Pick Up the New CGS Bookmark at California Family History Expo!

Ever since we unveiled our new look in February, members of the society have been working hard to incorporate the new "brand" into our various web homes, publications and other written matter.

The wonderfully talented Lois Elling has created a new bookmark for the society and we are giving them away today and tomorrow at the California Family History Expo.

Next week I'll be sure to blog the stories of the faces on the family tree.


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

Amazing 1906 Footage: San Francisco After the Quake and Fire

Thanks to Tim Cox for sending the link to this spellbinding video of San Francisco just after the Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire from Red Channels. It is a documentary compilation of actual footage from various parts of the city showing people getting on with their lives amidst the devastation. Especially interesting are the sections showing demolition of the burnt-out buildings and the temporary housing set up in tents.

San Francisco Earthquake and Fire from Red Channels on Vimeo.

1906/2009. 17 minutes. Film/Video. Silent.
Edited by Dan Meyerson and Matt Peterson.


Update: In case you missed it, on October 16, 2010, Morley Safer of 60 Minutes, the CBS News show, aired a full investigative report about the origin of the film.

The 60 Minutes site features lots of extras. Fascinating stuff!

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

Wordless Wednesday

Workshop: How to Conduct Oral Histories with Nancy Thompson
Saturday, August 14, 2010

Photographs courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey, Oakland, California.

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

Tuesday Tales: Salt Lake City Two Years Later

Mary Mettler returns! It's been two years since Mary shared her genealogy road trip across the country in the ten-part Tuesday Tales series. Now Mary is traveling again and is back with some new blog adventures. Thanks so much, Mary!

I’m on the road again for several family weddings and gatherings – mixed in, of course, with some genealogy! As always, my first stop was in Salt Lake City. The LDS Family History Library has added some additional scanners for microfilm. Two years ago, I signed up for my half-hour slot and was bumped off promptly. This year I was able to scan to my heart’s content. As to be expected when one doesn’t use equipment for awhile, I needed some technology assistance. My techie was a bit unusual! Pearl is ninety-five years old, yes, 95, and an absolute wizard on the scanner/computer/software! She showed me some shortcuts and tricks and had me well-trained in record time. Although she stood up with me for forty-five minutes, she did admit that she might use her walker a bit by the afternoon! She works three eight-hour days a week and feels it is very important to keep up on technology. I’d say she is doing a terrific job of keeping up!

Every time I come to the library, I look at the wall on the first floor where the library posts a large family tree for a line from which some of the Mormon founders or leaders descend. Each time I have been disappointed that none of my lines were shown. I almost didn’t look this time! There was one of my lines! My 11^th great-grandparents, Robert White (1558-1617) and his wife, Bridget Allgar (1562-after 1623), were the progenitors of eleven lines shown on the chart. Each line ended with a well-known person. The eleven famous descendants are Hiram Ulysses Grant, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Shirley Temple Black, William Williams, Emily Dickinson, Steve Young, Donnie Osmond, Joseph Smith, Gordon Hinckley, Lucille Ball and Philo Taylor Farnsworth, my second cousin twice-removed. I quickly figured out that Steve Young was my 12^th cousin twice removed. Hmmm…guess I won’t call him for dinner after all! 

My grandnephew, Andrew Mettler, is finishing up jet pilot training with the Marines. He was very excited to learn about the Wright brothers and exclaimed, “The genes must run deep!” The survival of a flight gene through all of those generations would be highly unlikely. But…our cousin flew planes right after World War I; my brother was a career Air Force pilot; my niece has a pilot’s license...

Your Roving Reporter,
Mary Mettler

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

November Membership Meeting - Soldiers and Statesmen: The History of the de Büren Family

Saturday, November 13, 2010
1:00 p.m.
California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, California

Covering over 800 years of family history in the United States, Switzerland and Argentina, the de Büren story encompasses passionate tales of suitors, soldiers, statesmen and saints. CGS member Jean-François de Büren will share tales of historical intrigue and the compelling family drama of his family's journey from Swiss nobility to the California Central Valley.

The short membership meeting starts promptly at 1:00 p.m. Mr. de Büren's presentation follows immediately after. Seating is limited so please arrive early. Meetings are open to everyone but non-members pay a $5.00 users fee to enter the library. (Or come and become a member!)

Graphic designer, writer, historian and genealogist, Jean-François de Büren has been passionate about his family history for as long as he can remember. For the past ten years Jean-François has actively worked on the story of his roots and is acknowledged as the family historian. He is the author of three blogs: The De Buren Family, The Grand Tour and The French of San Francisco. A dual Swiss and American citizen, he also writes about Swiss emigration to California and aims to retrace the journey of his great-great-grandfather through the Americas of the 1850s for a documentary film.


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