Have You Seen Our New Facebook Timeline?

Facebook is updating their look again and "Pages" are being moved to the new "Timeline" format. Non-profits have the opportunity to use new features to jazz things up and present an historical perspective. Like most genealogical societies and libraries, we don't have a marketing budget so we've completed the transfer with volunteer time and "creativity on a shoestring."

The Publications/Marketing Committee discussed cover photo options at the March 6, 2012 meeting. After weighing several options, the group unanimously chose Judy Bodycote's great black-and-white photograph of our volunteers at work in the library. Judy is also responsible for editing and enhancing the photograph of the California Genealogical Society's first president – Dr. Edward Stephen Clark – for the start of our timeline.

Changes implemented so far:

1. Cover photo and thumbnail of the CGS seal as our inset photo.
2. Milestones – "founded" in 1898. Only 114 more years of CGS history to record!
3. Pinned posts – featured the Insider's Guide to California Research.
4. Applications – featuring our YouTube and Twitter pages.
5. Message inbox is activated for fans who want to contact us privately.

Please take a look and be sure to give us a Like if you approve!

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

A Day with the Photo Detective Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Photo credit: Erik Jacobs Photography

Wednesday, June 6, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Veterans Memorial Building
3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd.
Lafayette, CA 94549

Join us for A Day with the Photo Detective. Maureen Taylor is returning to Northern California and bringing her blend of photo curation, genealogy, and history.

She's presenting four new talks:

• Hair-sterical & Mad as a Hatter: 19th Century Photos in Your Files 
• Eight Basic Steps to Preserving Your Photos 
• Google Images and Beyond: Adding Pictures to Your Family Collection 
• Kodak Moments and Technicolor Dreams: 20th-Century Photos and Films in the Family Archive

Visit our event site – A Day with the Photo Detective – for full information and the link to our registration page.

Register by May 6, 2012 for the early bird price – just $48 to attend this all-day event. The price includes lunch – sandwich & salad buffet – with vegetarian choices. After May 6, 2012, price will increase to $58.
 
Please invite your friends – you don't need to be a CGS member to attend!

In the four years since Maureen was here, she's written several more best-selling books and her most popular titles will be available for purchase at the event.

Maureen is also offering a limited number of photo consultations to seminar registrants. Consultations will take place the day before the seminar on Tuesday, June 5, 2012, at the California Genealogical Society Library in Oakland. They are by-appointment-only and must be scheduled in advance with Maureen Taylor. Visit CGSphoto.weebly.com for more information.

Twitter followers, the hashtag for A Day with the Photo Detective is #CGSphoto. Please track our event on Lanyard.com or let us know there that you will be attending!


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

First Saturdays Free and CGS Intro to Genealogy Classes

The California Genealogical Society offers a free "Intro to Genealogy" class on the first Saturday of every month, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the library at 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California, in the historic Breuner Building.

The intro class is part of our monthly First Saturdays Free event when we welcome non-members and the general public. We open the library and share our resources with anyone interested in learning more about their family history. The library is a benefit of membership and is available to non-members for a $5.00 day fee during the rest of the month.

First Saturday intro class in February 2012

Volunteers with research experience take turns teaching the intro class which focuses on basic research methods and terminology. The class covers common (and uncommon) family history records and the resources available, both online and in libraries, repositories, and archives. The two-hour session also includes a tour of the library and an overview of our extensive holdings.

The schedule of the remaining 2012 First Saturday class dates and instructors is:

• April 7 – Mary Beth Frederick
• May 5 – Craig Siulinski
• June 2 – Kim Cotton
• July 7 – Muriel Sonne
• August 4 – Lisa Gorrell
• September CLOSED for Labor Day weekend
• October 6 – Lavinia Schwarz
• November 3 – Kim Cotton
• December 1 – Dick Rees

The dates above each link to the registration pages for each class. Please join us!


Photograph courtesy of Linda Okazaki, 2/4/2012, Oakland, California.


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

San Francisco Bay Area Genealogy Calendar: April 2012 Published

April 2012 events have been published on the San Francisco Bay Area Genealogy Calendar – a collection of local genealogical society classes, workshops and meetings within a 75 mile radius of San Francisco.

The April calendar lists more than fifty classes and events at various venues around the Bay Area, sponsored by thirty societies, libraries and archives.

Several societies are holding full day seminars in April. The Sacramento German Genealogy Society will present Tracking Down Our German Ancestors with Warren Bittner on Saturday, April 21, 2012. The Sonoma County Genealogical Society is hosting its 20th Annual Seminar with Connie Lenzen on the same day, Saturday, April 21, 2012. The San Mateo County Genealogical Society will have its Spring Seminar A Cooke's Tour of Google with Lisa Louise Cooke on  Saturday, April 28, 2012.

If you would like to add your group's events to the calendar, please email the information by the 15th of each month for publication on or before the 25th. (Please put "SFBA Calendar" in the subject line.)


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

Come to Our 1940 Census Party!

 

Come and celebrate the release of the 1940 U.S. Census by searching for your ancestors with other researchers!

Where: Oakland Family History Center, 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland.

When: Monday, April 9, 2012, 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

RSVP online.

Before the event:
•    Create a list of relatives with their possible locations and addresses in 1940.
•    Visit Steve Morse's 1940 Census ED Finder to narrow down enumeration districts for your ancestors—this will be helpful for ancestors living in major cities.

On the day of the event:
•    Bring a list of ancestors to search for and your laptop computer

•    Invite a friend to join you for the festivities 

•    Contribute by volunteering to index a portion of the census for FamilySearch.Org 

•    Expect to have a great time searching with fellow genealogists and family historians! 

This event is co-hosted by the California Genealogical Society, the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California, and the Oakland California Family History Center.

Can't make the event? If you need guidance finding your people on the unindexed 1940 census, the California Genealogical Society is here to help. Consider using our extended research service. 

Photographs from the Library of Congress.

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