Lithuania for the first time; something they would not have done on their own.
Howard also travels to Lithuania for humanitarian purposes. He and his wife, through their American Fund For Lithuanian-Latvian Jews, Inc. are major supporters to the Jewish soup kitchens in Vilnius and in Siauliai, the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Historical Museum in Vilnius, the Jewish community of Panevezys, and the Bikur Holim Jewish hospital in Riga, Latvia.
