(2/9/2022)
Just a reminder that our monthly Board Meeting is this Saturday, February 12, beginning at 10 a.m. We will discuss the upcoming NGS 2022 conference, our new “Member Connections” feature, and more. The meeting is held over Zoom and all are welcome to tune in. To get a link to join the meeting, please register through EventBrite. We hope to see you online!
(2/3/2022)
Have you missed one or more of our “California Research” presentations? The first four lectures are now available for viewing online at our YouTube channel. Check out these talks, which give an overview of various California archives, invaluable for researchers! The associated handouts are also provided. A great preparation for NGS 2022, or for any California research trip.
Now available online:
The Center for Sacramento History with archivist Kim Hayden
Government Publications at the California Library with librarian Emily Blodget
Historical Resources at the California Library with Emily Blodget
The Sutro Library with Dvorah Lewis
Two more lectures are scheduled for March:
March 15: “The California Archives” by Chris Garmire
March 22: “Special Collections at the Sacramento Public Library” by David Munger and James Scott
These presentations will also be posted to YouTube following each event.
(1/28/2022)
Child workers at a Delaware cannery in 1910. Photo: Library of Congress
CGS member Barbara Kridl spotted this article about the introduction of birth certificates in America. Anyone who’s searched in vain for their ancestor’s birth record knows the frustration of not having documentation of that simple fact. Unlike Europe, the United States did not at first consider the recording of births an official government matter. That began to change around the turn of the twentieth century, largely because of activism by Progressive Era reformers who sought to stop the exploitation of children by establishing child labor laws. Having documentation to prove a child’s age was an important part of that.
The Birth Certificate: An American History, is a book by Susan J. Pearson that traces the document’s two-hundred-year history to explain when, how, and why birth certificates came to matter so much in the United States, eventually helping to define what it is to be an American.
The JSTOR article includes more information, with links to related articles and to Pearson’s book. Click HERE to read more.
