Chinese Ancestry Day 2018

Chinese Ancestry Day,  held Saturday, May 26, at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, was a fabulous success. CGS board member Chris Pattillo was among those who volunteered at the event, and she sent us this report: 

Next time you see Maureen Hanlon, make a point of thanking her for planning another tremendously successful CGS event!

Speakers Grant Din and Felicia Lowe

Keynote speaker Felicia Lowe started the day with flair, showing an 18-minute clip of her documentary “Chinese Couplets”—just enough to leave us wanting to see the film in its entirety. Lowe’s journey to uncover her immigrant mother’s past was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It also introduced the day’s theme: the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act on Asian American families to this day.

CGS member Grant Din gave a well-illustrated, clear and concise introduction to doing Chinese family history research. Grant is an engaging and exuberant speaker with 35 years of experience, and he shared ample anecdotes from his work.

We enjoyed lunch and socializing

The delicious lunch provided by Peony Restaurant was worth the price of the event on its own! There was plenty of food--even enough for seconds of yummy sesame balls.

After lunch we heard from Marisa Louie Lee, a former archivist at NARA. She served as an advisor on the PBS documentary “The Chinese Exclusion Act,” which aired this month. I was impressed with how easily Marisa moved between presenting and answering questions. She is a pro speaker. Marisa’s talk was also well illustrated, to the point and included a five-page handout with helpful information and links to other sources.

Finally, we heard from John Wong, a volunteer with the Roots Plus program who has led several tours for Chinese Americans to visit their ancestral villages in China’s Guangdong Province. John showed four videos that showcased the incredible experiences of four different families. The stories that John shared have universal appeal. No, I have no ancestors from China, but I still felt the shivers and warm glow these families experienced as they saw their ancestor’s graves and rural townships for the first time.

Much of the information being presented was not directly relevant to me personally, but I am so glad Maureen invited me to volunteer because I learned so much about things I knew nothing about. Do you know what a “paper mother” is? That is something I learned—if you weren’t there, you’ll just have to ask me.

CGS volunteers Kathryn Doyle and Linda Okazaki

It was apparent that a lot of productive networking was happening throughout the day. At our CGS table, we had two people join as new members and 18 added their names to our e-News list. Our table was next to that of the California Historical Society, where volunteer Frances Kaplan reported that she is grateful for CGS because she refers people with questions to us on a daily basis.

The event was sponsored by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, California Genealogical Society, the California Historical Society, and the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. Our thanks to OACC for providing the beautiful venue and to OACC staff member Terri Kaley for being such a gracious host. 

Copyright © 2018 by California Genealogical Society

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage

Image: PBS SoCal

Happy May! Today is the first day of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We will be sharing articles and events celebrating the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans throughout the month. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, since a majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

Of special interest to California Bay Area residents is the upcoming Chinese Ancestry Day, held Saturday, May 26 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center in Oakland's Chinatown. The daylong workshop covers the fundamentals of genealogy for Chinese American families, offering basic steps to build your Chinese family tree.

Four distinguished guests will speak at the event, sharing their different areas of expertise. Keynote speaker is filmmaker Felicia Lowe, an award-winning independent television producer and director who is a Bay Area native and descendant of Angel Island detainees. Lowe will screen excerpts from her latest documentary, “Chinese Couplets,” which she describes as part memoir, part history, and part investigation. It explores the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Acts on four generations of women in her family. “What motivated me first of all was I really didn’t know my mother. I didn’t know her past,” she says. “Although I’m American born, I felt robbed of a history.” Her parents, both immigrants, were very reluctant to talk about their lives in China or the experience of coming to America. “The other compelling reason was that as long as there was the silence, the secrets, Exclusion still had a hold on my family," Lowe says. "And by telling it, I broke that hold.”

Genealogist Marisa Louie Lee will speak about “Chinese Exclusion Act Records at the National Archives.” A former archivist at the National Archives at San Francisco (in San Bruno), she is experienced in finding and interpreting records of Chinese and other Asian peoples who came to America during the Exclusion era, when they could not legally become citizens. Their stories, she says, are a part of American history that has long been overlooked. Lee was a research consultant on the documentary “The Chinese Exclusion Act,” which premieres May 26 on PBS as part of The American Experience series. “Does every fifth grader learn about the Exclusion Act in school?” she asks. “I’m hoping the film will help move that story into the mainstream.” 

Grant Din, an experienced researcher and genealogist, will speak on “The Importance of Family Stories.” And John Wong of RootsPlus will discuss “A Pilgrimage to Your Ancestral Village.”

The event concludes with time for questions and discussion, followed by lunch at the Peony Restaurant. For more details or to register, click HERE.

Chinese Ancestry Day is sponsored by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, California Genealogical Society, the California Historical Society, and the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.

Copyright © 2018 by California Genealogical Society

Celebrating the Past and the Future: 2018 Genealogy Events and Education Plans

by Maureen Hanlon

Our 120^th Anniversary in 2018 is a great milestone --- we’ve planned a number of events and classes to both delve into our heritage and leverage the science that allows us to understand that past even better.  

Currently,  we are scheduling our five part Records Series and four part Skills Series. Your suggestions are most welcome for ideas on classes and events as we continue planning for 2018 continues. Come to our January 13th Annual Member Meeting and Birthday Party to hear more details and enjoy a talk about ancestors.

    

NOTE:  Our free Introduction to Genealogy on the first Saturday and the popular San Francisco Special Interest Group and Family Tree Special Interest Group will continue meeting on the third Saturdays. 

DNA

DNA will be a major focus as we have engaged Blaine Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist, to come for an amazing event on March 3rd.  Get ready for Blaine's event by attending Pam Miller's previously held three foundation lectures on the major DNA tests, Ancestry, FamilyTree and 23 and Me on January 27th, February 3rd and 10th, respectively.  

Then check our schedule for a talk by Eva Goodwin from Ancestry to be held later in the year on DNA, Adoptions and Unknown Parents. We will also continue the monthly first Saturday meetings of an ongoing DNA study group for those who have completed the foundation series. 

Heritage

Our fortune and that of our ancestors lies in California’s rich geography. We’ve scheduled the popular Melinda Kashuba, author of Walking with Your Ancestors: a Genealogist’s Guide to Using Maps and Geography for April 14th. 

We’re also celebrating the diversity of our state and its early settlers with a Chinese Ancestry Day in May, which is Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. Grant Din, Marisa Louie Lee and others will talk, plus we are exploring a tour of Angel Island. Look for Stewart Traiman's class that will share insights and strategies for Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender (LGBT) genealogy on June 23rd.

 

The online CGS Irish Ancestry Network will hold its second anniversary get-together on March 24th with an informal meet-up and an afternoon lecture by Cath Trindle on Irish Townlands. 

Trips and Tours

In addition to our annual Salt Lake City Research trip being held April 22nd-29th, Jane Lindsey will lead a trip for intermediate genealogists in August to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne Indiana, home of the most extensive genealogy periodical collection.  We also have plans in the works to visit Sutro Library and events with The California Historical Society.  

Updates, more information and registration links will be published on our EventBrite page at least two months prior to the events.

It's going to be a wonderful year of genealogy and celebration at The California Genealogical Society.  We hope you'll be a part of the magic!

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

The National Archives and Archives.gov

Marisa Louie

Saturday, March 9, 2013
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

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

Archivist Marisa Louie of the National Archives at San Francisco will speak about resources of genealogical interest found at our local National Archives facility in San Bruno and at locations nationwide. Learn how to get in touch with archivists, how to navigate the archives.gov website, and what is – and what isn't – in the holdings of the National Archives.

Ms. Louie was one of the presenters at our Chinese Ancestry Workshop in 2010. She is a fantastic speaker and we are thrilled to have her back.

Marisa encourages attendees to include any questions you might have about the National Archives when you register for the class. You can also leave your questions here in the comments and I will forward them to her.

Register online.

The class is limited to thirty participants and is a free benefit of membership. Non-members fee is $20.00 (non-refundable).

Preregistration is required. Walk-ins will not be admitted. Registration confirmations will be sent to the first thirty registrants. Additional names will be collected and placed on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Marisa Louie has been on staff at The National Archives at San Francisco (located in San Bruno, California) as an archivist since September 2009. She primarily works with Asian American genealogists and family historians interested in case files created by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (Record Group 85). She is also the project archivist for the Alien Files ("A-Files") transferred to her facility. Marisa holds a B.A. in American Studies and Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is a past participant in the "In Search of Roots" program.


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

Wordless Wednesday

Ethnic Genealogy Series: Chinese Ancestry Workshop I

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Christine DeVillier , Marisa Louie,  Jeanie Low and Kay Speaks

Photographs by Tim Cox and Kathryn Doyle, Oakland, California.

Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library