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The CGS Library hosted a small group from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Oakland’s Montclair District on March 11, 2009. The nine “Elderberries” arrived at 10:00 a.m. for a tour of the library and a brief talk by CGS President Jane Lindsey about the basics of genealogy research.

CGS members Dick Rees and Judy Bodycote were on hand to help them get started and assist with some basic computer searches. The group stayed for lunch and resumed their research in the afternoon until their departure at 2:00 p.m.

Margaret “Margie” Bowman, who is a member of both the Elderberries and the California Genealogical Society, made the arrangements for the visit.

The Elderberries group “offers fun, fellowship and philanthropy” to the “60-plus” members of the St. John’s congregation. Their pastor, Rev. Elaine Reichert, who was unable to attend the CGS outing, put out a call to members to think of some interesting local places to go. Margie, who joined CGS last year, thought that the CGS Library fit the bill nicely.

Although most of the nine visitors have not pursued genealogy as a hobby in the past, we hope that their visit has inspired them to continue the search.

The society welcomes interested groups to tour the library and spend time exploring our genealogy resources. E-mail the society or call 510-663-1358 to schedule a group visit.

Photographs by Kathryn M. Doyle, 3/11/2009, Oakland, California.

Sheri challenged me to get this up right away and Cheryl said I could hint at her secret so I’m putting up this quick post to share the photo of our mini-summit this afternoon at the California Genealogical Society March Membership Meeting.

Jennifer Regan, Cheryl Palmer, Sheri Fenley and Kathryn Doyle.

Jennifer Jones Regan of Rainy Day Genealogy Readings and Graveyard Rabbit of Contra Costa County; Cheryl Palmer of Heritage Happens and Graveyard Rabbit of South Alameda County and Sheri Beffort Fenley of The Educated Genealogist and The Educated Graveyard Rabbit are three busy blogging ladies! (And they are a lot of FUN.)

Cheryl changed her plans to come to the meeting to hear Frances Dinkelspiel talk about her book Towers of Gold. Sheri brought her sister-in-law who is a Hellman Heller and is related to Frances. Jenn was wearing her green and chose the meeting over the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in San Francisco.

Just so you know that the society is “equal-opportunity” – CGS does have two male bloggers who weren’t at the meeting today. Steve Danko is in Houston attending the Family Tree DNA Conference on Genetic Genealogy and Craig Manson of GeneaBlogie has not made it to a CGS meeting since he joined the society last year.

Are there any other CGS members out there who are blogging genealogy?

Photograph by Tim Cox, 3/14/2009, Oakland, California.

“We were awaked by a most dreadful earthquake.” Those words written by Sarah Phillips on April 18, 1906, were lost to the world until Dorothy Fowler brought them back to life one hundred years later with the publication of A Most Dreadful Earthquake. Researcher, editor, author and long-time volunteer and friend of CGS, Dorothy Helen Fowler died on February 26, 2009 in San Francisco. Dorothy’s entire life was a testament to the art of writing and it is an honor to write this tribute to her.

High school graduation, 1948

Dorothy’s first taste of the publishing world came early when she served as editor of her high school year book. After college she moved to New York City and held a number of jobs in advertising, publishing and editing before returning to California. Dorothy once labeled herself a “job hopper” but her work was always about the written word. Her thirty year career with the State of California was spent working in research and report writing for the Departments of Public Health, Employment and Industrial Relations.

Dorothy joined CGS in 1984 and for over twenty years she was one of the reliable “Thursday group” who came in weekly to volunteer. Dorothy served on both the Library Committee and the Membership Committee and she was involved in various indexing projects. For the society centennial in 1998, Dorothy combed the archives and wrote a history entitled The California Genealogical Society’s Library – A Century of Growth.

1998 was the same year that the long-lost packet of forty letters was discovered in a misplaced box after the society’s move to a new location. Like many genealogists, Dorothy enjoyed mysteries so a small preservation project evolved into a full-blown research endeavor which ultimately resulted in the publication of A Most Dreadful Earthquake: A First Hand Account of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire – with Glimpses into the Lives of the Phillips-Jones Letter Writers.

Shirley Thomson worked closely with Dorothy on AMDE. She shared these thoughts:

Dorothy Fowler (1927-2009)

Photographs courtesy of Lisa Fowler.