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January 2014, Vol. 8, No. 1e
Editor's Note
Happy New Year!
We hope you enjoyed this holiday season -- filled with revisiting favorite family traditions, creating new memories, and plans for the new year.

As we begin 2014, we're looking forward to supporting your ongoing efforts to trace and compile your family history. That's our mission! We've lined up many exciting learning and skill-building opportunities, fun field trips, and we're adding helpful new resources to our excellent library. You'll find details about all of these goodies in upcoming newsletters.

The library will re-open this Friday, January 3, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. See you soon!
Marcelle White signature
Annual Business Meeting and Potluck
Saturday, January 11, 2014, noon
CGS Library, 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, CA 9461
Members are cordially invited to attend a social hour at 12:00 p.m. before the Annual Business Meeting. It's a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow members and volunteers. Bring your appetite and a dish to share for our buffet lunch. Beverages and dessert will be provided.

President Jeffrey Vaillant will begin the meeting promptly at 1:00 p.m. His agenda includes brief committee reports, approval of the society's annual budget, consideration of the bylaws change, and the nomination and election of new board members. Learn more.

 
January and February Classes
Register Now to Reserve Your Seat

  2/8:   A Life of Its Own series -- Gentleman Officer: Uncovering A Legacy of Firsts, David Goerss
          (registration link TBD)

  2/22:  Record Set series -- Probate and Guardianship Records, Susan Goss Johnson (registration link
           TBD)
                    
Visit our page on Eventbrite for up-to-date information and registration for these classes.    

Winter and Spring Field Trips
Explore New Genealogy-Rich Archives and Libraries
San Francisco Public Library
2/1: Saturday Field Trip to San Francisco Public Library

3/1:  Saturday Field Trip to California Historical Society (registration link TBD) 

4/6-4/13:  Salt Lake City Research Tour

Keep an eye on our new Eventbrite page for pending registration links.

 

Special Interest Group Meetings and More
CGS Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, CA 94612 
Mark Your Calendar 1/14: Book Repair Committee, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

1/18: San Francisco Special Interest Group, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

1/21: RootsMagic Special Interest Group, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

All CGS members are always welcome! Learn more about Special Interest Groups.
  
Featured Library Resource
Finding Genealogical Gems in Our Periodicals
by Arlene Miles, Library Committee

OuBooksr library has an excellent selection of newsletters, magazines, and journals to help you with your research. Published at regular intervals, these weekly, monthly, or quarterly publications contain articles on the latest happenings in genealogy, and research on specific families, historical events, and places.   

 

You'll find the most recent editions in the back room. Older editions are in the regular stacks. All of our library's periodicals are listed in our online catalog. (New titles will be added this year.) If you're not sure how to make the most of this collection, don't hesitate to ask one of the library volunteers for help.    

  
Ancestor Tribute: They Came from Everywhere!

My Break-Through Uncle 

By Jim Sorenson, CGS Member since 2007 

 

Henry Clark Wright, 1797-1870
 

When selecting my favorite ancestor, I chose to highlight the family member who made the most significant contribution to my study of my family origins, my great-great-great-grand uncle, Henry Clarke Wright. My research on him gave me the information to break through a genealogical brick wall and provided considerable insight into my ancestors' lives in upstate New York.


Because I was having trouble finding anything on Moses, my direct ancestor, I researched his brother, Henry. This revealed that he was an author of several books and a lecturer on abolition and women's rights. Clues eventually led -- over many years and through several states and archives -- to Henry's autobiographical book, Human Life: Illustrated in My Individual Experience as a Child, a Youth, and a Man

(1849), which included genealogical information as an appendix; an 1848 diary; and a copy of family Bible records. By researching Henry, I was able to open the doors to a wealth of information about the entire family, including earlier generations. (Photo edited by Lorna Wallace.)

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Share your history and a great family photo! We encourage CGS members to submit an image and a short summary (2-3 paragraphs) about why the ancestor featured in the photo is important to you. Please send submissions to Lorna Wallace.(Photos should be in .jpg format with a file size over 100 kb; photos and text may be edited for the Tribute column.)   

 

Volunteer Potluck Celebration
Honoring Our Volunteers
by Linda Okazaki, Volunteer Coordinator
Last year, 2013, turned out to be a fantastic year at CGS, with a record 136 volunteers! All of our volunteers were honored at a December brunch, hosted by Jane Lindsey, Diana Edwards, and Linda Okazaki. Not only did these volunteers keep our society running smoothly, they helped our organization to move forward in many ways. (photo by Arlene Miles)  

   

Suggested Links from the Blogosphere
Volunteer Corner
New Opportunities
by Linda Okazaki, Volunteer Coordinator
Volunteer Sign Up

We are a 100% volunteer-run organization and new helpers are always needed. If you can donate your time to CGS, please contact Linda Okazaki or fill in the Volunteer Form on our website.  

 

Note: Not all positions are posted on the Volunteer page. If you have an idea for a possible volunteer task, we are open to suggestions!

 
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Marcelle White, eNews Editor  email me