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To register or for more information, click the hyperlink for any event. All times are Pacific Time.

Happy April! This month we have a variety of exciting classes and workshops coming up. A quick rundown:

Sat., Apr. 6, 10 AM: Intro to Genealogy. A series of 4 rotating classes covering the basics of genealogical research. This month: “Organizing Your Research.” Free. Via Zoom.

Weekly (Tuesdays & Wednesdays): “Tips & Talk” at the Oakland FamilySearch Center.

Weekly talks by experts on a variety of topics. This month’s presentations include a 3-part series on DNA, discussions of UK research, of using FamilySearch, MyHeritage, and more. Clink the link and scroll down for details of each class and speaker.

Sat., Apr. 27, 10 AM-2 PM: Workshop: Digitize Your Family Photos & Stories

Join Rick Voight, CEO of Vivid-Pix, to discover the many uses of our new overhead scanner. He will show how easy it is for you to record your description of each photo and couple your photos together to create a family story in this hands-on workshop. Please bring your family photos with you. Bring your family photos, memories and stories.
For members, in person at California Genealogical Society.

Sat., Apr. 27, 11 AM-12:30 PM: Excel for Genealogists

Stewart Blandón Traiman demonstrates how Excel spreadsheets can keep your genealogy research organized. You can use Excel’s tools to keep track of newspaper clippings, a vital records catalog, track your ancestors’ addresses over time, and track whole families over many censuses.
Live online via Zoom. Members can view recording for 30 days on the CGS website.

Tues., Apr 30, 6:30 PM-7:30 PM: Member Connections Workshop

Member Connections is a tool that helps CGS members connect and share information with people who share your genealogy interests. Stewart Traiman leads this workshop showing how to use this special feature.
Live online via Zoom.

Special Interest Groups for members meet monthly. They include:

• Members’ Roundtable Discussion
• DNA Skills
• Family Tree Maker Users
• RootsMagic Users
• Mayflower Descendants
• San Francisco SIG
  Click the link above for more details.

Library hours: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 10 AM – 2 PM

Helpful Links:
Events: https://www.californiaancestors.org/events-and-education/
Special Interest Groups: https://www.californiaancestors.org/special-interest-groups-for-members/
Calendar: Google calendar

To register or for more information, click the link for any event. All times are Pacific Time.

Thomas MacEntee’s class on Sat., March 30 is sold out. 

Also happening this last week of March:

“Tips & Talk” at the Oakland FamilySearch Center, March 26 and March 27. Events may be attended in person or via Zoom. Free. Please preregister.

Tues., March 26, 11:00 am: “How-to Series: Simple Photo Enhancements for Novices” with Robert Leitao. We all likely have old photos that have been creased, torn, or damaged in some way and it would be great to restore them to a better condition. This “how-to” session will guide you through some basic ways to improve the appearance of your scanned photos. Aimed at novices, the class focuses on techniques which, while they might not get your photos looking perfect, will get them pretty close. Please bring scanned photos on a memory stick that you can practice with during this class. (If you need help getting them scanned, feel free to come to the Oakland FamilySearch Center earlier in the day, or a few days before so that you can scan your photos on our Center’s digitizing equipment.) Robert Leitao is an Oakland native, whose roots are from the former Portuguese colony of Macau. His seven-year ongoing project has resulted in a tree of over 85,000 names and over 55,000 images. In accumulating this vast trove and being a regular patron at the Oakland FamilySearch Center, he has become the go-to person to help people digitize and improve their photos with the equipment and software available in the Library.

Wed., March 27, 6:30 pm: “German Research Part 3” with Robert Jackson. Robert concludes his three-part series on finding your German ancestors.

The following Special Interest Groups meet this week:

Mon. March 25, 7 PM: Advanced DNA SIG. Mark McLaren leads this group where members can further develop their understanding of DNA techniques, review new developments in DNA testing and tools, and discuss members’ research problems and case studies.

Wed., March 27, 6:30 pm: RootsMagic SIG. Keith Montgomery leads a discussion of helpful hints for users of this popular genealogy platform. Via Zoom.

Library hours: Thursday and Friday 10 AM-2 PM, Saturday 10 AM-4 PM

Helpful Links
Events: https://www.californiaancestors.org/events-and-education/
Special Interest Groups: https://www.californiaancestors.org/special-interest-groups-for-members/
Calendar: Google calendar

by Maureen Hanlon

CGS recently received a copy of Dr. David Dobson’s Irish Emigrants to North America, Consolidated Edition and a quick review should be of cheer to those with Irish ancestors who came to the United States before the Great Famine.

Although immigration from Ireland to North America peaked in the latter half of the nineteenth century, there were waves of immigrants who came much earlier. This consolidated edition of ten previously published volumes lists many of these early immigrants as well as later arrivals. For the original series Dobson consulted archives and libraries in the United States, Canada, Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies. Compared to most sources for Irish famine emigrants, which usually contain only a name and date of arrival, Dobson’s Irish Emigrants is rich in detail. Over 10,000 Irish emigrants to North America are identified by name, date, occupation, specific place of origin, and, in many cases, by kinspeople, vessel traveled upon, and other circumstances. A welcome addition to our library that will be helpful to many Americans of Irish descent!

Example of the information found in the book

Those interested in purchasing their own copy, or any of the previous volumes in the series, can find the books for sale at Genealogical.com.