April Membership Meeting: Preserving Your Genealogical Work Through Publishing

Saturday, April 13, 2013
12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society Library

2201 Broadway, Suite LL2

Oakland, CA 94612

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month so please join us for a celebration of volunteerism at next month's membership meeting.

Volunteer Coordinator Linda Okazaki and Membership Coordinator Diana Edwards are launching a new membership meeting format that starts with lunch and a social hour. Members are invited to bring a bag lunch to the Sherman Room at noon for a chance to catch up with friends and get to know new members. Beverages and desserts will be provided. Come and celebrate the spirit of volunteerism within our society.

The business meeting will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. with a brief ceremony to honor our longest serving volunteers. This will be followed by this month's focus: Preserving Your Genealogical Work Through Publishing. Members who have published genealogical books, articles, and other materials are invited to bring them to the meeting. You will not be required to give a presentation. Come and get inspired to publish your research by browsing through the examples created by our members. Please email Diana Edwards if you have a work to share.

We look forward to a vibrant and fun event!

And take a look at our new Books by CGS Members board on Pinterest!



Future membership meetings for the year will be held:

• Saturday, July 13, 2013
• Saturday, October 12, 2013

Please save the dates!

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.


Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

New Pinterest Board: Books by Our Members

Membership Coordinator Diana Edwards and Volunteer Coordinator Linda Okazaki are busy making plans for the April membership meeting. The theme will be: Preserving Your Genealogical Work through Publishing.

Members who have published genealogical books, articles, and other materials are invited to bring them to the meeting on Saturday, April 13, 2013. Please email Diana Edwards if you have a work to share. You will not be required to give a presentation.

In anticipation the meeting, we've added the new Books by CGS Members board to Pinterest.

We'll have more about the April meeting as the date approaches.


Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Member Blog Roll: No Longer a Lonely Place

CGS Member Blogs are listed at the bottom of the right sidebar. From the time the blog started in November 2007, this space was reserved for links to blogs authored by members of the California Genealogical Society. For the first couple of years genealogy blogging was in its infancy and the member blog roll was a very lonely place. Five years later we are proud to feature fifty member blogs!

As I recall, blogs by Jennifer Regan and Lois Elling were some of the earliest listed.

Three of our members, Lavinia Schwarz, Chris Pattillo, and Craig Siulinski, started their blogs after attending a "how-to" workshop by Thomas MacEntee and Craig Manson in October 2009. In early 2011 Craig Siulinski taught his own blogging workshop and several more members started blogs.

Many of the first to be added weren't new blogs, they were well-established by well-known genealogy bloggers who became CGS members. Thanks to my blogging buddies for your membership in the California Genealogical Society: Amy Coffin, Sheri Fenley, Denise Levenick, Thomas MacEntee, Craig Manson, Elizabeth O'Neal, Cheryl Palmer and Kim von Aspern-Parker.

Three of our directors have blogs listed in the roll.

I know of two blogs started by members in 2012.

Quesnell & Poole Families in South Africa is about the research Mary Beth Frederick has done on her husband's family. Blogging is a way for her share information with family without writing a formal printed family history which she feels is "too daunting – and it's bound to be full of mistakes that can't be corrected until the next edition."

Linda Harms Okazaki blogs about her family, genealogy, and gardening in Linda's Orchard. I've really been enjoying her recent entries about her husband's Japanese ancestry and their trip to Japan.

Please take the time to explore the blog roll and enjoy reading the genealogical discoveries of your fellow society members.

Have I missed anyone? I'm sure there are more members of the California Genealogical Society who are blogging. If you are a member and your blog isn't listed, please leave a comment and the url so I can add your blog to the list.


Copyright © 2012 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

The Ancestry and Descendancy of Thomas Frost of Hebron, Connecticut

It's always a pleasure to write about the publication of a new genealogy by one of our members and it's especially nice when the member is one of our hard-working volunteers. So it is with double pleasure, and a great deal of amazement, that I introduce the new two-volume work by Larry Youngman,
The Ancestry and Descendancy of Thomas Frost of Hebron, Connecticut.

The two volumes are a culmination of three years work by Larry but also a lifetime of work by his co-author, the late Evelyn Annis Frost Baum Rush. Larry and Evelyn were introduced by a third Frost cousin, Harriette Froid. All three joined forces and expanded their research efforts to include other branches of the Frost family. After Harriette's death, Evelyn and Larry agreed to be joint compilers of this book.

Larry and Evelyn built upon initial research conducted by Josephine C. Stillman Frost whose work, The Frost Genealogy, was published in 1912. Co-author Evelyn Rush devoted her "golden years" to the project and amassed an enormous amount of research material. Over a fifty-year period, hundreds of family members had submitted information to Evelyn who did not live to see the finished work. Prior to her death in October 2010, at the age of 90, Evelyn sent Larry her entire collection of books, source documents, and research – a total of 4,900 lbs. in 185 boxes! Larry combined her research with his, and transcribed all of it into his database.

The result is a fully-indexed, two-volume hard-bound set, with more than 980 pages, documenting the ancestors of Thomas Frost (1718-1798) of Hebron, Connecticut, and his descendants. Included are over 1,000 photos of family members.

In the forward, Youngman reflects back upon the journey "and upon the impact of the marriage of Thomas and Abigail Frost. The result of this union has directly impacted the lives of the over 7,000 descendants during the following 260 years as documented in this work."

Volume I includes: Preface, Introductions, Acknowledgements / Frequently Used Reference Book Titles / Part I - Thomas Frost of the Kennebec / Part II - The Second Generation / Part III - The Third Generation - Thomas Frost (1718 - 1798) / Part IV - The Fourth and Later Generations.

Volume II is a continuation of Part IV – The Fourth and Later Generations. For a complete list of the major surnames in the work, visit Larry’s website: Thomas Frost Family.

Larry Youngman has been conducting genealogy research for over thirty-five years, and has published ten lineage books covering the mid-1400's through present day. He is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Mayflower Society of California, the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the California Genealogical Society, where he serves as the webmaster for their site, CaliforniaAncestors.org. Youngman conducts professional research via his website GenealogyPro.

The Ancestry and Descendancy of Thomas Frost of Hebron, Connecticut is available for purchase at Youngman’s Lulu bookstore.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

A Special Wedding Gift: The Pattillo Family History

Earlier this year, then-Vice President Chris Pattillo shared her Genealogy Addiction with readers. Chris was in a race with the clock to finish another family history book in time for a family wedding.

I'm pleased to announce that Chris finished on time and published The Pattillo Family History with Stover, Drake, Gaines, Land and Ward Ancestors. She brought a copy to "Creative Ways to Share and Write Your Family History Research" – one of the Thursday evening discussions this summer.

Chris was able to make her deadline thanks to the assistance of Ernie Grafe. Originally, she had intended to learn InDesign and do all the production work herself. She notes: "Since I had such a short time to write, edit and produce the book (only 4 months), I wisely made the decision to work with Ernie, an editor/producer who I met while taking an InDesign class and whose services I have since utilized for my business." Chris advises it's okay to use help: "It's not cheating and frees one to concentrate on the research and writing."

The Pattillo Family History with Stover, Drake, Gaines, Land and Ward Ancestors

From the back cover:

About the Author
I am the great-granddaughter of James William Pattillo and Carrie Brooks Stover, granddaughter of Lewis Wood and daughter of James Edward Pattillo. This is my fourth family history publication, but not the last. I have been interested in genealogy since the mid-1960s. I joined the California Genealogical Society (CGS), based in downtown Oakland, in 2004. In the summer of 2010 I took a month off and immersed myself in family history research. I learned many new research techniques and was finding a lot of new information. Using the Melba Crosse book and other family trees found online, I was able to take our family back several more generations. I knew I would want to publish another book and share this information with the rest of our family, but the question was, when? Your “Save the Date” postcard gave me the answer. Since it arrived I have been possessed, and devoted most of my free time to continuing my research and writing this book. During my month off, and since, I have learned a tremendous amount about how to do genealogy research. The members of CGS have been generous and patient in guiding me along — particularly Jane Lindsey, Vinnie Schwarz and Judy Bodycote. I am grateful for their help, passion and inspiration.

Congratulations, Chris, and thanks for the tips.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Portraits of Our Patriots: Stories of Revolutionary War Ancestors

It's always a great pleasure to announce publication of a member's book so this time it's quadruply special. Four of the eight authors of Portraits of Our Patriots: Stories of  Revolutionary War Ancestors are members of the California Genealogical Society – Millianne (Peirano) Lehman, Linda Longley, Mary Mettler and Terri Taylor.

L to R: Annette Litle, Cathy McCausland, Carol Yenne, Terri Taylor and Mary Mettler. Not shown: Joan Evans, Millie Lehman and Linda Longley.

The eight writers are members of the San Francisco DAR La Puerta de Oro San Francisco Chapter who tell the stories of fifteen of their Patriots, "recounting with as much detail as possible the events they and their families endured in the years during and surrounding the American Revolution." A genealogical summary covering the patriot and his family is provided at the end of each chapter which includes source references.

Mary Mettler has generously donate one copy to the CGS Library. She is the author of the two chapters on her ancestors Cephas Kent Sr. and Cephas Kent Jr. Mary chronicled some of her KENT research in as Tuesday Tales for this blog.

Congratulations, Mary, to you and all of your fellow authors!

Contents:

1. Bladen Ashby by Carol Yenne
2. John Blair by Millianne (Peirano) Lehman
3. John Chatham and William Chatham by Catherine McCausland
4. John Chilton by Carol Yenne
5. Stephen Fischer by Terri Taylor
6. David French Millianne (Peirano) Lehman
7. Lewis L. Humphreys by Joan Reumah Evans
8. Cephas Kent, Sr. by Mary A. Mettler
9. Cephas Kent, Jr. by Mary A. Mettler
10. Abraham Kitchel by Jim Cooper and Annette Cooper Litle
11. John Lamb by Mary A. Mettler
12. Jonathan Langley by Linda Longley
13. Roger McPike by Carol Yenne and Max McPike
14. Onesimus Whitehead by Millianne (Peirano) Lehman

Portraits of Our Patriots: Stories of Revolutionary War Ancestors
Hardcover, 246 pages, published 2011

There are a limited number available for purchase for $20 plus postage. Proceeds go to the San Francisco NSDAR chapter, La Puerta de Oro.

La Puerta de Oro San Francisco Chapter consists of four DAR chapters that merged—the oldest of these, the Sequoia Chapter, was founded on Dec 10, 1891. Their mission is to promote the objects of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.


Photographs courtesy of Mary Mettler.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

New Member Book – The Nilson Family: From Jönköping to America

I can't imagine a more satisfying feeling than holding your just-published genealogy in your hand. It's got to be so much better than the genealogy happy-dance we all do when we find a long-lost someone or we break down a brick wall. Luckily, belonging to an active genealogical society means that some well-organized members get the job done and bring their finished tomes to the library to share their success (and donate a copy). That's what happened at the March board of directors meeting when our newest board member and recording secretary, Lisa Gorrell, brought a copy of The Nilson Family: From Jönköping to America.

Lisa Gorrell

The Nilson Family is the story of four siblings who came to the United States from Åsenhöga, Jönköping, Sweden in the 1880s and two generations of their children and grandchildren. The book describes a total of forty-three descendants with narrative stories and photos. Lisa also included information about the parents and the two siblings who remained in Sweden.

Lisa did most of the research on her husband's maternal family online, using Ancestry, FamilySearch and Genline, as well as that old standby – writing many letters. She started the project four years ago with some help from her husband's aunt who had a collection of family documents. Family members provided additional information and their stories as well. The Nielson Family is fully documented and has an every name index. 

The Nilson Family: From Jönköping to America

Lisa designed the book layout using Adobe InDesign and she chose to have it printed by BYU Print and Mail because they offered an option to print both black-and-white and color pages.

Congratulations, Lisa!


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Member Book - Letters From the Storm: Civil War Letters of Lt. J.A.H. Foster

One of the member authors who will be with us at our upcoming Autumn Book Launch is Linda Foster Arden. Arden recently published Letters from the Storm: The Intimate Civil War Letters of Lt. J.A.H. Foster, 155th Pennsylvania Volunteers about her great-great grandparents, Mary Jane Strain and John Alexander Hastings Foster. Married in 1858, they lived in Rural Valley, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

The book features one hundred transcribed letters written from 1862 through 1865 by Lieutenant Foster, mostly to his wife Mary Jane, set against the background of all the major Civil War battles involving the Army of the Potomac, 5th Corp.

Skillfully interspersed with Linda Arden's commentary about the events and situations of the era, these letters are a time capsule of the mid-nineteenth century. In many respects, Foster's letters mirror the comments made by soldiers on both sides: their efforts to seek comfort with news from home, their litany of complaints about the rigors of camp and battle, and their descriptions of men and events on the front lines.

Linda Foster Arden holds a B.S. and M.S. in mathematics from Eastern Michigan University and California State University-Hayward. For thirty-five years, Ms. Arden worked for major corporations as an information technology consultant, responsible for project management and acquisition negotiations. She lives with her husband, Ted Arden, a retired American history teacher, who helped her conceive the idea for this book. While doing much of the research and writing, they lived for two summers on a 150-year-old farm in Western Pennsylvania. Currently she lives in Clayton, California, at the foot of Mt. Diablo, where she enjoys reading, camping, working on family history and genealogy, and being a grandmother to Samantha. 

Letters from the Storm: The Intimate Civil War Letters of Lt. J.A.H. Foster, 155th Pennsylvania Volunteers
2010 by Linda Foster Arden; Edited by Dr. Walter L. Powell.  
Indexed, 53 illustrations and photos 365 pages, 7 x 10 soft cover
Price: $29.95


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Member Book - The California Snatch Racket: Kidnappings During the Prohibition and Depression Eras

CGS member James R. Smith is busy promoting his newest book:

The California Snatch Racket: Kidnappings During the Prohibition and Depression Eras

Bringing a dark and forgotten era into vivid life, this fascinating history explores a booming criminal enterprise that was spawned in California in the 1920s and 1930s. Exposing a spree of kidnappings referred to as the “snatch racket,” true accounts of the crimes and the unfortunate victims are revealed. Driven by greed, desperation, or sheer stupidity, this detailed discussion explains that the ransom artists preyed indiscriminately on Hollywood socialites, wealthy heiresses, and even the poor—while each new disappearance brought new headlines and sales to the newspaper companies.

Illustrating the manner in which even the simplest capers would often run tragically awry, fifteen bizarre and often ironic tales are presented, including how a modern city rose to lynch a pair of kidnappers, the college kids who chose to imitate Leopold and Loeb, and the famed evangelist who faked her own abduction to cover up an affair. Early forensic techniques are described, including the first documented call tracing using a bevy of operators in a phone chain, as well as the birth of the modern symbiotic relationship between the news media and high-profile crime, demonstrating how the sensationalism of personal tragedy became a source for increased media sales.

Jim is also the author of San Francisco's Lost Landmarks, published in 2004.


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Jacob Workman Gesner of New Brunswick and Massachusetts

Inevitably, no matter the geographical region or ethnicity of interest, every genealogist comes to the same fork-in-the-road dilemma: keep researching or publish? When is the right time to stop the hunt and just start writing?

For Tom Gesner, the decision was helped along by some of his colleagues at the California Genealogical Society. Tom attended Hints On Publishing Your Family History, presented almost two years ago by Shirley Thomson, Jane Lindsey and Matt Berry. Tom concluded then that writing a book was something he could "really do."

The tangible result is Jacob Workman Gesner of New Brunswick and Massachusetts: His Ancestry and Descendants Through Three Generations. Jacob (1835-1920) was Tom's great-great grandfather. Tom estimates Jacob has hundreds of descendants.

A donated copy of the book sits on the shelves of the library and in it Tom has written, "In appreciation of the many helpful suggestions by CGS members, Tom Gesner, 15 Oct 2009." Tom told me that he  also found Matt Berry's Microsoft Word Skills for Genealogists workshops extremely useful and he acknowledges Verne Deubler's support and helpful information.

The CGS Library holds one other GESNER title: The Gesner Family of New York and Nova Scotia: Together with Some Notes Concerning the Families of Bogardus, Brower, Ferdon, and Pineo by Anthon Temple Gesner. Written in 1912, Tom notes that the book details the story of the "progenitor of the North American Gesners" Johann Heinrich Gesner, who arrived at New Amsterdam in 1710.  Tom's book is a continuation of one branch of the family.

Jacob Workman Gesner of New Brunswick and Massachusetts: His Ancestry and Descendants Through Three Generations, Thomas G. Gesner, Emeryville, California : Brookside Publishing, 2009.
ix, 112 p. : ill., ports., maps ; 23 cm. An account of the migration of Jacob Gesner and his children from New Brunswick to Fall River, Mass. $25. Available from Tom Gesner, P.O. Box 99281, Emeryville, CA 94662.


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Wanted! U.S. Criminal Records by Ron Arons

CGS member Ron Arons has announced the release of his second book, Wanted! U.S. Criminal Records: Sources and Research Methodology.

Following up on the success of The Jews of Sing-Sing, Ron shares the knowledge he gleaned while investigating his great-grandfather's time in the slammer. He's bundled his experience collecting source documents for his first book into a unique resource for genealogists and historians. As he tells it, the first book was about putting the pieces of his family puzzle together. This new work tells us "how to find the pieces."

WANTED! is a 388-page reference that lists archives, libraries, courts and online sites with the information you need to track down the black sheep in your family: prison, court, parole and pardon records, execution information, and investigative and police reports.

George Morgan gave Ron's book a great recommendedation during the Janurary 27, 2010 Genealogy Guys Podcast #195 and summed it up by saying, "Every public library ought to have a copy of this book." I hope Ron will be donating one to the California Genealogical Society Library. What do you say, Ron?

Ron's book can be purchased through his website.

Member Spotlight: Marston Watson

One of the speakers at the upcoming Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree is CGS member Marston Watson who will be presenting "Internet Research: Joys and Pitfalls."
Watson comes from a long line of genealogists and was introduced to the pastime as a very young child when his father created a typewritten genealogy from the hand written notes and pedigree charts of Marston's grandfather and developed a clever way to reveal the next pedigree chart by cutting rectangular bars on each page with a razor blade.

But it wasn't until 1991 when he noticed one of the names on his chart in a book by Frederick Weis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists that he was hooked on genealogy forever. He learned about his royal ancestor, Governor Thomas Dudley and began recording his ancestor’s data on an early version of Roots III. Today he uses TMG and his genealogy has grown from about 300 names to over 30,000, including six more royal lines.

His thirst for uncovering his family genealogy led to the discovery of Mayflower lines, colonial physicians, colonial governors, sixteen more Revolutionary War ancestors, and participants in the colonial wars. Each of these discoveries led to his acceptance in the related hereditary societies.

A member of the Sons of the American Revolution since 1967 and past president of the San Francisco Chapter, Watson was one of six compatriots to receive the prestigious Minuteman Award at the NSSAR Congress on Monday evening, July 6 in Atlanta, Georgia. It it their hightest honor and no more than six candidates are selected each year among 28,000 members.

His SAR California membership of nearly forty-two years includes his election as Oakland Chapter (now Thomas Jefferson Chapter) president and state secretary in 1968, state vice president in 1969 and state president in 1970.

Marston and wife Kathy joined the California Genealogical Society in 1993 and have been desk duty volunteers at CGS for many years. Kathy currently also serves on the computer and website committees. They are very much involved at the national level of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion as co-editors of the Journal. They have both been invested into the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem and traveled to the Holy Land in November, 2007. He is the Grand Editeur of the national journal and she is the Grand Webmaster for the Order.

A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Watson spent his youth there and in Houston, Texas and completed his last two years of high school in Burlingame, California. He received his bachelor degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

He was a freelance writer for eighteen years with the Contra Costa Times and was a columnist there for eight years on the subject of job search. Marston has contributed articles to a number of national genealogical publications including The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Mayflower Descendant and SAR Magazine. He has written several books on royal ancestry and other genealogical volumes.

Member Book: The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley

Read any good fiction lately? How about some with a genealogy theme?

A few years ago, genealogist-extraordinare Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak wrote a series of articles for the 24/7 Family History blog about her pursuit of mysteries, cozies and other books with a genealogical theme. I haven't yet cozied up to any of Megan's suggestions and lately it seems that everything I read is on a computer (or iPhone) screen but all that may change this week.

On Thursday night I'll be heading to my favorite neighborhood bookstore to meet a new CGS member. Author Christina Sunley will be reading from her first novel, The Tricking of Freya, at A Great Good Place For Books.

What is her novel about? I hope Christina doesn't mind if I let her tell us in her own words. (You can read more at her blog.)

It’s about a young woman obsessed with unraveling a family secret that takes her all the way to Iceland.

It’s about turning your back on the past, then discovering years later that you can’t move forward in life without coming to terms with your own history.

It’s about forgiving the very family members who have hurt you most deeply.

It’s about being influenced by ancestors who died long before you were born.

It’s about writing your way to redemption.

Christina Sunley
The Tricking of Freya

Thursday, June 11, 2009
7:00 p.m.

A Great Good Place For Books
6120 LaSalle Avenue
Oakland, CA 94611

A Most Dreadful Earthquake

One hundred two years ago today, at 5:12 a.m., the earth shook in San Francisco and Sarah E. Phillips was "awaked by a most dreadful earthquake.” Thus began a series of letters Sarah wrote to her fiancé in Schenectady, New York, chronicling the days and weeks of the aftermath.

Almost one hundred years later, a ribbon-bound packet of forty faded letters, still in their original envelopes, was found in a misplaced box at the California Genealogical Society, with little to identify the writers or explain how the letters came there.

Author Dorothy Fowler, a researcher and long-time volunteer at the society, happened to be on hand when the letters turned up. She took on the challenge of researching and editing the letters and was the sole author of a book published by the society to coincide with the earthquake centennial. The vast number of hours required in researching and writing the book were contributed by her to the society.

Dorothy is a gifted writer with long experience in various publications. Much of her work life was spent in research, writing and administrative jobs, mainly for the state of California. She is now retired and lives in San Francisco.

Two years ago when promoting the book, Dorothy was a guest of radio personality John Rothmann on his KGO Radio 810 AM talk show. Dorothy did several readings from A Most Dreadful Earthquake: A First-Hand Account of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire before Rothmann closed with these remarks:

"I'm going to tell you that every April 18th, for as long as I live, I'm going to pick up your book, and I'm going to re-read it. And the reason I'm going to re-read it is because of the vivid, powerful expressions. You've given us a great gift... and you've preserved history. And for that we are all very grateful, Dorothy."

We are indeed. Mr. Rothmann, have you done your reading this year?

Chinese-American Research

The January/Februay 2008 issue of Ancestry Magazine is a "special research edition" featuring twelve genealogy "superheroes" who have expertise in ethnic research including: German, French-Canadian, African-American, Italian, Chinese, Polish, Scots-Irish, Native-American, Mexican, Slovak, Scandinavian and Dutch. Each of the specialists had 600 words to answer a case-study research question pertinent to their area. CGS member, Jeanie W. Chooey Low, is the featured author of "From East to West: Researching Chinese Ancestry" on pages 28-29 of the magazine.

Low, a second generation Chinese-American and a native San Franciscan, wrote China Connection: Finding Ancestral Roots for Chinese in America, a compact guide for those interested in doing Chinese family research in the United States. She is bilingual and holds degrees in Library Technology and Chinese Studies and has presented workshops at conferences for the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the Chinese Historical Society of America and San Francisco State University's Asian American Studies Department.

Ms. Low has been an active member of "Save Our National Archives" SONA, an ad hoc group formed in 1998 when the Regional NARA were threatened with closure. The group has spent ten years advocating for the preservation of the California Alien Files (A-Files) and Jeanie reports that their efforts were successful thanks to the support of Congressman Tom Lantos. Approximately one million Alien case files, which can each contain up to 100 pages of precious family documents, will be preserved and become available for research.

In addition to advocacy work, lecturing and research, Jeanie is also an award-winning quilt artist. She has developed her own techniques and finds that quilting allows for another avenue to express her love of family history. Pictured is one of her quilts which contains four generations of family photographs.

Jeanie accepts clients interested in her expertise in Chinese-American genealogy or in 20th century immigration research for any ethnicity. She can be reached by email at wongyen@comcast.net or by snail mail to: J.W.C. Low Company, Post Office Box 472012, San Francisco, California 94147.