Ever Wanted to Run an Italian Castle?

The 103 historic properties available

This may be your chance.  Italy is making more than 100 historic castles, farmhouses, and monasteries available to entrepreneurs in an effort to revitalize the unused buildings.  (Maybe one of the sites has a connection to your family?)  The program, called Cammini e Percorsi (I'm thinking of it as "Highways and Byways", although that's not entirely accurate), is being handled by Italy's Agenzia del Demanio ("Agency for State Property") and is backed by the Ministry of Tourism.  The 103 properties are located along eight historic transportation routes throughout the mainland and in Sicily and Sardinia.  The goal is to have the buildings transformed into facilities that will be used by tourists, hikers, bikers, and pilgrims.  (Hey, what about genealogists?)

If you want to take a shot, you will need to submit a proposal outlining how you will transform your desired location into a tourist destination.  Preference is being given to individuals under 40 years of age, although those of us over 40 are not excluded from applying.

You don't actually get title to the building, sorry.  You will have the right to run it for nine years, with an option for an additional nine years.

The deadline to submit your proposal is June 26, 2017.  It is expected that work will begin next summer.

For more information (all in Italian, although the top of the page proclaims "English Version...Coming Soon"), visit http://www.agenziademanio.it/opencms/it/ValorePaese/camminiepercorsi/.  And let me know if you win one of the contracts!

San Francisco History Days Will Be Here Soon!

San Francisco History Days at the Old Mint:
Saturday, March 4–Sunday, March 5, 2017

On the weekend of March 4–5, 2017, the City and County of San Francisco Office of the Mayor, Non Plus Ultra, and dozens of local history groups will open the Old Mint, at 88 Fifth Street, for a free community open house, San Francisco History Days 2017 (http://www.sfhistorydays.org/).

A National Historic Landmark, the classical building at 88 Fifth Street was a branch of the United States Mint from 1874 to 1937. For the San Francisco History Days weekend, the counting rooms and brick vaults of “The Granite Lady” will come alive with dozens of organizations offering history displays, activities, tours, and presentations.  Join community historians, archivists, representatives of indigenous communities, genealogists, archaeologists, researchers, educators, re-enactors, authors, and filmmakers for this event on Saturday, March 4, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, March 5, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Highlights of the weekend include presentations on local architectural, transit, neighborhood, and maritime history; exhibits addressing the Summer of Love 50th anniversary; displays of neighborhood and community archives; and a resource center with information about history organizations, homes, and educational centers around the Bay Area.  Mini theaters and galleries will be set up in the ground floor vaults of the Old Mint over the weekend, featuring found footage, film features, and rare and newly digitized photos.  Dozens of authors will be on hand to discuss and sell their books on local historical themes.   And there will be a joint presentation on family history by the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, the California Genealogical Society, and SFGenealogy.

San Francisco History Days began in 2016, based on previous events at the Old Mint and organized by a collective composed of historians from Bay Area organizations, the Office of the Mayor, and the current tenants of the Old Mint and event underwriter, Non Plus Ultra.  The event's aim is to celebrate and share the history of San Francisco and the Bay Area.  The 2016 San Francisco History Days weekend attracted more than 6,500 visitors.

The event still needs volunteers!  Please consider donating a few hours of your time.  For information on how to volunteer, e-mail participate@sfhistorydays.org as soon as possible.

For general information on the event and to see a list of participating organizations, visit http://www.sfhistorydays.org/ or write to info@sfhistorydays.org.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Presidents?

Well, I suppose Randy Seaver has found a timely topic for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, but my list will have some asterisks.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music) is:

1)  Which U.S. presidents have held the office in your lifetime?  Your parents' lifetimes?  Your grandparents' lifetimes?  How many generations do you need to cover all of them?

2)  A list of the U.S. presidents is at http://www.presidentsusa.net/presvplist.html to help you out.

3)  Put the answers in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.

Here are my lists.

My life, 1962–present:  11 presidents

#35 John F. Kennedy
#36 Lyndon B. Johnson
#37 Richard M. Nixon
#38 Gerald R. Ford
#39 James E. Carter
#40 Ronald Reagan
#41 George H. W. Bush
#42 William J. Clinton
#43 George W. Bush*
#44 Barack H. Obama
#45 Donald J. Trump*

*lost the popular vote; not my president

My father, Bertram Lynn Sellers' life, 1935–present:  14 presidents

#32 Franklin D. Roosevelt
#33 Harry Truman
#34 Dwight D. Eisenhower
#35 John F. Kennedy
#36 Lyndon B. Johnson
#37 Richard M. Nixon
#38 Gerald R. Ford
#39 James E. Carter
#40 Ronald Reagan
#41 George H. W. Bush
#42 William J. Clinton
#43 George W. Bush
#44 Barack H. Obama
#45 Donald J. Trump

My mother, Myra Roslyn (Meckler) Sellers Preuss' life, 1940–1995:  11 presidents

#32 Franklin D. Roosevelt
#33 Harry Truman
#34 Dwight D. Eisenhower
#35 John F. Kennedy
#36 Lyndon B. Johnson
#37 Richard M. Nixon
#38 Gerald R. Ford
#39 James E. Carter
#40 Ronald Reagan
#41 George H. W. Bush
#42 William J. Clinton

My mother did not have to suffer through either asterisk.

My paternal grandmother Anna (Gauntt) Stradling's life, 1893–1986:  18 presidents

#23 Benjamin Harrison
#24 Grover Cleveland
#25 William McKinley
#26 Theodore Roosevelt
#27 William H. Taft
#28 Woodrow W. Wilson
#29 Warren G. Harding
#30 Calvin Coolidge
#31 Herbert Hoover
#32 Franklin D. Roosevelt
#33 Harry Truman
#34 Dwight D. Eisenhower
#35 John F. Kennedy
#36 Lyndon B. Johnson
#37 Richard M. Nixon
#38 Gerald R. Ford
#39 James E. Carter
#40 Ronald Reagan

My paternal great-grandfather Thomas Kirkland Gauntt's life, 1870–1951:  15 presidents

#18 Ulysses S. Grant
#19 Rutherford B. Hayes
#20 James A. Garfield
#21 Chester Arthur
#22 Grover Cleveland
#23 Benjamin Harrison
#24 Grover Cleveland
#25 William McKinley
#26 Theodore Roosevelt
#27 William H. Taft
#28 Woodrow W. Wilson
#29 Warren G. Harding
#30 Calvin Coolidge
#31 Herbert Hoover
#32 Franklin D. Roosevelt
#33 Harry Truman

(16 presidencies, but only 15 presidents, because Grover Cleveland was the same person in his nonconsecutive terms)

I had to follow my father's lines, as none of my mother's ancestors was in this country prior to 1903.  In going back four generations to my oldest known great-grandparent, I can cover 28 presidencies.

I can just barely cover all 45 presidencies by going back to my 3x-great-grandfather Hananiah Selah Gaunt, who lived from 1795 to 1852.  I didn't realize until today that this 3x-great-grandfather was born three years before my 4x-great-grandfather Joel Armstrong.

My grandmother lived through the most presidencies, but then again, she was 93 when she died.

Mark Your Calendars: San Francisco History Days, March 3–5, 2017

What is quickly becoming a San Francisco institution will return for its second/seventh year, taking place on March 3, 4, and 5, 2017, at the Old Mint.  San Francisco History Days (our second year under that name; prior to that, for five years the event was known as the San Francisco History Expo) will once again open the doors of the Old Mint to everyone who appreciates history and wants to celebrate it.

As usual, History Days will host a mix of historical and ethnic organizations, museums, libraries, genealogical societies, and historical reenactors.  In 2016 we had about 80 groups, and we hope to add to that for 2017.

San Francisco History Days will take place on Saturday and Sunday, March 4 and 5, at the Old Mint, 88 5th Street, in San Francisco.   Hours will probably be 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. on Saturday and 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. on Sunday.  The event will be free and open to the public.  In 2017 History Days will again be officially hosted by the City of San Francisco's Mayor's Office and NonPlusUltra, Inc., the current tenant of the Old Mint and also the event's underwriter.

We plan to have our second Education Day, a day exclusively for students, on Friday, March 3.  Interested educators will be able to reserve a two-hour look at the Old Mint and meet a dozen or so History Days exhibitors with their school groups.  For information on Education Day activities and plans, contact Patty Pforte at educationday@sfhistorydays.org.

More details on specific programming and participating groups will become available during the coming months.  To follow our progress, visit http://sfhistorydays.org/.  I look forward to seeing lots of people at the Mint next March!

Microhistory and Macrohistory, Working Together

Historia (1894) by Gyzis

I think of history as having two different approaches, broadly speaking.  Microhistory is focused on individuals, the type of research that genealogists do.  We try to find as much information as we can about our ancestors and collateral family members so that we can learn about them as individuals.  Macrohistory (or just history) is about the world around individuals, the events and movements and eras that affected those ancestors.  Last weekend and this weekend I attended events with different emphases on history but that incorporated both aspects, and I started thinking about how the two work together.

The weekend of March 1 and 2 I was at the San Francisco History Expo.  This event primarily is about macrohistory.  More than 60 groups participated, most of them focused on topics such as San Francisco neighborhoods, different ethnic groups, and organizations such as the fire department and the Masons.  Their information was about the history of the times the groups were in San Francisco, how they reacted to changing times, significant historical events that occurred in the city, and similar subjects.  A few reenactors walked through the Expo portraying historical characters from San Francisco's past — Emperor Norton, Adolph Sutro, Domenico Ghirardelli.  There were also a small number of genealogical groups.  We microhistorians talked with people about how they could learn more about their ancestors and their lives in San Francisco and sometimes pointed an attendee in the direction of one of the history groups that might have helpful information.

On Saturday, March 8, I was at the 9th annual African American Family History Seminar in Sacramento.  This was a genealogy event, so most of the sessions focused on tools and techniques that could help people find their ancestors and learn more information about them.  Tom Stratton, the seminar's keynote speaker, however, is a (macro)historian who spoke about Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth and the town he founded in California.  Stratton discussed the historical events that occurred during Allensworth's life and how they affected him and informed many of the choices he made.  Stratton also talked about Allensworth State Historic Park and the interpreters (historic reenactors) who help recreate the feeling of the town and bring alive its history.

To really bring a historical character alive, an interpreter/reenactor — such as the ones at the San Francisco History Expo and Allensworth State Historic Park — wants to learn as much detail as possible about the person he is portraying.  But he also needs to understand the history of the times in which that person lived.  Think about yourself:  You are influenced and affected by the history and culture of where you grew up and where you live.  If you were living in a different country, a different era, you wouldn't be exactly the same person you are now.

Mark Twain (1895)

An excellent example of someone interpreting a historical person is Hal Holbrook, who has continually received great acclaim for his portrayal of Mark Twain in his one-man stage show.  Holbrook has studied Twain in depth, but he also studied the times in which he lived, not only to learn what influenced Twain but to think about how Twain reacted to what happened around him.  Because of that he can portray Twain as a real person and react in character.

That blending of microhistory and macrohistory can help us understand our ancestors better.  It's natural to focus on finding as many pieces of information as possible about them as individuals, but we also need to study the greater historical times they lived in, because that helps us understand what affected them and why they made some of the choices they did.

I remember one day when I was working at the Oakland Family History Center someone came to the desk to ask for help in solving a question about her ancestors.  After listening to her description of the problem, the background of the family, the location, and the period, I told her there were not a lot of records available for that area at that time, but that she should look at the history of what was going on there to learn what was bringing people there for settlement and which groups were there.  She looked shocked and said, "I have to learn about history to do genealogy?"

Well, no, you don't.  You only have to learn about history if you want to be successful with your genealogy.

2013 San Francisco History Expo

The third annual San Francisco History Expo will bring together more than 40 local and neighborhood history groups in the Old Mint at 5th and Mission Streets. This is an opportunity to learn (and participate in) San Francisco history though displays, presentations, photos, videos, children's activities, and historical reenactments.  Over the last two years more than 7,000 people have attended the weekend-long event and viewed exhibits from the California Historical Society, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco History Center, and many others.

This year's Expo will be on Saturday and Sunday, March 2 and 3, at the Old Mint, 88 Fifth Street, San Francisco.  Hours are 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Saturday and 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Sunday.

Last year the Expo added a genealogy-focused room, with the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, California Genealogical Society, and SFGenealogy.  Our three groups will be together again this year.  Come by, visit our tables, and learn a little about San Francisco Bay area family history!

The event is totally free, though the organizers hope you'll help offset the costs by making a small donation or buying a raffle ticket.  More information is available at http://www.sfhistoryexpo.org/.

Workshop: The Present and Future of Public History in New York State

Currently this conference is free, including lunch, but you must make a reservation.  If they are swamped with reservations, they may decide to charge a small fee for lunch.  This sounds very interesting, and I wish I could attend.

Conversations in the Disciplines: The Present and Future of Public History in New York State
November 17, 2012
University of Albany (State University of New York at Albany)

The History Department and the Public History Program at the University of Albany will host a workshop, The Present and Future of Public History in New York State on Saturday, November 17, 2012. The workshop will bring together public historians and SUNY faculty from around the state to exchange ideas, build networks, and reflect on that will shape the practice of public history in future years.

This free workshop is sponsored by the Conversations in the Disciplines Program of the State University of New York, the New York State Council for the Humanities, and the M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. It immediately follows the Researching New York conference on November 15 and 16. For more details and to register, contact David Hochfelder at dhochfelder@albany.edu.

The purpose of the workshop is to foster discussion and debate about the role and purpose of public history in New York. The format of the workshop will be a series of roundtable discussions with no moderator in order to encourage dialogue between presenters and audience. The workshop will be held on the University of Albany campus and will use breakout areas to facilitate small group conversations.  Panels will include Public History in New York: A Wide Angle View, What Local Historians Do,  Grants to Fund Public History Projects, Training Future Public Historians, and The Future of Public History in New York.

Schedule

9:30 a.m., Public History in New York: A Wide Angle View
Robert Weible, New York State Historian
Anne Ackerson, Executive Director, Museum Association of New York
Gerald Smith, President, Association of Public Historians of New York State

10:15 a.m., What Local Historians Do
Christine Ridarsky, Rochester City Historian and Director of Historical Projects
Carolyn Vacca, St. John Fisher College and Monroe County Historian
Don Rittner, Schenectady County and City Historian

11:00 a.m., Coffee Break

11:15 a.m., Grants to Fund Public History Projects
Jose Torre, SUNY Brockport
Karen Markoe, SUNY Maritime
Ralph Blasting, New York State Council for the Humanities and Siena College
Ken O’Brien, SUNY Brockport

12:00 noon, Lunch

1:00 p.m., Training Future Public Historians
Ellen Litwicki, SUNY Fredonia
Bruce Leslie, SUNY Brockport
Gretchen Sorin, Cooperstown Graduate Program, SUNY Oneonta
Ivan Steen, University of Albany (emeritus)

2:00 p.m., Breakout Sessions

3:45 p.m., The Future of Public History in New York
James Chung, Reach Advisors
Cynthia Koch, Office of Presidential Libraries, National Archives

4:30 p.m., Workshop Ends.
Participants are encouraged to continue conversation informally over dinner.

San Francisco Discovers Family History

Last year I lamented the fact that the inaugural San Francisco History Expo had plenty of history but no family history.  This year they have corrected the error, and both the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society and SFGenealogy will be participants, with members of the California Genealogical Society on hand as well.  Apparently last year's comments were heard.

This year's event will be on Saturday and Sunday, March 3 and 4, at the Old Mint in San Francisco.  Hours are 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.  Friday, March 2, school groups will come through on specially arranged tours.

The two-day event will feature interesting displays from participating organizations.  You can also view a special exhibition of 42 photographs called “Elegant Pit Stops”, a display of historic garages in the city.  (I wonder if the historic garage on Arguello I was searching for will be represented.)  Historic artist Alan Zimmerman of Stockton is returning, with large oil-on-wood paintings of Gold Rush San Francisco.  Historic films and special program are scheduled in the vault area for both days.

The event is free, and everyone is welcome.  Please come by, visit our booth, and learn a little about San Francisco Bay area family history!

San Francisco History Expo -- But No Family History

The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society is putting on a "history expo" this coming weekend, February 12 and 13.  More than twenty groups will showcase their contributions to San Francisco's history.  But there is a significant omission from the list of exhibitors:  No genealogical societies are participating.  And why are they not participating?  Because they weren't invited!

When the president of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society asked about the possibility of participating, on behalf of his group and the California Genealogical Society (which has only been around since 1898), he was told they were already full up and that they would add the genealogical societies to the list for what "might be" another event in the future, "if this is successful."

The tagline of the expo is "Piecing Together Our Past."  That's what genealogists and family historians do every day.  Well, maybe this event will go well and they'll have another one, and we can add family history to San Francisco's history.  I'm not sure how they're planning on measuring success, though.  The event is free, so there won't be any tickets to track attendance accurately.

If you go to the expo, I encourage you to mention your interest in genealogy to the event organizers.  If there is a survey of some sort, suggest that next year they include genealogical organizations as well.  (If you aren't going, there is a contact link on the Web site.)  After all, when you research your ancestors, you need to understand the times they lived in, and when you learn about history, you are learning about the people who lived at those times.  Genealogy is, at its best, the placing of a person in the context of his time -- and isn't that what a history expo should be all about?

For more information about the expo, visit http://www.sfhistory.org/index.php?pageid=20.

(Special thanks to reader Carol Townsend for her feedback on this post.)