To register for an event or for more information, click the link for any event. All times are Pacific Time.
Questions? Email [email protected]
As genealogists, we lean on the National Archives for our ancestors’ records. My third great grandfather’s Civil War records came from there. That’s how I know he fought at Stones River and why I’m visiting Stones River National Battlefield in June. All our census records come from NARA and some delicious other records are housed right here in our local office in San Bruno (https://www.archives.gov/san-francisco/highlights). Regardless of any politics at all, we all have a stake in the future of NARA.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA at nara.gov) is our non-partisan official record-keeper. Access to records is provided to all branches of government and to the people. We use the records for genealogical purposes, but our nation is founded on the records preserved and documenting our history as a nation. Some of NARA’s other roles are to:
• Oversee federal records management
• Ensure public access to records via the Freedom of Information Act
• Handle classified and sensitive records
• Maintain military and veteran records
• Certify constitutional amendments
With the recent dismissal of senior leadership at NARA by the new administration, some are concerned with the future of NARA, so we thought we could explore the history of NARA and some things we can do to help the NARA non-partisan mission, should funding or staff be removed.
NARA came from the FDR administration in 1932 and its holdings go back to before the Revolutionary War. You can find slave ship manifests, the Emancipation Proclamation, German and Japanese surrender records, journals, photographs, newspapers and information about the Louisiana Purchase. The Archives’ house “12 billion sheets of paper, 40 million photographs, miles and miles of video and film, and more than 5.3 billion electronic records.” (https://archivesfoundation.org/about-the-archives/)
NARA is funded by Congress, the National Archives Trust Fund (established in 1941) and private donations. Should you wish to learn more about this, one project is fundNARA.com, which is a volunteer, non-partisan group of genealogists, historians, and records enthusiasts.
NOTE: All photos here are from https://www.archives.gov/research/highlights. Sometimes I just go there and browse… Please support our National Archives. Again, FundNARA (https://fundnara.com/) is a great place to start.
Helpful Links
Events: https://www.californiaancestors.org/events-and-education/
Special Interest Groups: https://www.californiaancestors.org/special-interest-groups-for-members/
Calendar view: https://www.californiaancestors.org/cgs_calendar/
Tips & Talk: Oakland FamilySearch Center Family History Classes: https://www.familysearch.org/en/centers/oakland_california/classes
MAR
2025