Jeremy G. Berry-Cahn
PRESIDENT
Jeremy Berry-Cahn serves as President on the board of the São Jorge Genealogical Society. He co-founded the organization in 2016 to assist those researching their lineage on the island, and has overseen all of the society’s indexing and digitization initiatives since that time. Jeremy holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from California State University Sacramento, and a Master’s in Archives and Preservation Management (MLIS) from Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts. He also holds a professional certification from the Academy of Certified Archivists.
As an archivist and avid genealogist Jeremy particularly enjoys evaluating the integrity and completeness of popular archival sources. He has authored several works in peer-reviewed journals which investigate the clerical and procedural errors impacting the reliability of documents such as censuses, tax rolls, vital statistics, and draft registration records. While in Sacramento, Jeremy worked as a student assistant for the Collections Management Unit of the California State Archives. He currently serves as an Archivist for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Mass. State Archives) as well as municipal archivist to a Town Clerk’s Office, and is heavily involved with numerous Historical Societies in both Essex and Middlesex Counties.
Jeremy belongs to the Society of American Archivists, New England Archivists, Connecticut Society for Professional Genealogists, National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Mayflower Society, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Daguerreian Society of Early American Photography, and numerous other historical and genealogical organizations. He previously served as a project manager and committee chairman for US GenWeb, and volunteered as a Family History Center research consultant. In his free time, Jeremy also enjoys writing Freedom of Information Law requests to help facilitate access to genealogical records, and helping to preserve 17th and 18th century graveyards in New England.
Jeremy’s Azorean ancestors came to Morro Bay, California in the 1870’s and 1880’s where they operated a number of dairy farms. The majority of his Portuguese ancestors were from Calheta, Ribeira Seca, Manadas, and Norte Pequeno São Jorge, though he also has lines in Topo, São Jorge, Flamengos Faial, Castelo Branco, Faial, Bandeiras, Pico, Santa Luzia, Pico, Angra, Terceira, and Sé, Terceira.
Areas of Interest in the Azores: Calheta, Ribeira Seca, Manadas, and Norte Pequeno São Jorge