A Remembrance: Dr. Eugene Peck

Dr. Eugene Peck
photo by Kathryn Doyle

Dr. Eugene Peck was a Life-Member of the California Genealogical Society, a beloved volunteer who donated time and resources with much generosity for more than thirty-five years.

“Gene” grew up near Springfield, Ohio. He attended medical school at Ohio State University and subsequently was a well-known pediatrician at Kaiser in Oakland. Gene retired from medicine in his sixties and enjoyed tending his roses; he had over 100 varieties in his garden and he even volunteered for a time at the Horticultural Center in Golden Gate Park. Gene also loved the arts.

Gene developed lifelong friendships in our library. He enjoyed the camaraderie of the Library and Manuscripts Committees. He came to the library every Thursday for many years and one of his great pleasures was enjoying a cup of hot chocolate with his friend, Anne Robinson.

Dr. Eugene Peck & Anne Robinson
photo by Kathryn Doyle 

Fellow long-serving volunteer, Dick Rees, tells us the following story about Gene and Gertrude Stein:

“During World War II, Gene was stationed in Europe; when the war ended, he decided to stay on for a while. He had sent a note to Gertrude Stein about something memorable she had written, and Miss Stein not only replied, but invited Gene to visit her “when you come to Paris.”

Gertrude Stein and Picasso's Portrait of her, 1922 | © Christine/Flickrcommons

So one day, not too long after receiving the invitation, Gene paid a call at the Stein/Toklas flat in Paris. The first thing he noticed was that the hallway and other rooms were lined with paintings, stacked along the baseboards, some facing out and some facing the wall. Gertrude didn’t care much for art, but she did care for artists and she bought their works in quantity!

Gene’s visit with Gertrude was quite pleasant, with the exception of Alice B. who was sitting in a dark corner of the salon. Every once in a while she would make some sarcastic or cutting remark, addressed to Gertrude, but clearly designed to intimidate Gene. He said, “She certainly didn’t want me there.”

As those of us who were privileged to know him can state, Gene was not one to be easily intimidated, and the visit passed without bodily harm to any one.”

Fellow genealogists will miss Dr. Eugene Peck.  Arlene Miles recalled that “his warm and compassionate understanding of people were traits I noticed from the very first time we met.” Under Gene’s guidance, Arlene took on the role of Periodicals Manager while he moved on to our extensive Manuscripts collection, where he “dug right in, reading, transcribing, and summarizing them so they could be made available to the public.”

Pat Bonderud, described Gene as “very gentlemanly, a kind man.” Gene was personable and progressive, as well as an intellectual who especially enjoyed researching the Tooker family of Ohio.

No service is planned. He will be buried alongside his grandmother, in South Charleston, Ohio, near Springfield.

Memorial gifts in his name may be sent to the California Genealogical Society, 2201 Broadway, LLS, Oakland CA, 94612-3031.

Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society

Anne Atkins Robinson

Anne Atkins Robinson 

Devoted Volunteer and Generous Donor

1921 ~ 2015

Photo provided by Ruth Robinson

Her Family 

Anne Atkins Robinson was born November 30, 1921, in San Francisco. Her parents were David Hadden Atkins, a native of England, and Mary de Fremery, of Dutch ancestry. Anne was a twin to Ruth, and younger sister to Arthur, Mary, Elizabeth, Dorothy, and Susan.

Early Years 

Anne spent her childhood in San Francisco before graduating from high school in Santa Barbara County, and then Pomona College. She joined the Army during WWII, enlisting in the Women’s Army Corps on March 11, 1944. A few years after the war, Anne married Edward P. Robinson. They raised two sons, Patrick and William, and a daughter, Ruth, in Redwood City. According to Ruth, “Anne was a happy, devoted and loving wife and mother, a creative homemaker, and an avid gardener.”

Volunteering and Genealogy 

Anne was an active volunteer in her children’s schools. Her interest in family history grew when she took a genealogy class, following the death of her husband. From there, she became an enthusiastic genealogist and continued her volunteer work, in libraries and repositories. Though she lived in San Mateo County, Anne joined the California Genealogical Society in 1980, where she volunteered for 32 years. She was also a founding member of the San Mateo Genealogical Society, where she tracked periodicals and created beautiful, handwritten labels. She additionally volunteered at the National Archives in San Bruno, where she helped to preserve the Chinese Immigration Files.

Her Legacy 

It was as a volunteer at the California Genealogical Society where Anne really made her mark. She left her Redwood City home early in the morning, and commuted several hours by Caltrain and BART, to arrive at our society once or twice a week, for decades. In more recent years, Ruth drove her mother to our society, as Anne truly enjoyed the camaraderie. She was a member of our Library Committee, where she inventoried our holdings, indexed ancestral charts, and worked on the Great Register of 1890 indexing project. Today, patrons can see Anne’s handiwork in the beautifully scripted labels on our pamphlets and other materials.

Photo by Kathryn Doyle

Photo by Kathryn Doyle

In 2008, the Federation of Genealogical Societies recognized Anne for her contributions:

“The Federation of Genealogical Societies is pleased to present the Volunteer of the Year 2008 to Anne A. Robinson, nominated by the California Genealogical Society and Library in Recognition of outstanding service to the genealogical community.” 

Award Recipient
Photo by Kathryn Doyle

Anne served many roles at the California Genealogical Society, but her biggest contribution was to the Book Repair Committee. She was an early member of this group, which continues to provide a much-needed service caring for our fragile collection. According to one volunteer, Anne “always brought her book repair ‘kit’ with her own materials: scissors much sharper than the ones in our box and her own ‘bone folder’ – a book repair tool, her own pens and many mystery items.” Through this work, Anne developed lifelong friendships.

Repairing Books
Photo by Kathryn Doyle

Remembrance 

Her friends at the California Genealogical Society had many kind words to say about her. Dick Rees, also a member since 1980, recalled that “Anne had a wonderfully sharp sense of humor and a real sense of devotion to CGS.” Lorna Wallace mentioned that Anne was “quiet, hard-working, yet with a happy laugh, and a friendly mood.” Pat Bonderud shared that Anne always greeted “everyone warmly” which was a “great way for volunteers to start their day at the library.” Pat also mentioned that Anne “was very pleasant to work with; quiet but filled with interesting stories.”

Every December, the Book Repair group had their own holiday party. Anne always brought her signature cookies, “ginger trees with white frosting and tiny M&M’s.” She never wavered and always brought plenty to share. Her fondness for sweets didn’t end at the holiday party. CGS Life Member and long-serving volunteer, Eugene Peck, always looked forward to their weekly cups of hot chocolate.

Anne A. Robinson and Vern Deubler
Photo by Kathryn Doyle

Anne was a remarkable woman, a dedicated volunteer who gave generously to our society. She passed away on September 20, 2015. One person who knew her quite well, Bill O’Neil, summed it up best by simply saying, “We miss her!” His words reflect how all of us at the California Genealogical Society feel about Anne. Yes, we really do miss her. Anne, however, will live on in our hearts with fond memories of days past and friendships forged at the library.

Thirty two years of volunteerism
Photo by Arlene Miles

You may read more about Anne A. Robinson in one of the many CGS blog posts featuring her activities. Additionally, an obituary written by her family was recently published in the San Francisco Chronicle.

In the spirit of Anne’s tireless generosity, the family kindly requested that contributions in her memory be made to the California Genealogical Society.   

Copyright © 2015 by California Genealogical Society

Wordless Wednesday

Book Repair Committee

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Anne Robinson

 Photograph courtesy of Arlene Miles, Oakland, California.


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

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
Anne Robinson

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

Book Repair Mascot - Who Are You?

I missed the deadline for the 9th edition of the Smile For the Camera Carnival of Images – Who Are You? – but I still wanted to share this portrait which hangs on the wall of the Frederick S. and Patricia M. Sherman Room at the library.

Rodney J. Hudson

Anne Robinson gave me the back story. It seems that this likeness of Rodney J. Hudson fell from the pages of a book as it was being repaired one second Tuesday by a member of the Book Repair Committee. With no identifying notation on its back and no apparent reason for its residence in the pages of the book, the committee unanimously decided to adopt the misplaced Mr. Hudson as their official mascot. It's now been a couple of years since they framed RJH and hung him prominently on the wall where he continues to oversee the activities of the group.

Mr. Rodney J. Hudson, who are you?

Volunteer of the Year - Anne Robinson

On Thursday, November 20, 2008, CGS Vice-President Vern Deubler presented Anne Robinson with a certificate of recognition for her long service to the California Genealogical Society. Anne was nominated for the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Ruth C. Bishop Family History Volunteer Hall of Honor, Living Award for 2008. Only one nominee is so honored each year so even though Anne was not inducted into the Hall of Honor, FGS sent a certificate to recognize her volunteer efforts.

Anne Robinson receives certificate from CGS Vice President Verne Deubler.

Anne A. Robinson, CGS Volunteer of the Year, 2008.

The certificate, signed by Wendy Bebout Elliott, President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, reads:

The Federation of Genealogical Societies is pleased to present the Volunteer of the Year in the year 2008 to Anne A. Robinson, nominated by the California Genealogical Society and Library in recognition of outstanding service to the genealogical community.

Congratulations, Anne!

Photographs by Kathryn Doyle, Oakland, California, 11/20/2008.

Wordless Wednesday

California Genealogical Society

Organizing the ancestral chart collection
Gene Peck and Anne Robinson

Photographs by Kathryn M. Doyle, 9/18/2008.

A Tribute to Anne Robinson

Jasia of Creative Gene reminds us that March is National Women's History Month and encourages genea-bloggers to write a tribute to a woman. It is the perfect opportunity to honor long-time CGS volunteer, Anne A. Robinson.

The number one strength of the California Genealogical Society and Library is our active and generous membership but few have been as dedicated and steadfast as Anne. She is a San Francisco native and comes from a long line of folks interested in their family history. Anne's husband died when her children were young and she turned to friends for support and company. She developed a close bond with a group of seven who took a genealogy class together at Sequoia High School. After the class was over, she missed the contact so she started spending her Wednesdays volunteering at libraries -- at CGS, or Sutro, in Santa Clara or Sacramento. Anne volunteered for many years at the Pacific Regional National Archives in San Bruno, working on the preservation of Chinese immigration records.


Anne was the youngest of nine children (including a twin sister) with Dutch heritage from their mother and British from their father. The teaching profession called to her and she taught fourth grade for a time in Santa Barbara. During World War II, Anne joined the army to help with the war effort. She was stationed at Fort Collins, Colorado, where she trained in occupational therapy and was assigned to a military hospital working with servicemen who were on the mend. She did her basic training in Des Moines in motor transport which led to her first assignment as a driver for the base Colonel. These days Anne leaves the driving to the public transportation systems, of which she is also a veteran. Anne spends 3 1/2 to 4 hours every week commuting to CGS. She leaves home at 7:00 a.m. to insure her arrival at the library for the 9:30 start time of the book repair group and more often than not, she is the first to arrive. Anne spends her commute time doing recreational reading and puzzles. Anne is a big fan of sudoku and jumbles and she will do a crossword or two. She's noticed that genealogists like puzzles and several she knows do the jigsaw variety.

Anne began volunteering at CGS when the society was joined with the California Historical Society in San Francisco. She has been a member of CGS since 1980 and has logged thousands of volunteer hours, working on many major projects over the years.

In the 1990s, Anne was a member of the library committee which spent several years creating a shelf list of the CGS holdings. That inventory was completed in 1995. She and Anna Scott spent several more years going through all of the ancestral charts that were donated to CGS and indexing them by surname and typing up catalog cards for each chart. Anne also worked on the Great Register of 1890 indexing project with Jane Steiner's group.



One of Anne's ongoing projects is readily visible on most of the library shelves. She is responsible for the spine labels and bindings for pamphlets and other non-bound materials. Her careful, legible script helps our patrons easily find things hidden from view in most libraries.

Anne has volunteered at several archives and societies over the years but she says that she especially likes the people at CGS because they take the time to "get to know each other a little bit." We are all honored to have gotten to know her.

In my notes I found that Anne wrote her own six word memoir:
"Did what needed to be done."

Photographs by Kathryn M. Doyle, 11 Dec 2007.

Book Repair Committee

The sound of laughter coming from the upstairs annex at the old library in the Latham Building was a sure sign that it was the second Tuesday of the month and the book repairers had their backs to the wall as they toiled in tight quarters. Since the move to the Breuner Building last year, the restoration work continues in more spacious quarters and the mirth now emanates from the back room of the new library. You can't help but get the feeling that these five loyal volunteers really love what they are doing.




The CGS Book Repair Committee, headed by Bill O'Neil, has been meeting like clockwork on the second Tuesday of every month, since the group formed in 1987 under the tutelage of the late Dick Thrift. Because the repair process can require several steps and the committee meets only once per month, it can take several months for the repair business to be completed. During that time, the books are out of circulation.



The committee allows the California Genealogical Society to maintain open stacks. Books in need of care are marked by a blue ribbon and stay on the shelves to allow patron use until the menders can get to them. The most common repairs are for torn spines and loose pages, but the committee has seen it all. Bill explained that their goal when repairing books is to strike a balance between "keeping them in one piece and doing no harm."




Each member "adopts" a book and works on it one day a month until it is ready to be placed back on the shelf. The average book takes three months to complete. The committee repairs an average of 100 books per year.

Tools of the trade.

Lorna Wallace puts the finishing touches on a newly repaired book

Book repair group: (standing) Lorna Wallace, Marianne Frey, Bill O'Neil;
(seated) Anne Robinson and Dick Rees.

Photographs by Kathryn M. Doyle, Oakland, California, 12/11/2007.

Copyright © 2008 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.