Summer Evening Hours Begin Thursday, June 14, 2012

For the third year in a row, the California Genealogical Society will offer summer extended research hours, designed especially for our working members and patrons.

Starting mid-June and continuing every Thursday through August, the library will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Library hours on the two other open days each week will remain the same: Friday (9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.) and Saturday (10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.).

We're also bringing back the popular weekly informal discussions. Participants of all levels of research experience are welcome to network and join the conversation from 6:30 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.

Discussion schedule:

June 14 – Open house and dessert bar
June 21 – Using Census Records and the 1940 Census, Jeff Vaillant
June 28 – Stump the Panel, Research team
July 5 – Genealogical Sleuthing: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor's Home, Steve Harris
July 12 – Searching for Living People, Jane Lindsey
July 19 – German discussion group**, Robert Jackson and Jane Lindsey
July 26 – Stump the Panel, Research team
August 2 – Creative Ways to Share Your Genealogy, Cathy Paris and Craig Siulinski
August 9 – Using Social Media to Further Your Genealogy, Kathryn Doyle
August 16 – Genealogical Sleuthing: Finding Your Female Ancestors, Ellen Fernandes Sacco and Nicka Smith
August 23 – Stump the Panel, Research team
August 30 – Genealogical Gadgets, Tim Cox

**Special offer: Come early on July 19, 2012, and meet with Robert Jackson who will do 20 minute consultations on German research problems. Email Jane Lindsey your name and phone number to make an appointment.

This year we will kick off our evening hours with a special open house event on Thursday, June 14, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. Details are still being worked out but I'm told a dessert bar is part of the plan!

There is no need to RSVP or register – just show up and take advantage of the many resources in the library. Non-members are welcome, but the library charges a $5.00 user’s fee for non-members. The user’s fee will be waived for those who arrive after 5:00 p.m. for the discussion sessions.

If you plan to drive, the lot in the rear of the building has a reduced rate after 3:00 p.m., and the metered spaces in Oakland are free after 6:00 p.m. (but they fill up fast.) Traveling by BART is easier – get off at the 19th Street station. Group discussions will end by 8:15 p.m. to allow for everyone to walk to BART together before dark.


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

A Call for Volunteers from Our New Coordinator

The California Genealogical Society is looking for volunteers! Do you have some time to spare? There are a variety of positions waiting for someone like you. 

Are you good with computers, social media and a good writer? Then join our technology or marketing teams.

Work full time but have some talent with Webinars? We can sure use your help.

Great with people in person or on the phone? Then join our membership team.

Have skills with numbers or are good with finances? Come help our treasurer and her group of dedicated volunteers. 

Have experience with database management? Let us know. We’d love your assistance.

Are you very organized and detail oriented? Don’t mind running to the court houses in San Francisco, Alameda or Contra Costa counties? We’ve got a spot for you.

Most fun of all is volunteering at our front desk. Our library is only open because of our fantastic Desk Staff. Can you commit to one Saturday a month? Would you like to be trained as a substitute or added to the list? We can use several interested people.

If you would like to become a volunteer, or if you are a current volunteer who wants to try something new, just fill out a form online or in the library. Or send me an email. 

Volunteering isn’t just good for our society, it’s also a great way to make new friends and meet fellow genealogists. Who knows, maybe one of them can even help you break down that brick wall. 

—Linda Okazaki 

Linda Okazaki is a fourth-generation Californian, born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County. She received a B.S. in Human Development and an M.A. in Education. After leaving a career working with hospitalized children in Sacramento and Oakland, she discovered a passion for volunteering in the local schools.

As a child, Linda and her mother would explore old cemeteries, just for fun. She initially became interested in genealogy fifteen years ago when her daughter needed help with a school project, but didn’t get serious until joining the California Genealogical Society two years ago, after taking the Intermediate Genealogy Series.

Her love of tending her roses and dwarf fruit trees ties right into her research of the Orchard surname. She also loves to travel and still can’t seem to get enough of those old cemeteries. Linda is currently researching her husband’s Japanese-American ancestry and aspires to write a children’s book about that topic.


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

Celebrating Our Volunteers

During National Volunteer Week, we celebrate our many volunteers at the California Genealogical Society and Library. Here is a message from CGS president, Jeff Vaillant:

The California Genealogical Society has no paid staff. Our volunteers ARE our society. I appreciate the willingness of members who DO the necessary jobs needed to effectively run the society, and who freely share their genealogical expertise. Thanks to all of the members of the California Genealogical Society – we wouldn't be as strong as we are without you!

In addition, our member volunteers equip, maintain, staff and operate a genealogical library. Our founders, if they could time-travel forward from 1898, would be astounded at the collection we have amassed in a century, thanks to the generosity, in time and money, of our members. The CGS continues, in the twenty-first century, to place the highest value on real books in the digital age. To run a library without any paid staff is a remarkable accomplishment.

Member volunteers contribute their time and energy to a large menu of projects, services, and educational opportunities the CGS provides. Some work behind the scenes to keep our computers in repair and our digital presence up-to-date. Our research team is in the library every Tuesday to handle look-ups and research requests and help produce our publications. Indexers, archivists, librarians, catalogers, writers, editors, photographers, designers, film-editors, videographers, archivists, bookkeepers, receptionists, speakers, teachers, book repairers – all these, and more, are words that describe the actions our volunteers perform every year.

One of our challenges is finding the right person to do the right job. We are extremely fortunate to have Linda Okazaki as our Volunteer Coordinator. Her enthusiasm and knowledge enhances our volunteer corps.

It is my experience with volunteer organizations that there is a core of people who carry the load. We are blessed with a number of members who have stepped forward to do the work. Thank you for all you do for the California Genealogical Society.

—Jeffrey Vaillant, President, 2012

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

CGS at the Aging & Disability Technology Summit – May 15, 2012

To foster broadband technology awareness and access for all local seniors and adults with disabilities, the Mayor’s Office of San Francisco, in collaboration with the Department of Aging and Adult Services, the Department of Technology and the Community Living Campaign, is presenting an Aging and Disability Technology Summit at City Hall on May 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The focus of the summit is the "world of possibilities" using technology.

The California Genealogical Society will be hosting a table with four computers for attendees who are interested in family history. CGS member volunteers will be assisting participants who want to practice using the internet to access ours and other genealogy websites. Member volunteer Mary Beth Frederick will present a "Beginning Genealogy" workshop at 2:15 p.m. Director Pat Gallagher is spearheading our participation.

The Summit will include:

• Informative plenary sessions in the North and South Light Courts of City Hall
• Workshops on a wide range of topics – the What and Why of broadband computer access
• Interactive, hands-on computer niches where people can try out different learning opportunities, including medical research, Facebook, email and more
• Large-scale video displays featuring website demonstrations in which conference attendees can actually participate
• Program and workshop translation offered for Spanish and Cantonese speaking participants

The Summit kicks off a City-wide program of free Internet access and training for seniors and adults with disabilities. Touch-screen computers will be installed in 50 San Francisco non-profit community centers serving these populations. Free, multi-lingual classes and tutoring will be offered by trained volunteers. Computer access, with classes and tutoring, is expected to begin this spring.

The Summit and computer installation, access and training are funded by the City with a federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant.

If you would like more information about the event, sponsorship, ways to volunteer, email summit@sfcommunityliving.org or register online.


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

San Francisco Bay Area Genealogy Calendar: May 2012 Published

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

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


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