San Francisco Bay Area Genealogy Calendar: April 2013 Published

April 2013 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-five societies, archives, and libraries.

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 include "SFBA Calendar" in the subject line.)

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Members at RootsTech 2013

Several members of the California Genealogical Society attended the third annual RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City. Amy Coffin nailed it when she tweeted "So far, the theme for #rootstech 2013 seems to be 'bigger than last year' in every aspect." With more than 6,700 attendees, it was the largest ever gathering of genealogists in the United States.

The best thing about genealogy conferences (in my opinion) is the face-to-face. I spend a lot of time in a virtual genealogy world so connecting "in person" with gen-friends and distant members is a real treat. We successfully gathered nine members together for a "CGS photo."

Linda Darby, Patricia Burrow, Sandra Benward, Nancy Schlegel, Amy Coffin, Virginia Kysh, Kathryn Doyle, Tim Cox, and Kim Cotton. 

Missing were Bill George, Gloria Hanson, Paul Hawthorne, Lisa B. Lee, Thomas MacEntee, and Gene Pennington.

Next year's RootsTech Conference will be held February 6-8, 2014, in Salt Lake City.


Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Field Trip to Sacramento – California State Library and State Archives - Wednesday, May 8, 2013

California State Library

Wednesday, May 8, 2013
9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m..

California State Library
900 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

For members only!

Join us for a day of research in the California History Room at the State Library in Sacramento, and for a tour of the California State Archives, a few blocks away.

Members are responsible for handling their own commute arrangements but are invited to travel together, by train, on the Amtrak Capitol Corridor, train No. 524. Members who live in the greater Sacramento area may meet us at the library but are asked to please register in advance. Participants may buy lunch at one of the cafes in the Capitol area, or bring lunch to eat in the building lunchroom – or in the gardens around the Capitol.

We will start with a library orientation at 10:15 a.m. and then we will be set loose in the California History Room! What will you find there? Manuscripts, diaries, letters (these items may have to be retrieved from the storage “vault”), books and on microfilm, a large selection of California newspapers, many not yet digitized.

Register online.

Explore some of the library's holdings at the Main Catalog using the Basic Search or Advanced Search.  Download the Selected Guide to the Sources for Genealogy in the California History Room.

After lunch, we will walk over to the California State Archives and tour of some of its vast and varied holdings. A collections page summarizes the materials located here.

Among the things that might be of special interest to genealogists are certain county records (e.g., older probate files from certain counties, and inmate registers of some prisons), and the Root Cellar Library of the Sacramento Genealogical Society. Please study the online catalog (Minerva) for topics if you plan to do a bit of searching. We may not have time to do much research, but we can prepare you for your next visit. (Please send a question to the trip leader if you think you would prefer to spend more of your day researching at the Archives than the Library.)

Our return train trip will leave on Sacramento Amtrak No. 543 at 3:35 p.m. The walk to the Amtrak station takes about fifteen minutes. Those who would prefer may take a taxi.

This field trip is organized for members of the California Genealogical Society. Non-members interested in participating are encouraged to become members prior to March 15, 2013. The maximum group size is twenty members. Please reserve your place by Thursday, April 25, 2013.

Photograph courtesy of the California State Library, Sacramento, California.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Lunch Bunch at the Library

Photograph courtesy of Linda Okazaki, Oakland, California, 2/12/2013.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

April Membership Meeting: Preserving Your Genealogical Work Through Publishing

Saturday, April 13, 2013
12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society Library

2201 Broadway, Suite LL2

Oakland, CA 94612

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month so please join us for a celebration of volunteerism at next month's membership meeting.

Volunteer Coordinator Linda Okazaki and Membership Coordinator Diana Edwards are launching a new membership meeting format that starts with lunch and a social hour. Members are invited to bring a bag lunch to the Sherman Room at noon for a chance to catch up with friends and get to know new members. Beverages and desserts will be provided. Come and celebrate the spirit of volunteerism within our society.

The business meeting will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. with a brief ceremony to honor our longest serving volunteers. This will be followed by this month's focus: Preserving Your Genealogical Work Through Publishing. Members who have published genealogical books, articles, and other materials are invited to bring them to the meeting. You will not be required to give a presentation. Come and get inspired to publish your research by browsing through the examples created by our members. Please email Diana Edwards if you have a work to share.

We look forward to a vibrant and fun event!

And take a look at our new Books by CGS Members board on Pinterest!



Future membership meetings for the year will be held:

• Saturday, July 13, 2013
• Saturday, October 12, 2013

Please save the dates!

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.


Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library