Their Roots Are Showing! Three Bay Area Celebs Find Out Who They Are

Saturday, October 26, 2013
7:00 p.m. Silent Auction of celebrity-signed memorabilia
8:00 p.m. Curtain Up!

Del Valle Theatre
1963 Tice Valley Blvd.
Walnut Creek, California 94595

Join us for an evening of excitement and surprise as we uncover the family histories of three Bay Area celebrities. Billy Beane, Vice President and General Manager of the Oakland Athletics; Natalie Coughlin, winner of twelve Olympic medals and the most decorated female medalist of all time; and Tim “Herb” Alexander, drummer for Grammy-nominated rock band Primus, will journey up their family trees before a live local audience.

Inspired by the television series, Who Do You Think You Are?, Their Roots are Showing promises to be an entertaining look at the ancestors’ lives of our three special guests. Whether you’re a genealogy novice, expert or have no interest in it at all, you won't want to miss Billy Beane, Natalie Coughlin and Tim Alexander on their special night of discovery as they learn more about their family’s past.

Hosting the event will be Gianna Franco-Sutter, producer and television and radio reporter for CBS-5, 95.7 FM, and KCBS 740. Gianna will guide us through our celebrity's family history stories.

Download the event flier.

Buy tickets now!


William "Billy" Beane is Vice President and General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. Prior to his front office career, he played major league baseball as an outfielder. He joined the A's front office as a scout in 1990, and was named General Manager after the 1997 season. Beane is the subject of Michael Lewis' 2003 best-selling book on baseball economics, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, which was made into a 2011 film starring Brad Pitt as Beane.



Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall is an American competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. In 2008 Coughlin became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win a 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. She has won a total of forty-eight medals in major international competition, including twenty-one gold, seventeen silver, and ten bronze medals spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships.


Timothy W. "Herb" Alexander is an American musician, best known as the former drummer for the Grammy-nominated rock band Primus. He’s also ranked No. 16 in Rolling Stone’s "Top 100 Drummers of All Time." Following his departure from Primus, he went on to form his own group, Laundry. Currently, he’s designing and making Steam Punk style lamps and functional art made from found objects and scrap metals for his business Forging Designs. He’s also still involved with his first love of drumming, working as an instructor both online and in-person.

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

Genealogy Roadshow Nashville Debuts September 23, 2013

The San Francisco "studio" was in the Old Mint.

I scored a ticket to the taping of the new PBS series Genealogy Roadshow in San Francisco this summer at the Old Mint (thank you, Wendy!) and was able to watch two segments being filmed – one hosted by Kenyatta Berry and one with Josh Taylor.

Like Who Do You Think You Are, the new series is an import from the British Isles. Ireland's The Genealogy Roadshow was itself a spin-off of the popular Antiques Roadshow series. In the Irish version, the show sets up "in an historic building in an iconic location" and people turn up from the surrounding area seeking verification of family legends instead of valuation of family heirlooms.

Kenyatta Berry shares information with Lisa Gates and her two sons.

The American version of Roadshow was taped in four cities on four consecutive Sundays. Participants were selected in advance from applicants who submitted their questions using an online form. This gave researchers time to do the digging necessary to answer the questions posed by the "winning" applicants.

Josh Taylor reveals what researchers found about Cecilia Chen's family.

The series will air on Monday nights on following schedule:

• September 23, 2013 – Nashville
• September 30, 2013 – Detroit
• October 7, 2013 – San Francisco
• October 14, 2013 – Austin 

Locally, the show will air on KQED Channel 9 at 9:00 p.m., following Antiques Roadshow.

Much more about the taping was revealed in the July 25, 2013, San Francisco Chronicle article by Katharine Schwab. [Access may be limited to subscription holders.]

Photographs by Kathryn Doyle, 7/21/2013, San Francisco.


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

Report from FGS Conference 2013 in Fort Wayne, Indiana

The California Genealogical Society had a table at the recent Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) annual conference held August 21-24, 2013 in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Grand Wayne Convention Center. FGS makes it easy for even distant genealogy societies to have a presence in the exhibit hall as part of their Society Showcase. Thank you, Polly Kimmett and FGS, for the opportunity!

Door prize winner Diane Coleman is our newest member!

This year, participating societies were asked to provide door prizes. Attendees placed their tickets at the tables of their choice for a chance to win. The California Genealogical Society gave away a membership and three of our publications: The Insider's Guide to California Research, A Most Dreadful Earthquake, and Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research. Our winner, and newest member, is Patricia Coleman of Birmingham, Alabama.

Members Sandi Benward and Linda Darby stopped by our table for a photograph.

Only a few members were in attendance. Sandi Benward, Linda Darby, and Amy Coffin stopped by to visit.

Far-flung member Amy Coffin blogs for one of next year's host societies, Texas State Genealogical Society.

Next year's FGS Conference will be held August 22-30, 2014 in San Antonio Texas. FGS also announced their 2015 conference will be held in conjunction with RootsTech in Salt Lake City.

The Federation of Genealogical Societies was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS Forum magazine (filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference -- four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more visit FGS.org.

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

Two Degrees of Separation from a Genealogy Legend

Dick, friend Alba, and Charlotte (right) in 1954.

Lately I've been hearing more and more about people finding long-lost friends online through social media. Member volunteer Dick Rees found a friend and a connection to a genealogy legend.

Dick and Charlotte Cummings Douglas were good friends in high school in New Haven, Connecticut, but had lost track of each other during their college years. Earlier this year, they reconnected via email and caught up on their respective lives. When Dick told Charlotte of his genealogical work, she responded with this note:

When I was about 15, I had a summer job working as a copy holder for a quite elderly man (at least it seemed to me then) who published a genealogy journal. The articles were nothing but dates of birth and death, etc. Not much narrative, and lots of abbreviations. I would read aloud—including all punctuation—and he would follow along on the proofs. He had a marvelous house on the beach in Branford, and we would work on the screened porch. Sometimes we would take a swim at noon, and sometimes play ping-pong when work was over. I wish I could remember his name. His journal was supposed to be well recognized in the field.

Dick responded to Charlotte that her description sounded very much like Donald Lines Jacobus. Charlotte confirmed that Dick's guess was correct and she wrote reminisces of a summer job held more than sixty years ago.

I got the job because my aunt, my mother's sister, prepared Jacobus's meals that summer. (I never heard him called anything else but Jacobus.) Where they met I do not know, but she lived in the Westville section of New Haven, and he seemed to be known in the area. My aunt kept a boat moored somewhere in Branford. Mornings I would drive with her to Branford, she would busy herself in the kitchen, and we would leave around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. She left his dinner ready in the kitchen. I suppose her presence made it okay for a young girl to spend the day alone with a mature man. He was never anything other than gracious, and we got along well. 

When there was time, we did sometimes talk about genealogy, and about publishing the journal. He explained why many of the narratives (if that is what you call them) were anonymous, i.e. did not mention the name of the person they were about. And about "skeletons in the closet" and so on. But most of our day was spent on the proofs. He liked the fact that I read well, and made few mistakes.

Charlotte's employer the summer of 1951 was genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus (1887-1970). He was a prolific author and the founder and editor of the New Haven Genealogical Magazine, later The American Genealogist. At the start of the 2012 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy Course—"Advanced Genealogical Methods"—Dr. Thomas Jones called Jacobus "the father of the scientific school of genealogy."


The first person inducted into the National Genealogy Hall of Fame, Jacobus was the author of the classic text, Genealogy as Pastime and Profession, originally published in 1930. The second edition (1968) is still considered to be required reading for genealogists. In 1972, the American Society of Genealogists established the Donald Lines Jacobus Award to honor sound scholarship in the field of genealogical writing.

Thank you, Charlotte (and Dick) for sharing memories of a genealogy legend and making him a bit more human.

Photograph courtesy of Dick Rees.

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

October Membership Meeting: Remembering World War I

Saturday, October 12, 2013

1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, California 94612

Do you have family stories, photos, or memorabilia from World War I? Was there a WWI soldier, sailor, marine, nurse, journalist or ambulance driver in your family? Did an ancestor contribute to the war effort from home?

If you haven't been to a membership meeting your next chance is coming in October. Members are invited to bring a bag lunch to the Sherman Room at noon, Saturday, October 12, 2013, for a chance to meet and chat with board members, new members, and friends. Bring a dessert or beverage to share and enjoy the camaraderie of folks who love genealogy!

The meeting will start promptly at 1:00 p.m. Director Diana Edwards will start things off with announcements of upcoming society events and news from the library.

The focus of the October meeting will be the 2014 Centennial of the Start of World War I. Members are invited to bring their World War I ephemera and ancestor stories about the Great War. Letters, photos, service and military records, and other WWI era documents are especially welcome. Members with research experience in military history will be here to discuss your research questions.

Please email Diana Edwards if you have something to share.

We look forward to a vibrant and fun event!

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