2024
Torn Lilacs
September 3, 2024
Watch Torn Lilacs on the California State Library YouTube channel
Based on the harrowing true tale of his parents’ survival during WWII, the novel stars Fela, a feisty and tenacious young woman born in Poland in 1919. Fela met her future husband Joska Michalski just as Nazi Germany was casting its ominous shadow across their homeland. Over the course of the next decade, Fela and her brother Kuba fled Poland on foot, evaded the Nazis, were arrested, imprisoned, released, betrayed, separated, reunited, and ultimately deported to a remote island Gulag in Siberia. Despite all odds, Fela and Joska reunited when they were each released from soviet imprisonment and found their way to the same village in Kazakhstan. Torn Lilacs, a story of hardship and struggle, also explores themes of hope, fate, strength, faith, and love.
Henry Michalski was born in Kazakhstan and arrived in the United States with his family as a four-year-old in 1949. The following year, the family settled in San Francisco. Michalski had a long, successful career as a high school history teacher in Napa, California, later becoming involved in local politics and journalism. His proudest accomplishments are his two children and three grandchildren.
Public Faces, Secret Lives
June 18, 2024
Watch Public Faces, Secret Lives on the California State Library YouTube channel
The women’s suffrage movement was very queer. But the queer history of the campaign for the vote has been largely obscured. Historian Wendy Rouse has attempted to recover some of this lost queer history by piecing together clues from the personal diaries, letters, and the private papers of the suffragists in her book Public Faces, Secret Lives: The Queer History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. This investigation has helped reveal the important role of queerness and queer suffragists in the fight for the vote.
Wendy L. Rouse is Professor of History at San Jose State University. Her scholarly research focuses on the history of women, gender, and sexuality during the Progressive Era. Rouse is the author of Public Faces, Secret Lives, as well as Children of Chinatown: Growing Up Chinese American in San Francisco, 1880-1920 and Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women’s Self-Defense Movement. Learn more at wendylrouse.com.
Exploring Polynesian Genealogy
April 12, 2024
Watch Exploring Polynesian Genealogy on the California State Library YouTube channel
Explore the fascinating world of Polynesian family history research with speaker Miya Jensen. In this presentation, Miya discusses the culture of genealogy in Oceania, the variety of records available for researchers, and the wealth of knowledge provided by the Oral Genealogies of the Pacific.
Miyamoto Loretta Jensen, of Laie, Hawaii, is a professional genealogist that specializes in Polynesian family history work. On social media, Miya is known as “The Polynesian Genealogist.”
2022
Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America
June 22, 2022
Watch Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America on the California State Library YouTube channel.
Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake were two ordinary Vermont women who lived together in an extraordinary same-sex marriage in western Vermont, from 1807–1851. Dr. Cleves explored the evidence of their marriage, how they were perceived by their family, friends, and community, and how the women’s roles as husband and wife within their marriage reimagined gender in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Rachel Hope Cleves is professor of history at the University of Victoria, and a member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada. She is the author of three works of non-fiction: The Reign of Terror in America (2009), Charity and Sylvia (2014), and Unspeakable (2020). Her first work of fiction, Savepoint, will be published in 2023. She is presently working on a history of food and sex, from the eighteenth century to the present.
The Sutro Tunnel: Past, Present, and Future
April 28, 2022
Watch The Sutro Tunnel: Past, Present, and Future on the California State Library YouTube channel.
After spending almost 20 years in Nevada working towards his goal of completing the largest drainage tunnel in the country, Adolph Sutro abruptly leaves and abandons his life’s work without any continued input. Chris Pattison shared what was really happening at the Sutro Tunnel, the people that worked in it, the continued success after Adolph left and what the Friends of Sutro Tunnel are doing to restore this significant part of Nevada’s history.
Raised in a sequence of small towns no larger than the town of Sutro is now, Sutro Tunnel Site Manager Chris Pattison feels at home in his position to protect this unique slice of the past. While he’s traveled extensively, his roots go deep in this region. His family is here, and he’s intensely dedicated to having the tunnel preserved, stabilized, and available to be shared. Chris is excited to see it become more accessible to visitors!
Too Brown to Keep: A Search for Love, Forgiveness and Healing
February 24, 2022
Watch Too Brown to Keep: A Search for Love, Forgiveness and Healing on the California State Library YouTube channel.
Judy Fambrough-Billingsley was born in Friedberg, Germany, shortly after WWII and was the daughter of a white German woman and a black American soldier. Her mixed race led to her becoming one of many unwanted “Brown Babies” abandoned by their mothers. Her book “Too Brown to Keep: A Search for Love, Forgiveness, and Healing” recounts the inspirational odyssey as the search for her birth parents leads to discovery of the good, bad, and ugly family secrets that she had struggled to unearth for decades. In this virtual book talk, Judy recounted her search for her birth parents and shared tips and strategies for researching and publishing.
Judy Fambrough-Billingsley holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, a California Lifetime Teaching Credential and Master’s Degree in Education Administration. Now residing in Elk Grove, CA she is the mother of two successful sons, two successful daughter-in-law’s, and “Nana” to four grandsons. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and 100 Black Women of Sacramento, she finds time to serve her church and community in many ways.
2021
I’ve Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land
November 4, 2021
Perhaps no other symbol has more resonance in African American history than that of “40 acres and a mule”—the lost promise of Black reparations for slavery after the Civil War. In I’ve Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land, we meet the Black people who actually received this mythic 40 acres, the American settlers who coveted this land, and the Native Americans whose holdings it originated from.
Through chapters that chart cycles of dispossession, land seizure, and settlement in Indian Territory, Alaina E. Roberts draws on archival research and family history to upend the traditional story of Reconstruction. She connects debates about Black freedom and Native American citizenship to westward expansion onto Native land. As Black, white, and Native people constructed ideas of race, belonging, and national identity, this part of the West became, for a short time, the last place where Black people could escape Jim Crow, finding land and exercising political rights, until Oklahoma Statehood in 1907.
Alaina E. Roberts is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on the intersection of Black and Native American life from the nineteenth-century to the modern day with particular attention to identity, settler colonialism, and anti-Blackness. In addition to her award-winning first book, I’ve Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021), and multiple academic articles, her writing has appeared in outlets like the Washington Post and TIME magazine and her work has been profiled by the likes of CNN and the Boston Globe.
The Mystery Aussie: Jan See Chin
October 21, 2021
Watch The Mystery Aussie: Jan See Chin on the California State Library YouTube channel.
In honor of Family History Month, join us as Pamela Lee Wong shares the story of her family history journey, how she uncovered the mystery of a great uncle, and how his story reflects today’s Asian immigrant experiences. Pam’s book, The Mystery Aussie: Jan See Chin, transcends the typical immigrant story. Eliciting admiration, anger, fear, and amazement, the reader witnesses Jan See Chin immigrant journey, profound accomplishments, anti-Chinese struggles, a kidnapping, and finally, assassination — all set in Australia, Hong Kong, and China. Pam first heard of Jan See Chin from her mother-in-law and subsequently learned of his courage, perseverance, business acumen and astounding influence all of which kept pulling her into his story which evolved into a six-year family history journey.
Pamela Lee Wong is a local author of family history stories. She sets Chinese immigrant experiences against the backdrop of historical events. Passionate about preserving the accounts of Chinese pioneers who preceded us, Pam writes with future generations in mind. Her interest in the Chinese immigration history of the 1900s took off years after college. The recent blossoming of Chinese American and Chinese Australian history resources helped her learn that the Chinese diaspora migrated to places well beyond California. Besides The Mystery Aussie: Jan See Chin, a book she published in 2018, she also self-published a second family history book called girl, and has a third family history in the works, entitled A Grandfather I Never Met.
Harris v. Sutro: An Early Civil Rights Battle at Sutro Baths
July 29, 2021
Watch Harris v. Sutro: An Early Civil Rights Battle at Sutro Baths on the California State Library YouTube channel.
On August 1, 1897, the headlines of all three major newspapers in San Francisco announced an unusual story — John Harris sued Adolph Sutro over the color bar at the Sutro Baths. Harris, an African American, charged that he was not allowed in the pools at Sutro Baths solely on the basis of his race. He filed — and won — his lawsuit just one year after the United States Supreme Court ruled in the infamous Plessey v. Ferguson case that racial segregation was the law of the land. What made this courageous man — backed by others who had fought for years for the rights of African Americans in California — stand up to a color bar imposed at San Francisco’s top new amusement center, the Sutro Baths, owned by the powerful former Mayor of San Francisco? Working with the National Park service, writer Elaine Elinson dug deep into the archives and uncovered material that reveals a straight line from the Civil War to the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the law in force in California today that prohibits discrimination on racial, gender, religious, and ethnic grounds.
Elaine Elinson is coauthor of “Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California”, which won a Gold Medal in the California Book Awards. Elinson researches civil rights history for the National Park Service and has helped create exhibits on the incarceration of Japanese Americans at Tule Lake, the imprisonment of conscientious objectors at Alcatraz during World War I, and the civil rights lawsuit challenging race segregation at San Francisco’s Sutro Baths.
Adolph Sutro’s Urban Forests: Influences and Lasting Benefits
April 29, 2021
Watch Adolph Sutro’s Urban Forests: Influences and Lasting Benefits on the California State Library YouTube channel.
Planted in the 1880s, Adolph Sutro created a four-mile-long forested greenbelt including West of Twin Peaks District, transforming its development into tree-themed residential parks, including Forest Hill, St. Francis Wood, and Sherwood Forest. The forests on Mt. Davidson and Mt. Sutro continue to provide residents of the second densest city in the U.S. the opportunity to enjoy and be surrounded by hillsides covered in year-round greenery. Why did Adolph Sutro choose to create this unique urban forest landscape and why is it still here over a century later? Drawing from Sutro’s personal papers, biographies, and other sources, Jacqueline will share the motivation and impact this lush green foliage has had on San Francisco.
Jacqueline Proctor has been living at the edge of, and exploring, the forest on Mt. Davidson with her family since 1980. After a career in urban management and planning, she is pursuing her interests in local history and architecture. In addition to creating the MtDavidson.org website and JacquieProctor.com blog, she has written two books: San Francisco’s West of Twin Peaks and Bay Area Beauty: The Artistry of Harold G. Stoner, Architect. She also leads walking tours as a volunteer for San Francisco City Guides: Mt. Davidson Stroll and West Side Whimsy.
Connections Concealed: Family and Slavery in Fluvanna County, Virginia
February 24, 2021
Watch Connections Concealed: Family and Slavery in Fluvanna County, Virginia on the California State Library YouTube channel.
In 2017, Marty visited her maternal ancestral community in Charlottesville, Virginia where she began a deep dive into her family history and her own identity as a southern woman and white descendant of slave owners. In that process, Marty learned that her great-grand aunt Maud was buried in the cemetery of a historic Black church and she set about finding out why. Maud’s story anchors this account of interracial connections in Fluvanna County, Virginia during the era marked by the rise of Jim Crow.
Dr. Marty Jessup is Professor Emerita at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing where she conducted qualitative health justice research focused on the lived experience and legal issues of women and families affected by substance use disorders. Marty is a member of the African American Genealogy Society of Northern California and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Greater Richmond Virginia Chapter.
Critical Family History: Placing Family History Within Larger Contexts
February 3, 2021
Watch Critical Family History: Placing Family History Within Larger Contexts on the California State Library YouTube channel.
Family history has become a highly popular activity. But how often do we situate our family’s history within the wider socio-political contexts in which our ancestors lived? This talk shows how family history can illuminate broader social struggles such as those around racism, and how one’s own family history within those struggles connects with life today.
Christine Sleeter is Professor Emerita in the College of Education and Professional Studies at California State University Monterey Bay. For decades, she worked with teachers in multicultural education. On retiring from the university, she turned her attention to family history within social contexts, developing a blog devoted to Critical Family History, and a series of novels in which the protagonists, using family history, discover powerful links between past and present.
2020
Virtual Book Talk: This Land is Their Land
November 18, 2020
Watch Virtual Book Talk: This Land is Their Land on the California State Library YouTube channel.
Coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower Voyage, historian David J. Silverman sheds profound new light on the events that led to the creation, and bloody dissolution, of the alliance between the Wampanoags and Plymouth Colony. Focusing on the Wampanoags, Silverman deepens the narrative to consider tensions that developed well before 1620 and lasted long after the devastating war-tracing the Wampanoags’ ongoing struggle for self-determination up to this very day.
This Land is Their Land shows that it is time to rethink how we, as a pluralistic nation, tell the history of Thanksgiving.
David J. Silverman is Professor of History at George Washington University. He is the author of several books on Native American, colonial American, and American racial history, including This Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and Troubled History of Thanksgiving, and Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America. He is the recent recipient of the William Hickling Prescott Award for Excellence in Historical Writing, given by the Massachusetts branch of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. His essays have appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and the Daily Beast.
Finding Your Hispanic Ancestry: An Introduction
October 9, 2020
Watch Finding Your Hispanic Ancestry: An Introduction on the California State Library YouTube channel
Our speaker taught us how to begin researching our Latin American ancestry, where to find records and how to interpret and analyze them. This virtual talk was geared towards beginners in Hispanic genealogical research as well as beginners in genealogical research in general.
Maria Tello is a board member of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHHAR). She has over 45 years of experience with genealogical research. Previously employed at ProGenealogists, she assisted in researching for the show, Who Do You Think You Are? She is accredited for research in Mexico and has expertise in researching other Spanish-speaking countries.
Adolph Sutro: King of the Comstock Lode and Mayor of San Francisco
August 7, 2020
Watch Adolph Sutro: King of the Comstock Lode and Mayor of San Francisco on the California State Library YouTube channel
In remembrance of Adolph Sutro who passed away 122 years ago on August 8th, William Huber, the author of a recently-published biography, Adolph Sutro—King of the Comstock Lode and Mayor of San Francisco, was our guest in a virtual book talk. The recording can be found on the California State Library YouTube channel.
William Huber’s career started at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1962 and led to his first trip to San Francisco in 1980. The purpose of the trip was to accept the Best Paper Award for his prior year’s presentation at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, but it also led to a love affair with San Francisco. A visit to the Cliff House further focused that love to the Land’s End area and its master builder, Adolph Sutro. Dr. Huber’s career as an engineer and expert witness in patent litigation cases continued for another 38 years, but he never forgot the incredible achievements of Adolph Sutro. So, when he finally retired from engineering, Huber decided to write about Sutro, his struggle to build a four-mile-long tunnel at the Comstock Lode, and his amazing accomplishments and adventures in San Francisco
*This event was done in place of the annual Sutro birthday celebration that was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Paving the Way: Women’s Struggle for Equality in California
July 15, 2020
Watch Paving the Way: Women’s Struggle for Equality in California on the California State Library YouTube channel
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, Authors Susie Swatt and Steve Swatt brought to life the inspirational stories of trailblazing Bay Area women who overcame discrimination and cultural stereotypes through grit, determination and resilience to transform California’s political landscape.
Steve Swatt is a veteran political analyst, a former public affairs executive and adjunct professor at Cal State Sacramento. He spent nearly three decades as an award-winning journalist with the San Francisco Examiner, United Press International in Los Angeles and KCRA-TV (NBC) in Sacramento, primarily covering state and national politics and public policy.
Susie Swatt spent nearly four decades in leadership positions at the California Legislature. For many years, she was a member of the National Advisory Council of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley and currently is a board member of Friends of California State Archives. As a Special Assistant for the State Fair Political Practices Commission, she researched and authored a major study that won a national ProPublica award for “investigative work in the public interest.”
*This was Sutro Library’s first virtual event ever!
Power and the People: The U.S. Census and Who Counts
January 22, 2020
This talk covered the U.S. Census, why it matters, and its historical context presented by the curators of the UC Berkeley Library Census Exhibit. It included major topics covered in the exhibit such as Race/Ethnicity issues through census history; measuring immigration; the citizenship question controversy; and the census and genealogy.
Ann Glusker is the UC Berkeley Library’s liaison to the Sociology and Demography departments, before which she was a medical librarian and public health epidemiologist in Seattle, and a social worker in Philadelphia. She has worked with census data since her graduate school days, and was thrilled to fill out the long form in the 2000 census.
Jesse Silva is the Scholarly Resource Strategy and Federal Government Information Librarian at UC Berkeley, and has worked to help people locate and use government information, including the Census, for close to 20 years. He really enjoys working with census statistics/data because they allow us to measure how the U.S. has changed over time.
Both Ann and Jesse were members of the Power of the People exhibit committee. This exhibit was up until March 2, 2020 in the Bernice Layne Brown Gallery of the Doe Library, UC Berkeley.
2019
What You Didn’t Learn in the 4th Grade: A Northern California Tale of Displacement, Slavery, and Genocide
November 21, 2019
Courts, politicians, miners, settlers and Indian agents, with little exception, found nothing amiss in exploiting, displacing–and murdering–the indigenous people on their way to acquiring their own wealth and land. You may have learned about the Sand Creek or Wounded Knee but did you know that similar massacres occurred to the Pomo and Yuki people just a few miles outside of Petaluma at places such as Clearlake, Hopland and the Eden Valley? This talk covered how this confluence of cultures created great wealth at the expense of indigenous peoples and carried this legacy even today.
Will Gorenfeld spent 35 years as a poverty and appellate attorney, two of which were working with the California Indian Legal Services in Ukiah, California. Since his retirement from law in 2005, he has worked as a historian, writing articles for journals, magazines, and publishing two books: Battles and Massacres and Kearny’s Dragoons Out West. Similar to many who were educated in California schools, he was not taught much about California’s First Peoples. It was not until he worked with them from 1975 to 1977 that he began to learn of the history and atrocities committed against these civilizations.
What Were You Like as a Kid, Grandma?
October 18, 2019
Did you know Nana used to be a competitive ice skater? Or that your great-uncle actually won the lottery? What was it like to live through WWII?
By capturing a loved one’s life story, you’ll learn things you never knew and save precious memories to treasure forever. Interviewing your loved one will be one of the most meaningful gifts you can give your family and yourself. Keep Life Stories has helped families capture thousands of minutes of memories on audio. During this talk, you’ll learn: How to ask someone for an interview, and increase the chances they will say yes; Questions you can ask when you’re not sure where to start; Tips on how to capture more, and better, stories.
Amelia Lin is the CEO of Keep Life Stories, a service that helps families capture memories from their aging loved ones in an online audio storybook. Each week, your loved one receives a question prompt, they dial a special phone number to record, and their voice recording is captured and shared with you–like getting a podcast of Grandma’s stories. Dial a phone number to record, no app download, no typing. Learn more at keeplifestories.com or contact Amelia at amelia@keeplifestories.com.
Rainbow Prism: Looking at Family History through an LGBTQ Lens
June 28, 2019
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer folk have always been a part of our history and family stories. The confirmed bachelor or spinster aunt in our trees may not have been single. Perhaps they did have partners but there is no legal documentation or family acknowledgment. This talk will explore census, newspapers, obituaries, military records, photographs, phone books and archives for clues on our ancestor’s sexuality. We will also explore LGBTQ History and many individual stories giving context to the available records. Discovering our LGBTQ ancestor’s stories will enrich our entire family history.
Stewart Blandón Traiman has been researching genealogy for 30 years. He began by interviewing parents, grandparents and other relations about his roots in Nicaragua. When he married Leland Traiman 28 years ago, he took on the new adventure researching Ukrainian and Polish Jews. Stewart has researched his children’s origins back to the colonial United States. Stewart joined the Board of the California Genealogical Society in 2015.
Online Records & Tools: A 4-Part Series
June 2019
This 4-part series explored a rich array of online resources and tools for genealogists, researchers, and historians, including useful websites, tips and tricks to help build successful searches.
- June 5th, Part 1: Newspapers
- June 12th, Part 2: Land Records
- June 19th, Part 3: Passenger Lists & Immigration
- June 26th, Part 4: Archives & Government Records
Karina Robinson, M.A., is a Bay Area researcher and genealogist, specializing in the historical content of the Americas and Europe. Ms. Robinson received her B.A. from Mills College in art history and foreign languages (Spanish, German, and Italian) and earned her M.A. in history from Arizona State University. In addition to researching hundreds of family histories, she has contributed scholarship to several monographs, including Dr. Anne Pruitt-Logan’s biography on Dr. Lucy Diggs Slowe, Faithful to the Task at Hand.
Adolph Sutro’s 189th Birthday Bash
April 29, 2019
This year’s celebration had a panel of speakers discussing the history of the San Francisco Jewish community with:
- Marc Dollinger, PhD, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility, SFSU, “American Jewish Life on the Edge (of the Continent): Jews and the History of San Francisco”
- Jeff Lewy, Bay Area Cemetery Transcriptions Coordinator, San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, “Transcribing Bay Area Cemetery Data: Helping Genealogists Do Long-Distance Research from Home”
- Marc Shaffer, Director of the documentary, American Jerusalem: Jews and the Making of San Francisco, “The Making of American Jerusalem”
The panel discussion was followed by a viewing of American Jerusalem.
This event was co-sponsored by the SFSU Jewish Studies Department, San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, and SF Hillel.
True Detective: Tracking Your Criminal Ancestor
January 30, 2019
All family histories have a dark side. In this talk, Ron Arons described the records and tools researchers need in order to become a true detective and investigate if their ancestor had a criminal past.
Ron Arons has been conducting genealogical research for more than 20 years. Over the past two decades, Ron has given 500+ presentations regarding methodology and technology as they are applied to family history research. He has authored three books: The Jews of Sing Sing, WANTED! U.S. Criminal Records, and Mind Maps for Genealogy. Ron earned degrees from Princeton University and the University of Chicago.
2018
Lineage Lineup: Who, What, Where, Why & How of Heritage Societies
November 5, 2018
Did you know that during the Revolutionary War if your ancestor served as a servant, cook or even a musician that they might be considered Patriots? Great conversation starter for the upcoming holidays! Sutro Library hosted three panelists to discuss the who, what, why, where, and how of four major heritage societies
Our speakers included:
- Jonathan Dickey, The Mayflower Society
- Catherine McCausland, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
- Terry Briggs, Jamestowne Society and Sons of the American Revolution (SAR)
SFPL + Sutro Unite!
July 17, 2018
Brian Weaver, SFPL Librarian, discussed the resources available through the San Francisco Public Library including: SFPL website and online resources; Four major departments within SFPL and their resources; Genealogy databases; Classes and workshops.
Brian Weaver has worked at the San Francisco Public Library for 13 years as a librarian first in the branches, then as digitization projects librarian in the Government Information Center on the 5th floor of the Main Library, and the last three years as a program manager in the General Collections & Humanities Center on the 3rd floor of the Main Library. Last year he was awarded a Friends of the San Francisco Public Library Innovation grant to explore ways the library can better offer and coordinate genealogy services to the public and to bring attention to the resources the library has that are of interest to genealogists.
Adolph Sutro’s 188th Birthday Bash
April 28, 2018
This year’s celebration had a panel of speakers discussing Adolph Sutro and the women in his life with:
- Marc Shaffer, Director of American Jerusalem, will talk about his documentary on the Jewish pioneers of San Francisco
- Chelsea Sellin, “The Forgotten History of the Sutro Family Women”
- Marian Gregoire, “Adolph Sutro: Tales of the Women Who Affected His Life”
And a special appearance of Adolph Sutro portrayed by Allan Schwartz!
Mapping African American Ancestry
February 6, 2018
Researchers learned how to track down African American ancestors through land and property records.
Karina Robinson, M.A., is a Bay Area researcher and genealogist specializing in the historical content of the Americas and Europe, and serves as special assistant to State Librarian Greg Lucas at the California State Library.
2017
Once Upon A Time: Writing Your Family History in Narrative Form
December 4, 2017
Researchers learned what to do once they’ve finished their genealogical research and how to write and publish their family history.
Margaret Cooley is a dynamic speaker, educator, and writer. She has been teaching for over thirty years. Her writing often focuses on Irish American history and family heritage.
Have No Fear, Sutro is Here!
September 17, 2017
Worried about the Family Search microfilm phase out? Researchers learned to navigate Family Search and other free online sources for their genealogy research from Karina Robinson and Dvorah Lewis.
Karina Robinson, M.A., is a Bay Area researcher and genealogist specializing in the historical content of the Americas and Europe, and serves as special assistant to State Librarian Greg Lucas at the California State Library.
Dvorah Lewis, MLIS, is the newest Librarian at the California State Library who specializes in both the Sutro collection and online genealogical resources. With a background in academic libraries and archives, she is excited to help students, faculty, and the general public learn how to navigate the State Library’s extraordinary collections and resources.
Angel Island Immigrants: 80 Nationalities and the Genealogical Resources They Left Behind
May 3, 2017
While people who have heard about Angel Island might know about the Chinese poetry carved on its walls, what is less known is that over half a million immigrants from eighty countries were processed by officials on the island, and genealogical resources are still available to researchers. Researchers learned from examples of case studies of Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, Russian, and South Asian immigrants, as well as the island’s use to house “enemy aliens” from Hawaii and the West Coast during World War II, and found out about the National Archives and other resources that might be available for their own research.
Grant Din has been working in Bay Area nonprofit organizations and doing genealogical research for over thirty years. He works as the community resources director at the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and has a Certificate in Genealogical Studies from Boston University.
2016
Beginning Genealogy Workshop
July 28, 2016
Curious about Your Family History? In this workshop, researchers learned about: valuable online tools and resources; research logs and charts to organize search, and what to look for when viewing old documents and photos. Bonus: Free 15-minute individual consultations available after the workshop on a first-come basis.
Karina Robinson, M.A., is a Bay Area researcher and genealogist specializing in the historical content of the Americas and Europe, and serves as special assistant to State Librarian Greg Lucas at the California State Library.
