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Today is the last day to reserve your place at the 110th Anniversary Celebration, this Saturday, February 9, 2008, at the Concord Hilton. You won’t want to miss this special day-long program with Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective, who will present four seminars:

Tales from The Photo Detective
Identifying and Dating Family Photos
Preserving Family Photographs
Reading Immigrant Clues in Photos

$45.00 includes all seminars and lunch.

CGS News Editor, Jane Hufft, has organized a special silent auction as part of the festivities. Donated items include a set of champagne glasses in a carrying case, a basket of Irish coffee glasses and accoutrements, two sets of framed botanical prints, Fleetwood Mac wines, a handmade baby blanket, a set of two Malaysian baskets and much, much more.

The society is also honored to announce that our event is the book launch of Maureen Taylor’s newest title, Capturing Memories (Your Family Story in Photographs). All of Maureen’s books will be available for sale at the event.

President Jane Lindsey has been planning a couple more surprises for the day, including a special commemorative souvenir designed by the CGS News production editor, Lois Elling.

Back in December, George Morgan and Drew Smith, The Genealogy Guys, read the press release of our event on their podcast. George gave Maureen this glowing recommendation:

“If you’ve never heard Maureen speak about preservation of photographs, identifying photographs, identifying time frames… you’re going to find this a tremendous, tremendous session.“

Photographs of Maureen Taylor courtesy of Erik Jacobs Photography.

It’s not too early to sign up for the 8th annual CGS Salt Lake City Research Tour, April 13-20, 2008. CGS President, Jane Lindsey and CGS Research Director, Nancy Peterson return again as volunteer leaders of this very popular trip to the Family History Library.

Accommodations are at the Shilo Inn, located three blocks from the Family History Library. The Shilo provides free high-speed internet access in every room.

Annette and Sandy at the Family History Library in 2007.

The Tour Package includes:
* Hotel room (7 nights, double occupancy)
* Shuttle service to and from the airport
* Three group dinners (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)
* Orientation meeting and several lectures
* Optional assistance at CGS prior to the trip
* Computer assistance
* Hotel shuttle to library, if needed
* Continental breakfast included

The cost is $625 (airfare not included.) A deposit of $200 holds one space. The trip registration form gives the full details and a description of the cancellation and refund policy.

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.

The January/Februay 2008 issue of Ancestry Magazine is a “special research edition” featuring twelve genealogy “superheroes” who have expertise in ethnic research including: German, French-Canadian, African-American, Italian, Chinese, Polish, Scots-Irish, Native-American, Mexican, Slovak, Scandinavian and Dutch. Each of the specialists had 600 words to answer a case-study research question pertinent to their area. CGS member, Jeanie W. Chooey Low, is the featured author of “From East to West: Researching Chinese Ancestry” on pages 28-29 of the magazine.

Low, a second generation Chinese-American and a native San Franciscan, wrote China Connection: Finding Ancestral Roots for Chinese in America, a compact guide for those interested in doing Chinese family research in the United States. She is bilingual and holds degrees in Library Technology and Chinese Studies and has presented workshops at conferences for the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the Chinese Historical Society of America and San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies Department.

Ms. Low has been an active member of “Save Our National Archives” SONA, an ad hoc group formed in 1998 when the Regional NARA were threatened with closure. The group has spent ten years advocating for the preservation of the California Alien Files (A-Files) and Jeanie reports that their efforts were successful thanks to the support of Congressman Tom Lantos. Approximately one million Alien case files, which can each contain up to 100 pages of precious family documents, will be preserved and become available for research.

In addition to advocacy work, lecturing and research, Jeanie is also an award-winning quilt artist. She has developed her own techniques and finds that quilting allows for another avenue to express her love of family history. Pictured is one of her quilts which contains four generations of family photographs.

Jeanie accepts clients interested in her expertise in Chinese-American genealogy or in 20th century immigration research for any ethnicity. She can be reached by email at [email protected] or by snail mail to: J.W.C. Low Company, Post Office Box 472012, San Francisco, California 94147.