California Genealogical Society blog: Angel Island

Showing posts with label Angel Island. Show all posts

28 September 2018

Nikkei Pilgrimage to Angel Island October 13

Posted by Jennifer Dix

Approaching Angel Island by ferry

Taiko drummers greeted visitors at a previous year's Nikkei Pilgrimage

On October 13, please join us for the annual Nikkei Pilgrimage to Angel Island! The all-day outing is focused on the Japanese-American experience at this immigration station, which many Asian immigrants passed through—or were delayed in—on their way to a new life in America. There will be visual exhibits about the Japanese and Japanese American experience on Angel Island; a dance performance honoring the ancestors; and more. The schedule is designed to allow a free flow of activity during the day. Participants can explore history exhibits at the Immigration Station, get help with genealogy research, learn about community history and local organizations, and just enjoy time with family, friends and colleagues.

Entrance to the barracks

While Angel Island is notorious for the poor treatment of many Chinese immigrants detained there, approximately 85,000 people of Japanese descent also were detained on Angel Island between 1910 and 1940, making them the second largest ethnic group to pass through this point of entry. Before 1920, the immigration station also saw a large influx of “picture brides”—Japanese women who came to America through an arranged marriage with Japanese men already in the U.S. The station was closed after a fire in 1940, but the barracks were used during the Second World War to hold Japanese prisoners of war and Nikkei detainees from Hawaii and the Pacific Coast. All of this history makes for a rich experience

Grant Din, Judy Russell, interpreter Casey Lee, and Kim Cotton at last year's event

This is the fifth year in a row that the Nichi Bei Foundation has hosted the pilgrimage, and the fifth year that CGS has participated. Keynote speaker will be Sonoma State University president Judy Sakaki. Other speakers will include CGS past president Linda Harms Okazaki and Grant Din of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. CGS volunteers will be on hand to offer personal genealogy consultations, and participants are enrolled in a raffle of 100 DNA kits generously donated by Ancestry.com.

Day trip packages include ferry departure from either Tiburon or Pier 39. Tickets for the outing are $25 (discounts for seniors and children), with the option to pre-purchase a bento lunch. To purchase tickets and for complete details on activities and transportation, visit the Nichi Bei Foundation’s website:
https://www.nichibei.org/angel-island-pilgrimage/

13 April 2016

Wordless Wednesday

Posted by Linda Okazaki

Angel Island Genealogical Resources

Presented by Grant Din on 19 March 2016

Kay Speaks, Grant Din, Linda Harms Okazaki

03 March 2016

1 million Angel Island immigrants: what genealogical clues were left behind?

Posted by Shannon Reese

Do you have Japanese, Chinese, Jewish, or South Asian ancestors that came through Angel Island?

Join member Grant Din and learn about the more than one million people from over eighty different countries who were processed by officials on the island. You might be familiar with Angel Island’s Chinese poetry-carved walls, but did you know that quite a lot of genealogical resources are now available to researchers?

Angel Island, photo courtesy of Linda Okazaki

Linda Okazaki, our current President says, “Grant is incredibly knowledgeable about the history of Angel Island, as well as the federal records generated when the immigration station operated there from 1910-1940. I've heard Grant speak several times while ‘on’ the island. Now I'm excited to have him present here at the California Genealogical Society’s Library.”

What’s the format?

Learn from case studies of Chinese, Jewish, South Asian and Japanese immigrants. Find out about the National Archives and other resources that might be available for your own research.

Topics covered

Gain an understanding of the different groups who passed through Angel Island.
Resources for Angel Island and West Coast immigrant research that available online and at the National Archives in San Bruno.
Interpret documents such as ship manifests to find valuable information.
How to obtain government files such as "A-files" (A for "Alien") via online requests.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Member Grant Din has been working in Bay Area non-profit organizations for more than thirty years and has conducted genealogical research for even longer.

He works as the community relations director at the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, where his work includes managing the Immigrant Voices website. It currently houses 200 stories of Pacific Coast U.S. immigrants from throughout the world, including many who passed through Angel Island.

Grant's interest in genealogy started at a wedding reception in his youth, where a relative showed him to be the 36th generation of the Gong family on a family tree. Later he learned that he’s a member of the 24th generation of Owyangs on his mother's side.

He recently received a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University and has traveled throughout the U.S. and China for his research.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

Pre-registration is required. Class size is limited so please register early. CGS members enjoy free admission.

Not a member? Not a problem.

Non-member admission fee is $30.00 and can be applied towards a new one year CGS membership (starting at $40) the day of the class.

16 October 2015

Nikkei Pilgrimage to Angel Island

Posted by Linda Okazaki

It was a beautiful day for a pilgrimage.

Angel Island Immigration Station

On 3 October 2015, the Nichi Bei Foundation hosted the second annual Nikkei Pilgrimage to Angel Island, in honor of the Japanese immigrants who arrived there between 1910 and 1940. An emphasis was placed on the women who immigrated, specifically the picture brides. There were over 300 attendees who journeyed by ferry to enjoy the music, dramatic presentation, speeches, bento lunches, and family history stations.

Kenji Taguma, Nichi Bei Foundation

Picture Bride, Produced by Judy Hamaguchi, SF JACL

Linda Harms Okazaki and Karen Korematsu

Learning about Picture Brides inside the Immigration Station

There were honored guests and special speakers, including Karen Korematsu, who is perhaps best known as the daughter of civil rights activist, Fred Korematsu. On this day, however, she spoke about her grandmother, Kotsui Aoki, who arrived on Angel Island on January 12, 1914 as a picture bride. Karen addressed the importance a discovering family roots and understanding the experiences of our immigrant ancestors.

Following the formal program, volunteers from the California Genealogical Society provided research consultations, including Todd Armstrong, Grant Din (also of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation), Linda Okazaki, Jim Russell, and Adelle Treakle. By far the most frequent question among the consults was "Did my ancestor come through Angel Island?"

Though most of the participants were of Japanese ancestry, there was a definite mix of ethnic groups represented. Guests had ancestors from Korea, China, Latin America, Canada and Europe. The genealogists were rewarded every time someone "found" an ancestor on an immigration record or census document. Those asking questions ranged in age, as well. One woman was 97 and had been incarcerated in an internment camp. Another young man was eight years old and very interested in family history. His parents listened intently as he asked questions about his great grandmother, who was born in Mexico and was currently living in California. It was a teachable moment when he discovered the importance of interviewing the eldest living relatives. He is most definitely the "NextGen" in genealogy.