Black History Month: Honoring Genealogist Electra Kimble Price

It isn't often that a large city newspaper devotes half a page to an article on genealogy, so kudos to the San Francisco Chronicle and columnist Brenda Payton for yesterday's feature about Electra Kimble Price.

Electra Kimble Price (right) at the CGS Black Family History program in February 2010.

In case you missed it, the opinion piece on African American Genealogy "Digging Deep to Uncover Roots" is a detailed look at Electra's life and work. The online version bears a slightly different title but Genealogist Digs Deep to Uncover Blacks' Roots includes every word of Brenda Payton's glowing profile and several more photographs of Price.

Electra has been a member of the California Genealogical Society since 1994. She is an Oakland native and a local legend among Bay Area genealogists. I had the pleasure of meeting her at her home a few years ago when she donated books to the CGS library.

Price was one of the founding members of the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California (AAGSNC). She received the Distinguished Service Award of the Genealogical Society of Utah in 2000 in recognition of the countless hours she has devoted to helping family historians.

Many years ago Electra started an African-American genealogy research class (now taught by Judith Collins) at the Oakland California Family History Center. Price orchestrated a Black History Month event there this past Sunday where she was feted with another award and cake. Nicka Smith's report (and gorgeous photos) can be found on the AAGSNC blog Black Family History Day was a Success!

Congratulations Electra!


Photograph courtesy of Nicka Smith, 2/20/2010, Oakland, California.

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

What We Missed and How Technology Saved the Day

The California Genealogical Society presented a full-day program last Saturday, February 20, 2010, in honor of Black History Month and at the last minute the whole thing was threatened with cancellation, or at least a significant postponement. In his article CGS February Meeting a History Maker, our featured speaker, blogger and new board member, Craig Manson, explained what happened and how my two favorite geek-members, Thomas MacEntee and Kathy Watson, came to the rescue. Using WebEx and with only a couple of minor glitches, Craig was able to present his two talks from his home office in Carmichael, California with Past-President Jane Knowles Lindsey at her laptop control center at the library in Oakland.

Since I wasn't able to attend I've gathered some feedback from some of those present to give you an accurate accounting of the day.

The morning started with expertise from three long-time friends and colleagues from the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California (AAGSNC). Past-President Juliet Culliver Crutchfield, Ed.D., Electra Kimble Price and Jackie Stewart fielded questions from the audience.

Lorna Wallace reports: 

The panel of members of AAGSNC did something unexpected in that they started right out asking the audience what questions they had – there never was a "lecture" as such. That way none of the attendees were left at the end without hearing what puzzled them. The open format also allowed people in the audience, who had a lot of pertinent experience, to easily contribute their personal stories as examples.

One of our new board members, Jeffrey Vaillant, had these comments:

The use of the Webex tool was an exciting new adventure that brought the presenter's voice and on-screen power point presentation in the room for all to experience. The technology has been around for some years so its use at CGS was a potential step into the 21st century. 

The morning three person panel was terrific as each shared insights into their genealogy quest. A lesson learned was solid genealogy practices apply to any ethnic research along with an understanding of that culture.

Vernester Sheeler sent accolades:

One word Fabulous!!  The CGS’s Black History program was wonderful. There were a couple of minor technical glitches but once resolved the session was great. Craig is a gifted and engaging presenter. He shared valuable tips, and tools to broaden my research. My employer uses WebEx for most of our project meetings however this was my first time to use it for something I value and enjoy!

Panelists Juliet Crutchfield, Electra Price and Jackie Stewart

Special thanks to everyone who helped make this a successful program.

Photographs courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey, Nicka Smith and Vernester Sheeler.

Special Black History Month Event

Four Experts on African-American Genealogy Research
Saturday, February 20, 2010
10:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

California Genealogical Society and Library
2201 Broadway at 22nd, Suite LL2
Oakland, California 94612

In celebration of Black History Month, the California Genealogical Society presents a special program featuring panelists from the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California and two lectures by Craig Manson, professor, lecturer and noted blogger.

Schedule

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Panel Discussion
Electra Price, Juliet Crutchfield and Jackie Stewart of the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California will be on hand for an informal session to share their twenty years of research experience and to answer audience questions.

12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Break for Lunch*

1:00 p.m. Finding African-Americans in Census Records Prior to 1870.
True or False: "No census taken between 1790 and 1860 contains even one slave's name." This bit of conventional wisdom is false! Craig Manson will share some of his tips for finding both enslaved and free African-Americans by name in pre-1870 census records.

2:15 p.m. Civil War: Military Research with Special Emphasis on African-American Soldiers.
Craig's second lecture will discuss available resources and where to find them, including tips on how to use the National Park Service's Civil War Soldiers and Sailors (CWSS) site.

*Lunch: Participants are encouraged to bring a brown-bag lunch or, if you prefer, there is a nearby deli where you can buy a sandwich and bring it back to the library.

PLEASE NOTE:
• FREE admission with pre-registration.
• Space is limited to forty attendees.
• Reservation form required.

To reserve your space, please download the registration flier.

Book Donations Build the Library

The donation of books accounts significantly for the growth in holdings of the California Genealogical Society Library over the past 100 years. The reliance on the generosity of members and others dates back to 1906 when the society, founded in 1898, lost everything in the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. In order to rebuild, CGS actively sought and received book contributions from many individuals and organizations from around the country. The CGS archives hold a formal, printed announcement dated 20 June 1908:

Donations of books, histories and other genealogical matter, are solicited for the new library of the CALIFORNIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY to assist in a measure to replace those destroyed in the great fire of April 18-20, 1906, when the library of over three hundred volumes, charts of members and archives of the Society were lost.

According to early records, in 1913, the Newberry Library in Chicago gifted several cartons of its duplicate books which were from the library of the late Lieutenant Governor Murphy of Pennsylvania.

The History of the California Genealogical Society, written in 1998 by long-time member, Dorothy Fowler, lists several of the larger donations to the library:

Henry Byron Phillips, CGS president 1912-1920, left his comprehensive research on the New England Phillipses to the CGS archival collection following his death in 1924.

Dr. Charles Francis Griffin, CGS president 1923-1931, left his genealogical library to CGS upon his death in 1950.

Margaret Griffith, who served as the Society’s first woman president, 1945-1947, donated books and a great deal of manuscript material when she died in 1965.

Mrs. Wm. J. Lindenberger, an active member of CGS and the California Historical Society for over 30 years, provided literally hundreds of books to the genealogical collection, many of them especially rare and valuable. Her name is prominent on bookplates throughout the collection and in old records of the Society.

The largest single gift to the library was the collection of George R. Dorman, added in 1984. Mr. Dorman, a CGS member for 47 years, served in various capacities on the Society’s Board. A dedicated genealogist, his research on the signers of the California Constitutional Convention was published as a long-running series in the Society’s newsletter and later in The Nugget. The Dorman Collection is housed in a separate room in the library.

Throughout his membership with CGS from 1972 until his death in 1995, Stanley Ross steadily and without fanfare provided books to strengthen specific parts of the collection. For example, he donated a total of almost 200 books to the New York and New Jersey sections alone and also contributed the microfilms of the Kentucky vital records.

The offering of materials to the library continues today. In fall, 2007, five boxes of books were gifted from member Joan Soo. Electra Kimble Price donated some of her African-American and Native-American collection. Theresa Smith sought out the society seeking a good home for her late mother's books. Theresa's not interested in genealogy herself so we are grateful that the four boxes of books on early California during the Spanish era, especially southern California, have found their way to the CGS bookshelves.

The most recent gift comes from long-time member, Dorothy A. Koenig, an expert on early Dutch settlers in "New Netherland" in the 17th century and editor of the quarterly journal, New Netherland Connections. Dorothy has donated volumes 1-14 of the set Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Procured in Holland, England, and France by John R. Brodhead and others. They were published in Albany, New York, 1853-1883.

CGS Librarian, Laura Spurrier, notes: "The reason they're important is they contain the authorized transcriptions of original documents about the founding of New Amsterdam and later English-controlled New York. And, they're indexed, making the volumes accessible for genealogists."

African American Research Workshop

CGS member and expert African American genealogy researcher, Electra Kimble Price, sent along this announcement of an on-going class:

The next African American Research Workshop will be held Thursday, January 24, 2008, from 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Oakland Regional Family History Center, 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, California. The topic for discussion will be "Preparing the Search for 'The Last Slave Owner.'"

A portion of the anniversary film sponsored by the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (ASALH) will also be shown: Freedom's Song, 100 Years Of African-American Struggle And Triumph.

Price encourages workshop participants to come equipped with a three-ring binder for the handouts and to bring the names, location, and ages of five family members who were alive in 1900.

The African American Research Workshop meets the fourth Thursday of every month.