Blog

Our “Writing Your Family History” Series continues Tuesdays at 7 p.m.: 

August 9-13: 40th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy [fee]

Courses:

American Ancestors

August 11: “Driving While Black” with author Gretchen Sorin

August 13: “The ABC’s of Using School Records in Family History Research” by David Allen Lambert

August 14: “Speed, Style & the English Country House: Auto, Horse, and Airplane Racing at England’s Historic Houses” by Curt DiCamillo

August 11:  “Working with Different Family Tree Views on MyHeritage” by Uri Gonen
August 12 & 13: “Dissecting a Civil War Pension Packet—Union and Confederate” by Jill Morelli

Densho.org continues its “Finding Your Nikkei Roots” series.
August 13: “Writing Your Family History” with Linda Okazaki

Conference Keeper has a large calendar of events (too many to list) hosted by various genealogical organizations. New events are added often, so check back frequently.

Immigrants arriving at Angel Island dock. Department of Photographic Archives, State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation

Angel Island in San Francisco Bay is known as a place to enjoy a picnic or bike ride, or for some, for the Chinese poetry that immigrants carved into the walls of the barracks of the immigration station, which was used from 1910-1940. What is less known is that over 500,000 immigrants from 80 countries spent some time on the island during their immigration journeys.

CGS board member Grant Din worked for the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation for eight years and currently volunteers to manage its Immigrant Voices website, which has over 220 stories of West Coast immigrants, most of whom immigrated through the island. The site includes stories of immigrants from over thirty countries, including those from China, Russia, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Austria, Germany, the Philippines, and even a couple who escaped the Armenian genocide through Siberia and eventually made their way into the United States via Angel Island. Even composer Serge Prokofiev spent several days on the island.

“It’s not as well known as Ellis Island, and the immigrants’ entries into the U.S. were generally more difficult,” said Din. Whether trying to circumvent the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Asiatic Barred Zone, or fleeing Nazi-controlled Austria yet being labeled ‘likely to become a public charge,’ Angel Island immigrants often faced difficult obstacles to their admission to the United States.

Grant Din

 

Come join a free webinar on Thursday, August 13 at 4 p.m. Pacific time to learn more about these stories and the genealogical treasures that can be found about these immigrants. Register here and we’ll see you online!

To register for one of the events below, click on the name of the host organization.

American Ancestors

August 4 & 5: “Tracing Australian and New Zealand World War One Ancestors” by Helen V. Smith
August 5: “Using DNA to Solve Adoption and Unknown Parentage Mysteries” by Michelle Leonard
August 6: “Preparing a Portfolio: Applying to Become a Certified Genealogist” by LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, Angela Packer McGhie, and Richard Sayre

Densho.org continues its “Finding Your Nikkei Roots” series.
August 6: “Preserving Your Family Archives”

Conference Keeper has a large calendar of events (too many to list) hosted by various genealogical organizations. New events are added often, so check back frequently.