Time Sensitive Offer: Family History Enthusiasts of All Levels Wanted

Archives.com, locally based in Redwood City, California, is looking for Bay Area residents to participate in user testing. They are seeking genealogists and have contacted me to give CGS members a chance to be among the chosen few. Participants who meet the criteria will earn a $150 Amazon gift card for their feedback and for about one hour of their time.

Here’s how it works:

Participants will be asked to join representatives from Archives.com in either San Francisco or Redwood City, on June 7 or June 8, 2012. Archives.com will email chosen participants directly with the exact time and location details. In each session participants will be reviewing materials provided by Archives.com and asked for feedback.

Archives.com needs a total of eight participants for this study. Participants will be chosen only if they fulfill the requirements below and are quick to respond. Each session will be no longer than one hour in length.

Participant requirements:

• Must travel to downtown San Francisco or Redwood City on June 7 or 8, 2012.

• Must have experience using online family trees, preferably (but not necessarily) on the website Archives.com.

• Must sign a non-disclosure agreement.

If you’re interested in this time sensitive opportunity, please email research@archives.com as soon as possible. Archives.com will respond to those who qualify.


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

Announcing the CGS Boston Research Tour to NEHGS September 23-30, 2012

It's time to sign up for the California Genealogical Society and Library Research Trip to the New England Historic Genealogical Society library September 23-30, 2012.

Jane Lindsey, former CGS president and past NEHGS Trustee, leads our biennial trip to Boston, Massachusetts. Accommodations are at the Boston Common Hotel and Conference Center in the Copley Square area of downtown Boston, located about three blocks from NEHGS.

The tour begins Monday morning with a brief orientation. Since the NEHGS library is closed on Monday, participants will have the option that day of visiting the Massachusettes State Archives, Suffolk or Middlesex County courthouses, Massachusettes Historical Society or Boston Public Library.

The Tour Package includes:

• Hotel room (7 nights, single occupancy)
• Monday morning orientation
• Free day Monday to visit your choice of several repositories or sight-see in Boston
• Tuesday orientation at NEHGS
• Daily continental breakfast
• Two group dinners (Monday and Saturday) at local restaurants
• Optional pre-trip consultations with Jane Lindsey
• On-site lectures - to be announced

Linda Darby and Sandy Fryer at NEHGS in 2008.

The cost is $1674.00 (airfare not included). A deposit of $300 is required by July 15, 2012, to hold one space. Download the tour flier for full details and cancellation and refund policy. Tour participants must be members of both the California Genealogical Society and the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Register online.

The first group dinner will be on Monday evening. NEHGS is open 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Wednesdays. The Boston Public Library, near the hotel, is open until 9:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and has an excellent microtext department with a wonderful newspaper collection.

Photographs courtesy of Jane Lindsey, Boston, MA, 9/22/2008.


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

Summer Best Genealogy Websites Series Starts Thursday, July 19, 2012

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

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Thursday evenings, beginning July 19, 2012
(See specific dates below.)

The California Genealogical Society will present our first summer series of evening classes – Best Genealogy Websites – Tips & Tricks – at the library.

Seven weekly 90-minute sessions will give you the skills you need to navigate your way to better and more efficient search results on the best sites for family history research.

The course costs $40 for seven weeks, including materials; $50 for non-members.

Week 1:  July 19, 2012 – Google.com I, Kim Cotton
Week 2:  July 26, 2012 – Google.com II, Kim Cotton
Week 3:  August 2, 2012 – FamilySearch.org, Jane Lindsey
Week 4:  August 9, 2012 – Ancestry.com, Jane Lindsey
Week 5:  August 16, 2012 – Fold3.com, Susan Goss Johnston
Week 6:  August 23, 2012 – Rootsweb, USGenWeb and Newspaper Sites, Susan Goss Johnston

PLEASE NOTE:

• Class size limited to the first twenty-five who register
• Walk-ins will not be permitted 
• Located just three blocks from BART 19th Street Station
• Free street parking after 6:00 p.m
• No refunds once the series begins
• $10.00 off new CGS membership if you join by August 30, 2012

Download the course flier.

Register online.   



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

On the Street Where We Live: A Case Study Using the 1940 Census

Saturday, June 16, 2012
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

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

Michael Nolan, Marty Combs, and Julie Laguard are neighbors in the Bernal Heights district of San Francisco. They used recently released 1940 census data to look back in time at the street where they live. Join us for this fascinating comparison of then and now. The neighbors will present their research on the 200 Block of Elsie Street. They will compare and contrast who lived there in 1940 with data about who lives on the block today, including:

• How many people lived under one roof? 
• What were their origins? Did they migrate or immigrate from somewhere else? 
• What did they do for a living? 
• How much did they earn? What was their length of employment? 
• Vertical study of one house on the block over time 

They will discuss the role the research played in binding the block together through frequent potluck dinners, mutual support in time of need, celebration in time of joy, and a stellar annual block party.

Michael Nolan and Marty Combs will present, with research assistance from Elsie Street neighbor, Julie Lagarde.

The presentation is free and open to all. Please let us know you are coming.

Register online.

Michael Nolan was born and bred in Brooklyn, the son of an Irish Catholic father and a Polish Jewish immigrant mother. He thinks his fascination with genealogy thus began in the womb. He convenes regular family reunions for both sides of his family and maintains sites for both on Facebook and MyFamily. He recently convened a 50th anniversary reunion for his eighth grade class at PS99 in Brooklyn and used various research tools to find missing classmates. He has a long history in journalism in NYC and San Francisco as a researcher, producer and editor for CBS News, the Public Broadcast Laboratory, and the San Francisco Business Times. He currently researches and develops family trees for individual clients. More information at Give the Gift of Family History on Facebook.

Marty Combs is from northwestern North Carolina where his family has been living since the late 1790s. Having only one living grandparent who was already 82 by his birth, and parents who grew up during the Great Depression, he was exposed early to discussions of “the good ol' days” and how families and homes transition through time. He has often exchanged stories with neighbors regarding the history of his neighborhood and home. Marty's day job is a unix system administrator. In his spare time, he cares for a nearby community garden, does woodworking, metalworking and relaxes on his front stoop socializing with neighbors.

Julie Lagarde is a social historian, policy analyst and advocate. A native of France, she obtained a Masters degree in Public Policy at the Institut d'Etudes politiques de Bordeaux. Growing restless with unemployment, she decided to apply her thirst for research to her home. Michael and Marty will present her “vertical study” on who has lived in her house over the past century, since it was built.


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

A-Files Opening Ceremony and Dedication of the Tom Lantos Research Center

As chief blogger for the California Genealogical Society, I've been to many family history events and reported on lots of genealogy achievements, but none have been as moving and significant as today's A-Files Opening Ceremony and Dedication of the Tom Lantos Research Center at The National Archives at San Francisco.

Jeanie W. Chooey Low

For more than a decade, CGS member Jeanie W. Chooey Low has been a tireless advocate for the Alien Case Files. She and her colleague, Jennie Lew, co-chairs of SONA "Save Our National Archives," a coalition of more than thirty community non-profit and academic organizations and interested individuals, worked closely with the late U.S. Representative Tom Lantos to save the files from scheduled destruction. In early 2008 SONA achieved their two goals:

1. Having the A-files re-designated as records of permanent historic value.
2. Keeping local records at the San Francisco NARA.

In June 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS and the National Archives and Records Administration NARA held a formal joint signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. to "designate as permanent the immigration files created on the millions of aliens residing in the United States in 1944, as well as those arriving since then."

Today, three years later, NARA-SF officially opened over 40,000 of the case files and dedicated its research room to the late Tom Lantos.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier

Taking part in the ceremony was U.S. Representative Jackie Speier, who continued the work of Tom Lantos after his death in early 2008 and her election to his seat. Among the other speakers was CGS member and San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society President Jeremy Frankel.

Commemorative plaque presented to the grandchildren of Tom Lantos.

Other CGS members in attendance were Christine DeVillier, Grant Din, Nancy Peterson, Kay Speaks, Laura Spurrier, and Cath Trindle. Cath has written two reports on the day for the San Mateo Genealogical Society Blog and the California State Genealogical Alliance Blog.

 

Three researchers were the first to view their ancestors' A-files.

What are the A-Files?
The immigration files, known as “Alien Files” (commonly referred to as “A-Files”), were transferred from U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). They are among the first of millions of case files that will eventually be opened to the public.


In 1940, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the predecessor of USCIS, started issuing Alien Registration Numbers to resident aliens in the United States.  On April 1, 1944, INS began to assign these numbers to a new series of immigration case files called A-Files. A-Files are a genealogical wealth of information, containing documents such as photographs, personal correspondence, affidavits, vital records, interview transcripts, and visa applications.

A first look at an A-File.

How can one access A-Files for genealogical research?
A-Files may be viewed in person by appointment or copies may be ordered for a fee. Researchers may contact National Archives staff at AFiles.SanBruno@nara.gov to search A-Files holdings for a particular file. Beginning Tuesday, May 29, 2012, an online database will be available through the National Archives at San Francisco website at http://www.archives.gov/pacific/san-francisco.

The National Archives at San Francisco is one of twenty-two facilities open to the public nationwide where the public can access Federal archival records in person. Its holdings total over 60,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1850s to the 1990s, created by more than 100 Federal agencies and courts in northern and central California, Nevada (except for Clark County), Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the American Territories. The facility is located at 1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA 94066. The National Archives at San Francisco is open Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (until 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.) Appointments are strongly encouraged.


Photographs by Kathryn Doyle, San Bruno, California, 5/22/2012.


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