Launching New Workshop Location:Downtown Stockton

Much like solving any mystery, the quest to uncover the story of your own roots requires thinking like a detective, as well as being able to distinguish between what is true and untrue information. Throughout the past year, the San Joaquin Genealogical Society has been conducting workshops to equip beginners with the tools to get started in your own research and providing guides for those who would like to pursue their research further.

This coming Monday, June 23, volunteers from the San Joaquin Genealogical Society will launch their popular "Digging Up Your Roots" workshop on beginning genealogy research at yet another location: the Cesar Chavez Central Library in downtown Stockton. The new class will begin at 6:00 that evening and continue until 7:45.

Instructor Sally Spenker will lead session attendees through the basics of beginning research on their own family history.

The session is free, but registration is recommended. To insure that there is space for you, you may register online by clicking here, or call the library at (209) 937-8221. 

In addition, if you have already started your family history research, please bring to this session any material you've found, such as birth, death, or marriage certificates, family data, or the beginnings of your family tree. You may also bring your laptop to this session. Volunteers from the Society will be on hand to answer individual questions about your own research.

June 14: "Dig Up Your Roots" Series Continues at Lodi Public Library

Volunteers from the San Joaquin Genealogical Society will continue their Beginners' Workshop series at the Lodi Public Library this coming Saturday afternoon, from 2:00 to 4:00. The topic for this Saturday's session is "Free Online Resources For Your Genealogical Research." Following the presentation, there will be time for specific questions on attendees' own family history research.

The class will be held in the Library's Community Room at 201 West Locust Street in Lodi. For more information and to reserve your place for this class, you may reach the library by calling (209) 333 5503, or emailing them at referencelib@lodi.gov.

 

Saturday, June 7: Last Class for Spring Semester

Saturday, June 7, 2014

11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Margaret Troke Library

502 W. Benjamin Holt Drive, Stockton, California

Our successful "Find Your Roots" workshops for beginners is wrapping up the Spring semester with this final class session, coming up this Saturday, June 7. Our topic for this session is "Listen to Your Family's Memorabilia: It Has Stories to Tell!"

Society members will share how their family heirlooms and mementos inspired them to delve further into the stories of their ancestors.

In this session, class participants will learn how to find identites of those elusive relatives in old photos. Tips on organizing and preserving family treasures will also be included in the session. The class concludes with one-on-one consultation with Society volunteers regarding individual participant research questions.

Though all our workshop sessions are free of charge, in order to provide the correct number of laptops and handouts, please call the library to register at (209) 937-8221, or email the Society at sjcogensoc@gmail.com.

Beginners' Genealogy Workshops Continue in Stockton

Saturday, May 17, 2014

11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Margaret Troke Library

502 W. Benjamin Holt Drive, Stockton

 

The "Find Your Roots" workshop series continues at the Troke branch library in north Stockton tomorrow with a presentation on "Census, Vital and Other Basic Records: How to Use Them Effectively."

 

The "Find Your Roots" series is designed for people interested in beginning the search for their family roots. This series equips new family history researchers with the tools to jump start their search, combined with one-on-one assistance by trained volunteers from the San Joaquin Genealogical Society. In monthly workshop sessions in the spring and fall, the elements of genealogical research are gradually introduced to class members. Though the program was conceived as a series, the public is invited to join in any of the classes on a stand alone basis.

 

The classes are free, but pre-registration is required so that we may provide each attendee with handouts and computer access, if needed.

 

For more information or to reserve your spot at the workshop, email the Society at sjcogensoc@gmail.com.

 

 

Genealogy Storytelling: A Different Way to Present Family History

Thursday, May 15, 2014

5:45 p.m.

Margaret Troke Library

502 West Benjamin Holt Drive

Stockton, California

 

Do you worry your family history research will end up in a cardboard box in an attic gathering dust? How do you engage your family of all ages so they send e-mails asking for more family stories? Our speaker this month, poet and genealogist Kay Speaks, will share some of her methods of storytelling and sharing her family history at our upcoming meeting on May 15.

Kay joined the Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society in 1999 as a newbie genealogist trying to solve a family murder mystery. Since then she has been involved in L-AGS special interest groups and county fair projects, as participant, leader or coordinator. She has organized events for L-AGS, CGS, Chinese American Family History Group, Tri-Valley TMG Users Group, poetry exhibits and public readings.

Kay has presented a variety of family history topics to special interest groups, including Family History Day 2013 on Angel Island at the Immigration Station where her Chinese family members were detainees during the Chinese Exclusion Era. Her family research has been on display at the Museum on Main (Pleasanton), Carnegie Museum (Livermore) and the Alameda County Fair. Kay’s Chinese adventures include the serendipity of ancestors found and discovering a 1928 family murder mystery cited in case law today. She helped edit a genealogy software book that has sold in four countries and is a member of the California Writers Club, Tri-Valley Branch. Kay is a local and international award-winning poet. She finds her family research to be poetic inspiration.

SJGS President to Speak at Merced Meeting

As a representative of the Northern California Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, our Society president, Sheri Fenley, will participate in a panel discussion, "Calling in the Pros" as a guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Merced County Genealogical Society. Along with panel members Janice Sellers and Corey Oiesen, she will field questions regarding hiring a professional genealogist, how to find one with expertise in your area of research, and what to expect of a professional's services.

If you are in the Merced area this coming Saturday, May 17, you are welcome to attend this noon presentation at the Merced County Library.

Tonight's Meeting: Featuring You!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

5:45 p.m.

Margaret Troke Library

502 W. Benjamin Holt Drive, Stockton

Round Table Discussions:

Breaking Through Our Brick Walls Together!

Returning to our meeting line-up after its successful inception last year is our Round Table Discussion, an interactive learning session featuring you as speaker!

Anyone who has spent time researching family history eventually comes to that one ancestor whose story seems impossible to trace. We call those instances our “Brick Walls.”

Using the power of collective effort during this month’s meeting, we’ll pool our resources to break through those brick walls. Through informal small round table discussions, we’ll use these cases to help each other find answers to our most challenging research problems.

To prepare for our April 17 meeting, SJGS members have already completed an online survey, allowing us to select the following four topics for discussion:

Research in New England: where to find those elusive documents

Tracing Ancestors to Europe through clues in passenger lists, immigration and naturalization forms

Headed West: Tips on researching Midwest and Western Territories and States

Finding Online Resources: Places to look online for lists, archives, and documents

Tonight, come meet and help your fellow Society members! Share experiences and techniques you’ve used to find elusive ancestors. It does not matter if you are a beginner, a seasoned genealogist, or haven’t even found a “brick wall” yet (you will!). Bring any information you already have about your mystery ancestor, his or her family and descendants—this might provide some clues. We can all learn something from each other, while also getting to know each other better.

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