Wordless Wednesday

Field Trip to Sacramento 

California State Library and State Archives

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Photographs courtesy of Jane Lindsey and Lorna Wallace,


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

Field Trip to the San Francisco Main Public Library

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m..

San Francisco Main Public Library
100 Larkin Street

100 Larkin St.

San Francisco, 94102

For members only!

Join Past-president Jane Lindsey for a tour of the areas of genealogical interest at the San Francisco Main Public Library. Attendees will gather at 11:00 a.m. outside The San Francisco History Center on the sixth floor and split into two groups for a tour led by San Francisco City Archivist Susan Goldstein and library staff.

BART will be the transportation of choice. Travel to the Civic Center Station and walk towards the large blue medallion painted on the wall, then up the stairs or escalator. The library is across the street.

After the tour, members will gather to learn about the online catalog and the many San Francisco records the library has recently digitized through Archive.org and FamilySearch.org and how to access them.

Register online.

If you don't already have a San Francisco library card this will be a great opportunity to get one. Residents of California with identification may obtain one for free. Applications are available at the Main and must be submitted in person. Detailed information is available at the library website.

Attendees may want have lunch together. The Mint Café is located on the lower level of the library. Café Asia at the Asian Art Museum is close by.

This field trip is organized for members of the California Genealogical Society. Non-members interested in participating are encouraged to become members prior to July 1, 2013. The maximum group size is forty members.

Photographs of the San Francisco Main Public Library by Sameer Vasta, October 24, 2006, Creative Commons License.

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

San Francisco Bay Area Genealogy Calendar: June 2013 Published

June 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.

Many societies take a break in the summer months so the June calendar is a bit light with only 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.

The Legacy of Florence Walter at The Book Club of California

Jane Hufft, Bill O'Neil and I had the pleasure of attending the exhibit opening of "The Legacy of Florence Walter: Celebrating a Century" on Monday, April 29, 2013. We were invited by Henry Snyder, CGS Library Committee Chair and member of our board of directors. Henry also happens to hold the same titles at The Book Club of California where the exhibit is on display through the summer.

Florence Schwartz Walter (1884-1972)

The Legacy of Florence Walter: Celebrating a Century features forty-five exquisite book bindings by one of San Francisco’s most celebrated artists in this genre. The exhibit was curated by Kathleen Burch and John McBride.

Florence Walter was prominent in social and cultural circles in San Francisco for decades. She had a notable collection of Asian art was also a professional bookbinder, described as "one of the finest bookbinders in the French style working in the United States."

Walter joined The Book Club of California in 1913  and was the first woman elected to the board and its first woman president.

The exhibition was made possible by three of the grandchildren of Walter who donated the bindings and related ephemera to the Book Club for its Florence Walter Collection. Several members of the family were present and spoke at the opening.

The exhibition also includes examples of Walter’s work from other sources. It is the largest collection of the work of Florence Walter in an institution.
The Legacy of Florence Walter: Celebrating a Century runs through August 26, 2013.

The Book Club of California, located at 312 Sutter Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, is a non-profit organization of people who take pleasure in fine printing related to the history and literature of California and the Western states. They help further the interests of book collectors and scholars, and promote an understanding and appreciation of fine books.



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

Purchase Used Genealogy Books and Support Our Library on eBay

eBay defines itself as "the world's online marketplace – a place for buyers and sellers to come together and trade almost anything." It is now also a way to give to the California Genealogical Society and Library.

Thanks to the generosity of our members, book donations continue to add to our library's collection but with so many gifts many are duplicates. Using our book donation policy as a guide, duplicate titles in better condition than our shelved volumes are retained. The rest accumulate until the library committee organizes a used book sale, usually held in conjunction with special events like the annual meeting, NEHGS Comes West, or our recent 115th Anniversary Celebration. The used book sales are always successful and are great source of revenue to support the library.

Now our library volunteers have taken their fund-raising formula to the "online marketplace"  with eBay Giving Works – a program designed to make it easy for nonprofits to sell online. Best of all,100% of the proceeds come back to CGS.

Shirley Hoye and Arlene Miles

Selling books on eBay is a team effort. Shirley Hoye researches each book to determine the price, makes a copy of the title page, notes the book's condition and weighs it. Marcelle White, who set up the society's eBay and Giving Works accounts, photographs the books and uploads them to the site.

Marci and Arlene Miles monitor sales and ready the books for shipping. Gibran Rath, Shirley and Library Chair Henry Snyder have donated packaging materials. One of the team will box up the books, print labels and ship them. Arlene commented, "It's quite a job to synchronize but we now have one heck of a team!"

Marcelle White and Arlene Miles

Henry noted, "Thanks to Marci, we now are approaching 100 items listed for sale on eBay. Even better, in the first week or so we sold seven titles for more than $200.00."Marci added, "I'm glad to be able to make our library's overstock available via eBay to family history researchers across the country."

While books are waiting to be added to eBay they are available for browsing in the library. Members may view the selection of used books during our open hours Thursday through Saturday. Books can be be purchased from the front desk volunteers who will issue a receipt.

Marcelle White and Henry Snyder

Visit the society's eBay online storefront CGSbooks4Sale at http://myworld.ebay.com/cgsbooks4sale to purchase our used books. You can even include a donation!

Or, start selling on eBay and donate a percentage of your proceeds (up to 100%) to the California Genealogical Society using eBay Giving Works at http://givingworks.ebay.com/charity-auctions/charity/california-genealogical-society/77399/.

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