Old San Francisco Cemetery Records

Saturday, October 17, 2009
11 a.m.–1 p.m.
San Francisco Main Library
Latino/Hispanic Room B
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, California 94102

Our own Nancy Peterson, Research Director for the California Genealogical Society and Library presents Old San Francisco Cemetery Records as part of the One City One Book September Events line-up at the San Francisco Main Library.

Her lecture will answer questions about San Francisco’s old cemeteries – Where did the bodies go and what records followed them? Who and what was left behind and never moved at all?

Nancy tells me that she will spend some time on "determining the date of death in order to locate the correct old cemetery." She's created a summary handout of available records so she can concentrate her talk on "the colorful history of disinterment and reinterment (and no disinterment)" in the second hour of her presentation.

Nancy Simons Peterson is a certified genealogist and author of numerous articles. She won the Society of Genealogists Scholar Award in 2003. Her narrative genealogy Guarded Pasts: The Lives and Offspring of Colonel George and Clara (Baldwin) Bomford was the winning entry in the 1998 National Genealogical Society Family History Writing Contest and is used as an example of quality work in the NGS Quarterly style on the Board for Certification of Genealogists Web site.

Nancy's search for her maternal San Francisco ancestors led ultimately to the publication of Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research, published by the society in 2006 to coincide with the centennial of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.

As Research Director, Nancy provides expert assistance for members and non-members alike. The charge is $30 per hour ($20 for members) which covers research time, analysis, documentation and a report. Rarely can one obtain the services of a certified genealogist at such bargain prices, and, as with the proceeds from her book, all monies collected benefit the society.

Photograph of the old IOOF Cemetery is part of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, used for this promotion with permission of Christina Moretta, Photo Curator, San Francisco Main Library.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
Anne Robinson

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, Oakland, California, 7/22/2009.

Celebrate October Family History Month

For nearly a decade, October has been celebrated as Family History Month among genealogy enthusiasts. The California Genealogical Society and Library will celebrate by hosting beginning to advanced genealogy seminars throughout the month.

Topics range from organizing and performing basic genealogical research to a special workshop on the whys and hows of genealogy blogs. Friday and Saturday lunchtime sessions at the library are open to the public and free of charge.

During the entire month of October, the society library waives the usage fee for non-members and opens its doors to the public without charge.

The full menu of Family History Month October 2009 offerings is listed on the Events flier.

The society's complete schedule of classes, workshops and consultations can be always be found on the Google calendar at the society Web site: http://calgensoc.org/

Announcing the CGS Manuscript Collection

Please come to the California Genealogical Society Library this Saturday, September 12, 2009, at 12:30 p.m. and join us at an open house to celebrate the completion of the Manuscript Collection Project. Light refreshments will be served. There will be a five to ten minute presentation about the project at 1:00 p.m. at the start of the membership meeting.

The CGS Manuscript Collection consists of loose papers, research and family history material totaling ninety linear feet which have been donated to the society over its 111 year history. A comprehensive review and organization of the collection has recently been completed by member volunteers Pat Bonderud and Linda Darby. All materials have been cataloged and a comprehensive document has been created to describe the society's holdings. Thanks to a generous grant by the BayTree Fund, all items are now arranged on open shelving in a separate room at the library and the documents are stored using acid-free and museum quality archival enclosures.

Pat Bonderud, Judy Avery and Linda Darby.

Besides the preservation of materials, it is the intent of the society to open the collection to interested researchers. A twenty-three page inventory is available in pdf format at the society website on the Searchable Databases page. It includes a synopsis of each collection and provides enough information to help you determine if further examination of a manuscript is beneficial to your research. Individual collections may be viewed at the library by appointment once a team of volunteers is identified who will oversee the collection.

If you are interested in helping the society offer this new service, please email CGS.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

A Few Good Men
Bill O'Neil, David Lowndes, Tom Gesner

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey, May 10, 2008, Oakland, California.