Blog | California Genealogical Society

by Jennifer Dix (3/13/2021)

Our weekly roundup of upcoming genealogy events. Numerous associations offer online genealogy classes every week. Most are free. To register for one of the events below, click on the name of the host organization.

CGS Events:

March 20: Family Tree Maker – Special Interest Group

Conferences & Workshops:

March 19 & 20: 2021 Virtual Conference (North Carolina Genealogical Society)

March 20: Researching Northern Irish Ancestors (American Ancestors)

March 20: “Power Up Your Family Research With DNA” (Fairfax Genealogical Society)

March 20: Arizona Genealogy Day (Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records)

March 20: “Intermediate DNA: A Four-Lecture Program with Blaine Bettinger” (Genealogical Society of Bergen County)

American Ancestors

March 16: “Recreating Place: Uncovering, Interpreting, and Presenting the Past”

March 18: “ Researching Urban Ancestors in the 19th and 20th Centuries ” by Danielle Cournoyer

BYU Family History Library

March 17: “Using German Reference and Research Tools” with Larry Jensen
March 21: “Discovering Your Ancestors in Sweden” by James Tanner

FamilySearch Family History Library

March 17: St. Patrick’s Day Research Seminar – daylong series of webinars

Legacy Family Tree

March 16 & 17: “Reporting on Research: Standards Encourage Better Communication” by Nancy A. Peters

March 17: “FamilySearch.org – 10 Links You Have to Try” by Devin Ashby

March 19: “Tracing Your War of 1812 British Soldier” by Paul Milner

Southern California Genealogical Society

March 17: “Find African American, French, Jewish & Spanish Revolutionary War Patriots” by Ellen Kowitt

Other Listings

Sutro Library’s Bay Area Genealogy Calendar lists a wealth of Bay Area events and exhibits, including regular genealogical group meetings. This week’s highlights:

March 16: “How Do I Know What I Don’t Know: Fast Tracking Your Genealogy Education” by Thomas MacEntee (San Ramon Valley Genealogical Society)

March 16: “A Unique Perspective on the Historical Highlights of our Santa Clara Valley” (Santa Clara County Historical & Genealogical Society)

March 18: “Focused Research: Using Research Plans” by Lisa Gorrell (Napa County Genealogical Society)

Conference Keeper has a large calendar of classes (too many to list) hosted by genealogical organizations around the country and abroad. Lots to explore, and new events are added often, so be sure to browse the entire calendar. Here’s a sampling of the coming week’s offerings:

March 15: “How to Research Around the Missing 1890 Census” (Broomfield Genealogical Society)

March 16: “Introduction to Irish Internet Sites” with David Rencher (Allen County Public Library)

March 17:“Find African American, French, Jewish & Spanish Revolutionary War Patriots” by Ellen Kowitt

March 18: “Making the Most of School Records in Your Family Tree” (Downers Grove Public Library)

March 19: “The Doan Gang: My Notorious Ancestors” (Ontario Ancestors Niagara Peninsula Branch)

March 20: “African American Involvement in the United States Military During World War II” (Delaware Genealogical Society)

March 21: “Beyond the Family Tree – Sharing Your Stories” (Israel Genealogy Research Association)

See our post “Genealogy Learning in the Time of Coronavirus” for links to classes archived online at Ancestry, FamilySearch, RootsTech, and more. Be well, stay safe, and happy learning!

Online genealogy, week of March 1-7

by Jennifer Dix (2/27/2021)

CGS Events:

March 2-30: “19th-Century Irish Records” with Maureen Hanlon
March 6: “Intro to Genealogy” Series. This month: Vital Records

Conferences & Workshops:

March 2-23: Freedoms and Challenges: America’s Earliest Jewish Communities, 1650–1840 (American Ancestors)

March 3-31: History for Genealogists (American Ancestors)

March 6: 8th Annual Genealogy Bash (Orange County California Genealogy Society)

March 6: Alabama Genealogical Society 2021 Spring Webinar: The Rencher System

American Ancestors

March 2: “Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob” by Russell Shorto

BYU Family History Library (Sunday Classes)

March 7: “Duplicates in Family Tree,” “DNA Testing,” and “Finding Your Ancestors in Denmark”

Legacy Family Tree

March 2 & 3: “British Genealogy Online: The Top English & Welsh Family History Sites” by Rick Crume
March 3: “La Madre Chiesa – Italian Catholic Parish Records” by Suzanne Russo Adams

March 5: “The Ten Percent: Free People of Color” by Nicka Smith

Southern California Genealogical Society

March 6: “Alcoholics and Teetotalers: Finding Yours in America’s Temperance” by Michael Brophy

Other Listings

The San Francisco Bay Area Genealogy Calendar lists a wealth of Bay Area events and exhibits. This week:

March 6: “Reclaim the Records: How Genealogists Can Use Freedom of Information Laws” with Brooke Schreier Ganz (Solano County Genealogical Society)

Conference Keeper has a large calendar of classes (too many to list) from beginning to advanced, hosted by various genealogical organizations. Lots to explore, and new events are added often, so be sure to browse the entire calendar. Here’s a sampling of the coming week’s offerings:

March 1: “Researching Your Irish Ancestors” (Kentucky Genealogical Society)

March 2: “Roots of Jews in Italy: Names and History” (JewishGen)

March 3: “Finding Dirk: Insanity in the 19th Century” (Minnesota Genealogical Society)

March 4: “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.” (WCNY/Onondaga Historical Association)

March 5: “Scottish Research Basics” (Wales-Ireland-Scotland-England Family History Society)

March 6: “How Old Did He Have To Be?” (Bucks County PA Genealogical Society)

March 7: “Black Genealogy: Where Am I From” (Ancestry Talks UK)

See our post “Genealogy Learning in the Time of Coronavirus” for links to classes archived online at Ancestry, FamilySearch, RootsTech, and more. Be well, stay safe, and happy learning!

An extraordinary find for Jewish records

by Jennifer Dix (2/23/2021)

A memorial register of Jewish burials turned up for auction in Brooklyn

The New York Times this week reported that several rare documents scheduled for auction were withdrawn after being spotted by a genealogy researcher. They included bound burial records for the Romanian towns of Cluj-Napoca and Oradea, whose Jewish residents were nearly all murdered by Nazis during World War II. Hundreds of thousands of Romanian Jews perished in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp during the Holocaust.

The Cluj-Napoca register, handwritten in Hebrew and Yiddish, was spotted online by a genealogy researcher who alerted Robert Schwartz, president of the Jewish Community of Cluj.

“Usually if a person dies, he is remembered by his community and his family,” University of Cluj professor Zoltan Tibori Szabo told the Times. “But in the case of hundreds of thousands of Jews in Eastern Europe, there was nothing left of them — even their documents were robbed and disappeared. You cannot reconstitute the history of a community without documents. We don’t even have a list of their names.” Thanks to the genealogist who noticed the records for sale in the online auction catalogue, a bit of this history may be reclaimed.

You can read the original New York Times article HERE.