Ancestral Discoveries: Sacramento Public Library

Showing posts with label Sacramento Public Library. Show all posts

Monday, January 6, 2025

Thank You, and You, and You

Coming out of COVID, I really fell behind on posting on my blog, including for such things as thank yous. Having been raised by my mother to tell people thank you, I have felt very guilty about this. So I'm going to catch up on my thank yous from 2022 and 2023 and include them with those from 2024.

First I want to thank all those groups that invited me to be a genealogy speaker. I am honored that you felt that I had information worth sharing with your members and attendees, and I appreciate you having chosen me.

I was mostly able to maintain my genealogy volunteer work. It's very rewarding being able to give back to a field so near and dear to me. My health definitely was a factor in my level of involvement, but since so much was (and still is!) remote, I kept plugging along. So a big thank you to the people I worked with at the Gresham FamilySearch Center, Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon, Genealogical Forum of Oregon in general and the African American Special Interest Group in particular, San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, and (new for me last year) Geneabloggers.

Last on my list but most decidedly not least, thank you to the readers of my blog. It's rewarding to know that people find it worth spending their time reading my comments and reflections on this incredibly engrossing pastime that we share. I particularly appreciate when you write to me, online and offline, with your comments and feedback. I hope you find this year's posts interesting as well.

Graphic created by WiR Pixs.

Sunday, January 3, 2021

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

As I look back on the past year, I want to thank all of those who were part of my genealogy world, particularly as our world in general changed so much. First I would like to say thank you to those conferences and societies that chose me to be a speaker. I am honored to have been part of their educational programs during the year.

And because 2020 was the pandemic year, some groups that chose me as a speaker had to cancel or significantly rearrange their events, and I didn't end up giving presentations to them after all. I still am proud that they chose me for their original plans.

Thanks go also to the genealogical societies for which I volunteered during the past year. I continue to serve on the board of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society and also have responsibility for editing the quarterly journal ZichronNote, programming, and publicity. I am the very active coordinator of the African American Special Interest Group (AA SIG) of the Genealogical Forum of Oregon. And I am still involved with the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon, although I moved from board member to vice president, and then to president when the previous president had to step down for health reasons. If it weren't for genealogical societies, many people would have even more difficulties accomplishing their research. I am happy to be associated with thriving groups filled with other energetic volunteers.

And as my blog continues to plug along, I very much appreciate my readers. Your comments, both online and offline, let me know that you find it worthwhile to spend some of your time reading my commentaries about our shared hobby.

I learn something from everyone I interact with, and I'm glad I leanred with all of you during 2020. The adventure of 2021 will probably keep us on our toes, but at least we have genealogy to keep us sane at the same time.

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

A Very Grateful Thank You

As we prepare to welcome the new year, it seems an appropriate time to thank all those in the genealogy world with whom I have worked during the past year. My world has been enriched because of them. First I would like to thank those societies that hosted me as a speaker during the year. I am proud that they chose me to be part of their educational programs.

Genealogical Forum of Oregon
Sweet Home Genealogical Society
Oregon Genealogical Society
Ohio Genealogical Society
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
Jewish Genealogical Society of Cleveland
Klamath Basin Genealogical Society
Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon
Milwaukie Family History Center
Sacramento Public Library
Mt. Diablo Genealogical Society
Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando

Another big thank you goes to those societies with which I am involved on a regular basis as a volunteer. I serve on the boards of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon, and I am the coordinator of the African American Special Interest Group (AA SIG) at the Genealogical Forum of Oregon (GFO). I am so happy to spend time with other individuals who are interested in the vitality of today's genealogical societies and work hard to keep them alive and thriving.

A special thank you goes out to Harold Hinds, another volunteer at GFO, who provides tremendous help and support for me with the AA SIG. Without his advice and guidance, the group would not be in as good shape as it is.

I was fortunate enough this past year to connect with cousins I did not know previously. I am especially grateful to them for their willingness to share family information and photos, which has helped my research into our shared families.

And since this is a blog, some of my most heartfelt thanks go to my readers. I appreciate every comment that is sent to me and that you find my writing a worthwhile expenditure of your time.

I have learned something from everyone this past year. I look forward to another year of learning and enjoying this obsessive hobby we all enjoy.

Happy new year!

Monday, February 6, 2017

Not Everyone Watched the Super Bowl on Sunday

Some of us were focused on genealogy! In fact, I was at the Sacramento Public Library talking about using Freedmen's Bureau records, specifically focusing on the recently digitized and indexed version available on FamilySearch.org and searchable through DiscoverFreedmen.org. And we actually had about 40 people show up!

Now remember, these records are extremely important for black family history research because they are the contemporary primary source that indicates the last owner of a formerly enslaved individual. In many of the records created by the Freedmen's Bureau, one of the questions asked was "What was the name of your last owner?" That owner's name is critical to finding more information about the individual prior to Emancipation.

One big topic I covered was the limitations of the new searchable index. First of all, notwithstanding all of the publicity, not all of the Freedmen's Bureau records were transcribed. Most of the field office records still have no index. So of the 30 Bureau databases on FamilySearch.org, only half have an index. (One small sliver of hope: FamilySearch is still considering whether to have the field office records indexed. I really hope they do it.)

Another problem is that the National Archives microfilms of the Bureau records had the records sorted by state. Now all the labor contracts are in one “United States” database, and the same for school records, hospital records, etc. So if the state that the freedman was living in didn’t actually appear on the record but another state did (and yes, some of the records are like that, like a contract where the person hiring is in a different state), that record will only appear under the second state, not the one that the person was living in. Most of the time a researcher isn’t going to check a record that lists the wrong state, so that’s a bunch of people who are now harder to track down.

There are also problems where the location listed on the index is not that on the record. So someone might be in Plaquemine Parish, Louisiana, for example, but the index says New Orleans. This is another situation where a researcher probably wouldn't look at that record.

Something else that hasn’t been publicized well is how the search works now for the records. If you go directly to FamilySearch.org, as I did at first, you will need to search through each database individually. If you go to DiscoverFreedmen.org, the very, very basic search on that page — which allows you to input only first and last names, so it looks next to useless — actually searches all 15 indexed databases at once, which is a good thing. But don’t pay attention to the short list of 20 results you’ll see on the DiscoverFreedmen page. Click the link that says it will show you all the results. That will take you to FamilySearch.org, and along with the option to see more than 20 results at a time, you’ll get to see which databases the results came from. You can delete databases if you don’t think the locations will be relevant, but considering the whole location problem discussed above, do so with caution.

And yet another problem with the index: From the beginning, the instructions given to volunteers were not to transcribe every name on a record. Yes, someone decided that Bureau employees weren’t worthy of being recorded, and some other people’s names also were not included in the index. So the index is not really an every-name index for these records.

The good news is that even a flawed index is better than no index, and the Freedmen’s Bureau records are far more accessible than they used to be. But the flaws need to be understood so that researchers will know when not to put all their faith in that index.

For some additional pointed commentary on the new search, see this post on Nicka Smith's blog.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

2014 Sacramento Archives Crawl

one of this year's coasters

The Sacramento Archives Crawl is a free, one-day annual event held during California Archives Month, which takes place in October. "Crawlers" visit four host archives in Sacramento, view display items from several repositories, talk to archivists, and have the opportunity to go on special behind-the-scenes tours. If you are so inclined, you can also collect stamps in a "passport" to earn a commemorative set of four coasters depicting items from area archives.

California Archives Month is part of American Archives Month. The purpose is to educate the public about the importance of historical records and the effort to preserve them for future generations. Professionals and repositories in California and around the country will be showcasing their collections and the value in maintaining them.

The theme for this year's Sacramento Archives Crawl is "Having Fun in the Sacramento Region." The host institutions will be the same as last year: California State Archives, California State Library, Center for California History, and Sacramento Public Library (Sacramento Room in the central branch). The Crawl will be on Saturday, October 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Last year I already had something scheduled when I learned about the Archives Crawl, but this year I saved the date! I'm looking forward to going around Sacramento and learning what kinds of interesting resources are available in the participating archives. Want to come out and "crawl" with me?

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Sacramento Archives Crawl

This is a fairly new event (it appears to be the third year), and I had not heard of it until a fellow board member from the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society mentioned it to me. The Sacramento Archives Crawl is held during Archives Month (never heard of that before either!). The purpose of Archives Month is to educate people about the importance of historical records. Four archives in Sacramento host the crawl, and each host repository has representatives from several archives from around the area set up with information. Participants visit each host, learn about the different archives' holdings, view items on display, and collect stamps in a "passport" to earn a set of coasters depicting artifacts from four of the archives.

The Sacramento Archives Crawl will be held on Saturday, October 5, from 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. The four hosts this year are the California State Archives, California State Library, Center for California History, and Sacramento Public Library. I wish I could go, but I already have a commitment to be on Angel Island for the Family History Day being presented by the California Genealogical Society and cosponsored by the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society. Three speakers will discuss Chinese, Japanese, and Jewish immigration through the island. That's what happens during Family History Month — many special events take place, and it can sometimes be difficult to choose which to go to. And since Archives Month is also in October, that just multiplies the options. Maybe next year I can make it to Sacramento and crawl the archives.

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