Registration for the CGS Research Trip to Washington DC is now open!

Join the California Genealogical Society's president Linda Harms Okazaki on a research trip to the National Archives in Washington DC and College Park MD, plus the library at the Daughters of the American Revolution.  An additional day is planned for research at the Library of Congress.  Attendees may register for an optional lecture at USCIS (United States Immigration and Citizenship Services). 

Trip details

• Guests will stay eight nights at the Holiday Inn, Rosslyn. 
• Two group dinners are planned, taking place on November 13 and 20. 
• Guests will provide their own transportation to the DC area, as well as their own transportation within the city (metro, taxi), plus meals excluding the group dinners.
• Transportation to College Park, MD will be provided. 
• Orientation sessions will be offered in August and September to help attendees prepare for the trip.
• The trip will be co-led by professional genealogist Victoria Kinnear (Sunday through Thursday). 
• Certified genealogist, Darcie Hind Posz, will offer one-hour consultations on Sunday and will assist researchers Monday through Wednesday.
• This trip is suitable for intermediate researchers, and above.

Victoria Kinnear

Victoria Kinnear, owner of My Ancestors Lived Here, is a professional genealogist with deep Maryland roots. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the Maryland Genealogical Society. She is also President of the North Capital Area Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists and Registrar for the Mary Young Pickersgill Chapter of the Daughters of 1812. 

Victoria has researched for television shows including Henry Lewis Gates’ Finding Your Roots and Genealogy Roadshow for the past two seasons. Victoria completed the Boston University Certificate course in Genealogy and GENFED.

Darcie Hind Posz

Darcie Hind Posz, CG, is a genealogist, author and researcher. Recipient of the ASG Scholar Award, she has authored articles that have been published in The Nugget, The Genealogist, National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and The American Genealogist. 

What's the cost?

• $1895 for a single room

• $1275 for a double room

*Please add $40 if you are not a member of The California Genealogical Society 

Payment in full is required and refunds cannot be issued after October 1. Trip insurance is always recommended.  

Please indicate your roommate choice, if you are traveling with a researching companion. If you would like to share a room, we will do our best to assign a roommate. **If a roommate is not available, there is a chance you will be assigned to a single room at the single rate.

What else might I do in D.C.?

Some guests might want to visit the Smithsonian’s new African American Museum slated to open in September or the Japanese American Exhibit at the National Museum of American History.

Ready to join us?  Great, sign-up today and be a part of this amazing trip---we hope to see you there!

Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society

National Institute on Genealogical Research

Two CGS board members attended last month's National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR), an intensive program at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington D.C. According to the NIGR Web site, this year's program focused on "commonly used immigration, military, land, cartographic, African-American, and non-population census records." In addition to the core lectures and presentations, the program includes one day at Archives II in College Park, Maryland, and optional evening sessions at the Library of Congress (LOC) and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library.

CGS News editor, Jane Hufft, sent this report:

It was a great six days – absolutely exhausting, I might add, because of the heat, the distance between NARA and the hotel, the time change, and the daunting schedule of classes and field trips. Our plane was delayed six hours in Pittsburgh and we arrived after midnight EDT having risen that morning on California time at 4:00 a.m. Were I to do it again I would go one or two days early, stay one day after, and have my own laptop as the hotel charged hugely for access to their computers. You are expected to be able to manage in DC on your own for transportation and meals and they did not do much shepherding, partly because a number of people are local. Walking shoes, cash, and sun gear are mandatory, and I wished I had a small rolling backpack for the daily trek.

The classes are impressive and well-organized – NIGR goes all out to get the best people who lecture on specialized areas of NARA holdings. Attendees are provided with a binder containing notes and outlines on the lectures, with bibliographies and references. Class members are expected to have some genuine experience in genealogy – half of those in the group were professionals, the other half long time dedicated researchers who brought a variety of backgrounds to the class of about forty. It's not for beginners. Once you have completed the week, you are set to dive into the holdings of three of the premier facilities in DC. As part of the process we obtained readers' cards at both NARA and LOC. (The security process is long and tedious at both places for exit and entry – not for the impatient.) I felt at the end that I finally understood what NARA has, does, and can offer to a researcher.

Jane Hufft at the DAR Library, Washington D.C.

I had never been to the DAR library, so the half day there was like a few minutes in a candy shop. There was a field trip to Archives II in Maryland – the behind-the-scenes tour of this new, beautiful facility that is the second largest federal building in the U.S. was breathtaking – we saw the modern, rolling, closed stacks and had a tour of the conservation floor, where we were face to face with Washington's farewell address, yellowed and so readable in his clear handwriting, which is being conserved, and saw how five wallets from Confederate soldiers are being protected in a specially constructed hand-made box so that researchers can see them and access copies of what the wallets contained when they were found. It was a fabulous experience from start to finish.

Jane Hufft is the editor of the CGS News and serves on the board and the publications committee. Diving into such a demanding program comes naturally to Jane who has thirty-six years of experience in education as a teacher, project manager and administrator.

Next year's National Institute on Genealogical Research will be held July 12-17, 2009.

Photograph courtesy of Lavinia Grace Schwarz.