Chinese Whispers: Bay Chronicles - SF Bay Area events in September

Curious about nineteenth century California and it's rich ethnic history?
Here's a series of local events of interest--

Chinese Whispers: Bay Chronicles is a project that traces the forgotten history of Chinese shrimp fishing in San Francisco Bay. It explores an overlooked yet important segment of the SF Bay area's maritime history tied to the Chinese-owned shrimp industry and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

In 1897, SF Bay had 26 Chinese shrimping camps, and the numbers dropped over time with restrictions on exports and nets. Today, the vestige of just one site remains at China Camp, which once was home to over 500 people, most of them from Canton, China.

It's part of a fascinating interdisciplinary media project, Chinese Whispers by Director Rene Yung and a team of artists, a marine archaeologist and curator John Muir in a collaboration with the SF Maritime National Historic Park. The project seeks to engage the public with three unique public programs at each of the places the Grace Quan will dock, the first happening this Saturday, September 5.

The GRACE QUAN (right) and a photo of a shrimp junk taken in the 1880s. (SAFRA7105nl) Both photos show the San Francisco waterfront in the background. The Grace Quan resembles vessels from the fishermen's hometowns in Guandong Province, China. Images: NPS

The upcoming sailings on a 43 foot replica shrimp junk, Grace Quan around the Bay, followed by public programs at each site are:
September 5: China Camp, San Rafael to Richmond, Craneway Pavilion
September 7-11: Richmond to Redwood City
September 12-14: Redwood City to China Camp, San Rafael

For more information on schedule and reservations see: http://chinese-whispers.org/bay-chronicles/

Also check out The Last Living Resident of China Camp: a KQED California Report interview with Frank Quan, the only resident of China Camp. The Chinese Whispers shrimp junk is named for his mother, Grace Quan.




Copyright © 2014 by Ellen Fernandez-Sacco, California Genealogical Society and Library.

CGS Member Eva Goodwin Receives APG's Young Professional Scholarship

At the recent 2014 Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) conference in San Antonio, Texas, the Association of Professional Genealogists announced that CGS member Eva Goodwin was awarded the Young Professional Scholarship. The APG Young Professional Scholarship is given to individuals between the ages of 18-29 who aspire to a professional career in genealogy.

Goodwin is a 2008 graduate of Mount Holyoke College and is a graduate of the ProGen 18 Study Group. She is also the owner of Family Archaeologies, which does research, consulting and meta-genealogy. 

For the APG press release: http://www.apgen.org

Congratulations Eva!



Copyright © 2014 by Ellen Fernandez-Sacco, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Finding Your Japanese Roots in the US & in Japan with Linda Okazaki

Would you like to learn how to document your unique family history? 

Dorothea Lange, WRA, Densho Digital Archive, 2008

On Saturday September 27, from 10-2, Linda Harms Okazaki is returning to CGS to present her seminar, Finding Your Japanese Roots in the US and in Japan. Adelle Treakle was a recent attendee of Linda Okazaki’s Finding Your Japanese Roots class and this sparked her quest to locate records on her family at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington DC. During the Second World War, members of Adelle’s family were held at Poston, the Colombia Relocation Center in Arizona. She kindly shares her experience:

"After attending Linda’s Finding Your Japanese Roots class, I was inspired to track down my family’s records at the National Archives in Washington DC. I requested the RG 210 files for my grandparents and their six children who were in the Poston Relocation Center. It is very moving to be able to hold in your hand the documents that had such significance to your family and their history. I took my laptop and scanner, and scanned every page, reading some along the way. Over a couple of days, I managed to scan more than 400 pages. The WRA [War Relocation Authority] kept every document, from camp intake forms, letters to and from WRA officials, and work, health and school records.

One of best treasures I found were school essays about the evacuation and camp life written by my aunt when she was in the eighth grade. Intake documents included information the family didn’t know about my grandparents in Japan, such as their mothers’ maiden names, family occupations and the schools they attended there. I hope to use this information for more genealogical research in Japan. Shortly after my DC trip, I was able to share my research at a family reunion, including giving my aunt copies of her long forgotten essays. It was gratifying to learn and share so much about such a historic event in my family’s life."

The California Genealogical Society proudly announces a repeat offering in our ongoing ethnic research series: Finding Your Japanese Roots in the US & in Japan. 

Join Linda Harms Okazaki for an encore presentation of this seminar. 
The first half will focus on background and research in the United States: 

• the political climate and pertinent U.S. laws
• internment camps
• post WWII experience
• repatriation and redress.

The second half of the seminar will concern research in Japan:

• finding your koseki 
• understanding ohaka and kakocho
• visiting relatives, cemeteries and temples

The seminar is suitable for beginners as well as more experienced attendees. Attendees are welcome to bring lunch, meet seminar participants and discuss their Japanese-American history.

When: Saturday, September 27, 2014 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. 
(please bring a bag lunch)

Where: California Genealogical Society
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
(Entrance on 22nd St)
Oakland, California

How: Register online: http://tinyurl.com/Japanese2014Reg 

Cost: Free for members. Non-members fee is $20.00 (non-refundable) and can be applied towards membership on the day of the class.

Please note, this class is limited to thirty participants. Preregistration is required. Walk-ins will not be admitted.

Call CGS: (510) 663-1358 or E-mail: events@californiaancestors.org


Copyright © 2014 by Ellen Fernandez-Sacco, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Adventures at GRIP- Genealogical Institute at Pittsburg: Pt 2

by Lisa S. Gorrell

Classroom at GRIP 2014. Photo: Lisa S. Gorrell

Wow, what I week I had! “Law School for Genealogists” was a heavily packed course with an abundant of information taught by three very experienced and knowledgeable instructors: Judy G. Russell, Richard G. Sayre, and Marian L. Smith. Judy and Rick are both certified genealogists and genealogy lecturers. 

Marian leads the Historical Research Branch at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security. Her knowledge of naturalization and immigration was wonderful.

So what did we do for a week studying law? The course was divided up into subject matters. This was basically an advanced class covering many of the basic records one learns about as a beginning genealogist but with the viewpoint of the law. Whenever a question was asked about a possible solution or why a document was created, we would say, “Look at the law.”

After an introductory course called “Freshman Orientation” that covered why genealogists should understand law, and how law has developed over time, we covered the following subjects:

• State courts and their records

• Federal courts and their records

• Legal Research 101, which covered how to use the website, Century of Lawmaking at the Library of Congress

• Legal Research 102, which covered the Serial Set, American State Papers, and Territorial Papers

• Legal Research 103, which covered The Claims Committees of the Congress and US Court of Private Land Claims

• Legal Research 104: The Serial Set and more with case studies

• Estate Law 101 & 102 (Wills, Intestacy and Probate; and Dower, Curtesy and Guardianships)

• Immigration and Naturalization 101 & 102

• Property: Federal Land Law (Public land)

• Property: State Land Law (Deeds, Mortgages)

• Military Law 101 (Military Pension law)

• Family Law 101 & 102 (Marriage and Divorce, and the law of women and children)

• Legal Research 105: Federal Prisons and Investigation

So you can see we covered a lot of subjects common to genealogy but our class was focused strongly with the law. The hardest parts for me were the Legal Research classes because I was unfamiliar with the Library of Congress website Century of Lawmaking and the National Archives website.  Our course binder was also filled with wonderful bibliographies in each of the class handouts and we received a link to a Google Drive folder with more goodies. We also got the opportunity to purchase Black’s Law Dictionary on CD for $19.95. One cannot begin to understand the law unless you understand the terminology!

The best thing I learned? A lot of business in Congress had to do with issues regular people had. 

These individuals made claims and Congress wrote private laws to relieve an individual or groups of individuals. These reliefs could be waivers, refunds, or torts. We learned how to search these papers and journals to find information about our ancestors. 

I also learned that knowing the law behind records explains its purpose. Knowing this will aid in your analysis of the information you find in the record. Judy and Rick will be teaching a similar class at SLIG in January and this course again next summer at GRIP.

Lisa S. Gorrell with genealogist Judy G. Russell. Photo: Lisa S. Gorrell

But what about the dorm life? I enjoyed staying in a dorm on the La Roche College campus. The dorms were in the building next to the classroom building which also held the cafeteria. The beds were already made for us and towels hanging in the bathrooms, too. All we had to bring were toiletries and an Ethernet cable to hook up to the internet. My next door neighbor was Kathryn Doyle! The food was tasty in the cafeteria and the classrooms mostly comfortable (one can’t please everyone anyway). There were lectures in the evening after dinner and on Wednesday, many of us watched Who Do You Think You Are all together in the lounge. Many of us were yelling back at the T.V. saying, “What else was in the Civil War file?” or “Do some DNA!”

All in all, I had a great time at GRIP and recommend it to anyone who would like an in-depth study of one subject.



Copyright © 2014 by Ellen Fernandez-Sacco, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Genealogy Institutes: GRIP: Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburg- Pt.1

Are you considering ways to get advanced training in genealogy? This month we're pleased to present a two part series by Lisa S. Gorrell on her experiences attending a genealogy institute and why an institute is worth going to. 

by Lisa S. Gorrell

A great way to learn deeply about one subject is to attend a genealogy institute. There are several institutes that have courses each year:

• Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG). This is held in January in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2015, there will be 12 tracks. http://www.gripitt.org/

• Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). This is held in June in Birmingham, Alabama on the Samford University campus. In 2015, there will be 10 courses to choose from. http://www4.samford.edu/schools/ighr/

• Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). This is held in July. This year there are two sections: 6 courses held in Pittsburgh at the LaRoche College and 4 courses held in in August at Orchard Lake, Michigan. http://www.gripitt.org/

I have attended SLIG twice and IGHR once and this year will be attending GRIP in Pittsburgh. I am enrolled in Judy G. Russell and Rich Sayre’s class called Law School for Genealogists. Classes start on Monday morning and run to noon on Friday. I am staying on the campus in a dorm. It’s a great way to attend the institute. Fellow attendees are together living in dorm rooms and sharing meals in the cafeteria which is included in the housing fee. IGHR also has dorms, a beautiful campus, and wonderful Southern hospitality and food.

So why attend an institute? It is a chance to study a subject in more detail than you would get from an hour lecture or an all-day seminar. It is also a chance to take more advanced subjects. Some of the best instructors teach at these institutes. 

Here is the lineup for GRIP in Pittsburgh next week: Paul Stuart-Warren, Thomas W. Jones, D. Joshua Taylor, J. Mark Lowe, Deborah Abbott, Debbie Parker Wayne, CeCe Moore, Blaine Bettinger, Judy G. Russell, and Rick Sayre.

The subjects this year include: Intermediate Genealogy, Determining Kinship Reliably with the Genealogical Proof Standard, Becoming an Online Expert: Mastering Search Engines and Digital Archives, Finding and Documenting African-American Families, Practical Genetic Genealogy, and Law School for Genealogist. The last two on the list filled up within 5-10 minutes. I was so lucky to get my first choice. 

There are waiting lists and often you can still get a seat when someone cancels.

So I get a whole week of listening to Judy Russell and Rick Sayre speak about how knowing about the law will help me with my genealogical research. We’re going to learn about federal courts and their records, state courts and their records, the legislative process, how to use the Serial Set: The American State Papers and Territorial Papers, estate law, immigration and naturalization law, property laws (federal & state), military pension laws, marriage and divorce laws, and how to use law to prove a case.

I can’t wait! Stay tuned for a follow-up of the class.

Book sales at GRIP. Photo: Lisa S. Gorrell

Copyright © 2014 by Ellen Fernandez-Sacco, California Genealogical Society and Library.