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Have you been enjoying our “California Research” series? Don’t miss the last two presentations! All of the lectures in the series are free. Previous talks are recorded and will be available for viewing through the end of May on our YouTube channel.

Tuesday, April 26: Untold Stories from the California Historical Society’s Collections
(4-5:30 p.m. PDT)
Frances Kaplan, Director of Library and Collections at the California Historical Society, highlights some of the more unusual artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts from the CHS collections. While not traditionally genealogical materials, the objects reveal untold stories of Californians and their lives.

A toast from our host, Jane Knowles Lindsey!

CGS is the local host society for the National Genealogical Society 2022 Conference, held May 24-28 in Sacramento. Our local host committee chair is Jane Knowles Lindsey, well known to many of you as a past president and longtime volunteer for the Society. She shares this special message:

“In just over a month, genealogists from around the country will converge on Sacramento for the NGS 2022 Family History Conference. Imagine genealogists meeting one on one and in groups talking about genealogy 24/7 for almost a week, and no one ever gets that “glazed over” look. To me, that’s heaven.

“As chair of the Local Host Committee, I see all the conference plans taking shape. I am especially excited about our Tuesday tours on May 24 and the two special evening events planned by the California Genealogical Society—A Taste of California on May 25 and the Back to the Fifties on May 26. It will be a thrill to see genealogists sharing their research, going to fantastic lectures, visiting experts in the Expo Hall, and having fun at our social events.

“For me, the best part of any conference is the networking opportunities. We want everyone to feel welcome, whether you are a veteran conference attendee or it is your first time! We hope everyone will enjoy sharing a cup of coffee or dinner or luncheon with their fellow family historians.”

To read Jane’s entire message, and to learn more about the conference, visit the NGS website HERE.

You can still register for the conference and associated special events, through May 18. Several events are now sold out: among them the Capitol walking tour and the Gold Country bus tour; but there are still spots available for the Wednesday wine reception, the Thursday “Back to the Fifties” party, and the Friday banquet, among others! See more at: https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/eveningevents/

Last Saturday the CGS Board held its monthly meeting online (as we have done since the pandemic began). Besides discussing business, we took time to honor this year’s recipients of the “Genie” Award, bestowed annually on volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their service to the society.

As Chris Pattillo shared last fall, the Website Content Committee has undertaken the huge task of enlarging our California Surnames Index. A team of volunteers has been going through our large book collection, identifying family names, and entering them into a searchable database. The process involves carefully going through each book, and volunteers have spent many hours on this rewarding but sometimes tedious task. Some of our volunteers have contributed literally thousands of entries. Volunteer Committee chair Kathleen Beitiks presented the Genie Award to our three top indexers: Jean Alderson, who has indexed 10 books; Liz Summerhayes, who has done 12; and Kristi Wessenberg, who finished 13 books! They, along with the other indexing volunteers, have our immense gratitude and appreciation.

Genie Award recipients (starred) Jean Alderson, Liz Summerhayes, and Kristi Wessenberg. (With halo: Our Lady of Volunteers, Kathleen Beitiks)

We missed the festive atmosphere (and goodies!) that usually characterize this member meeting. The good news is that we are cautiously moving back to in-person gatherings: we expect to host several hybrid events beginning in June, and we certainly hope we’ll be seeing one another in person again before too long.