More Cousins Meet at the Library!

Tim Cox sent word of another cousin meeting at the CGS library.

Second cousins Christy Gale and Sally Bentley met online via ancestry.com a few months ago and made plans to meet in person at the California Genealogical Society Library. They attended the First Free Saturday Intro to Genealogy class taught by Lisa Gorrell on June 5, 2010.

(L to R) Sally Bentley, Christy Gale, and Catherine Lewis. 

Sally sent this note:

Since Christy had recently become a member of the CGS she asked if I'd like to meet her (and her niece Catherine) at the library for a beginner's meeting. Oakland was a good half-way point between Concord and Fremont. It was great to meet Christy and Catherine in person. It's always fun to meet family even if we are 2nds! A couple of years ago I had another online meeting with another 2nd – Russell Gale – who is Christy's first cousin. We keep in touch share information with each other.

During their visit, CGS President Steve Harris gave the cousins some assistance and was able to locate the obituary of their common ancestor, great-grandfather William Henry Gale.

By all accounts it was a successful encounter in every way.



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

Kind Words From a New (To Me) Member

While scrolling through Google Reader I was pleasantly surprised to come upon a glowing review of our Lookups service by Leah Allen in Follow Friday: CGSL Look-Ups.

Her kind words are especially meaningful because the California Genealogical Society Lookups and Research team has been stretched to the breaking point with their work on the Judge project. Now that the book has been published I hope they are all catching up on their sleep. On behalf of our Lookups Committee – Judy Bodycote, Lavinia Schwarz, Pat Smith and Jim Sorenson – thanks, Leah, for the commendation!

The other part of the surprise was learning that we have another member blogger. Leah is a student and the author of two genealogy blogs: The Internet Genealogist and The Sacramento Valley Graveyard Rabbit. I've added the links to the sidebar collection of blogs written by CGS members. It's getting to be a large collection so I invite you to do some browsing!


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

Free Broadway Shuttle Launched

Carly Perez-Banuet, Operations Manager of the Breuner Building sent notice of this wonderful new addition to our neighborhood (Uptown Oakland):

     

Catch the FREE BROADWAY SHUTTLE to Meet Downtown Oakland!

The City of Oakland now offers a  FREE Broadway Shuttle! The sparkling green buses begin operating at 7:00 a.m. between Jack London Square and Uptown.

Look for the bright and colorful “B” signs along Broadway and climb onboard. The Broadway Shuttle will travel between Embarcadero and Grand Avenue, with stops in Jack London Square, Chinatown, Old Oakland, City Center, Uptown and the Lake Merritt Financial District.  Shuttle hours are Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m. (with service potentially expanding into the evenings over time).

 

The "B" runs:

• between Jack London Square and Grand Avenue
• Monday – Friday (except on major holidays)
• 7:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m.
• every 10 minutes during commute hours and lunchtime
• every 15 minutes all other times

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

Wordless Wednesday

Spotted at the CGS Library: Jeremy Frankel

President, San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Photograph courtesy of Tim Cox, Oakland, California.

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

September Membership Meeting: All About the Census

Joel Weintraub

Saturday, September 11, 2010
1:00 p.m.

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

We're talking census on the second Saturday in September. Joel Weintraub will present The U.S. Census: Questions, Confidentiality, and the 72 Year Rule.

Many genealogists think the 72 year confidentiality rule for the United States Census is based on life expectancy, or that the number of years is specified directly in some law. That is not the case, but the history of the 72 year rule, and the debate about opening any census record to the public should be part of every genealogists information base.

Joel will discuss: the growth of questions on the U.S. Census, many of them quite sensitive; when any promise of confidentiality was given to the public for the federal census; and an in-depth look at the debate between the Census Bureau and the National Archives as to the public's right to know about census population schedule forms, with the resolution of the question in 1978.

Joel Weintraub was born and raised in Manhattan. He is an emeritus Biology Professor at California State University, Fullerton and has won awards for his science teaching. He became interested in genealogy about thirteen years ago, and was a regular volunteer at the National Archives and Records Administration in Laguna Niguel, California (before the move to Riverside). Joel started transcribing streets within census districts in 2001 to help researchers search the 1930 U.S. Census (released in 2002). He was joined in the venture by David Kehs and Stephen Morse in 2002, and together, they have produced a number of online census searching utilities for both the federal and the New York State censuses on the Morse One Step Website.


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