2009
MEETINGS & SEMINARS
Our evening meetings are on the Third Tuesday of the month at the Santa Clara
City Public Library located on Homestead Road. For directions please
see the
map.
Please help brighten up our meetings by providing your suggestions for Speakers
or Topics that you would like to see in the future. Please provide a brief
description of the topic, the Speaker's name, their e-mail address, mailing address
or Telephone number (if known). Send suggestions to
Program Chair
Tuesday, January 20, 7 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Richard Ferman
Topic: Footnote.com
Richard Ferman is past president and current Program
Chairperson for the society, has a degree in History from Ohio
University and has been doing Genealogy for over 50 years.
Footnote.com is an online source of millions of original historical
documents. The presentation will help you to become familiar with both
the free and subscription aspects of this valuable website.
Tuesday, February 17, 7 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Cath Madden-Trindle
Topic: Irish Research
Tuesday, March 17, 7 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Kay Gutknecht
Topic: We Were Foxhole Buddies :
How I used records from the
National Archives and National Personnel Records Center
to illuminate my father’s WWII army history.
Kay Gutknecht has been working on her family’s genealogy
for over 25 years and has always been fascinated by the historical
context of her ancestors’ lives. She recently completed a 1000+ page
book on her father’s WWII army service, and in July 2008, spoke to the
SCCHGS regarding techniques used to created and self-publish it for
family and friends. Kay holds a degree in History from the University
of California at San Diego and currently manages an operational
benchmark program for Stanford Hospital and Clinics in Palo Alto,
California.
Do you wonder if some of those family war stories are
really true? Do you wish you knew what you ancestor’s military unit did
during the war? Would you like to retrace your ancestor’s steps through
the battlefields? Do you wish you could find some of his war buddies?
Learn from one genealogist who researched records at both the National
Archives in College Park, Maryland and the National Personnel Records
Center in St. Louis to uncover details of her father’s military service
and the names of the men in his unit. Although the focus of the talk
will be on WWII army records, the principles discussed will apply to
other military service branches.
The program will explain:
- What records are available at each location.
- What information the records contain.
- How the records work together to tell a story.
- Protocols for gaining access to the records.
- How to prepare for your onsite visit!
Come, and be inspired!
Saturday, April 25, 1:30
p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Christine Rose
Topic: TBD
Tuesday, May 19, 7 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Mary Hanel
Topic: What’s New for Genealogists & Local History
Researchers from Central Park Library
Mary Hanel, Santa Clara City Local History Librarian
and Library Staff Liaison to SCCHGS will review some of the new
resources provided to genealogists and historians in the past year by
the Library. These include some new databases added to Ancestry Library
Edition, the Historical San Jose Mercury News database, some excellent
genealogy books, and an upcoming redesign of the Library’s homepage.
Tuesday, June 16, 7 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Jessica Hacken
Topic: Canadian Research
Tuesday, July 21, 7 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Kristin Noel Rivers
Topic: Betsey and Dead-Eye: Faith, Loss, Tenacity and
Murder Mystery!
Trace one SCCHGS member's 4th great-grandparents'
remarkable transcontinental journey intertwined with the history of the
LDS Church.
Elizabeth Bliss and Josiah Arnold were early pioneers who gave up
everything they knew in CT and NY to migrate through Ohio, Illinois,
Nebraska, Utah and California. Join their 4th great grandaughter as she
speaks of her genealogical quest to learn more about their lives:
including: crossing the plains, losing two children, the doctrine of
"Blood Atonement," the Danites, and how Josiah earned that atonement at
the hand of "Wild" Bill Hickman: also known as: Brigham Young's
"Destroying Angel."
Kristin Noel Rivers nee Millich was born and raised in the Bay Area. She
earned her Bachelor's Degree from Humboldt State University with a major
in Spanish Teaching and a minor in Psychology. She is credentialed to
teach Spanish, English, English as a Second Language and Health. She has
also earned a Master's Degree in Organizational Management from the
University of Phoenix.
Kristin began teaching in 1989. She left public school in 1995 and
worked in the private sector as a technical trainer and software program
manager but eventually resigned and went back to her first love of
public school teaching in 2002. She is currently teaching at San Jose's
public continuation high school, Broadway.
Kristin is married with three children under the age of 10. She enjoys
spending time with her family and friends, researching her family tree
(begun at age 15), reading, knitting and listening to ideas that she has
never before considered. She is currently information gathering and fact
checking to write a book about the ancestors discussed in this
presentation. She is humbled, amazed and inspired by these early
pioneers and is grateful for the opportunity to share them with you!
Tuesday, August
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
No Meeting
Tuesday, September 15, 7 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Rachael Campbell of the Daughters of Union
Veterans
Topic: How to
Find Your Civil War Ancestor
Rachael Campbell of the Daughters of
Union Veterans lineage society will speak on how she helps families,
women in particular, document their descent from U.S. Civil War
veterans.
October is History Month
Saturday, October 24, 1 - 4 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Panel of Civil War Enthusiast
Topic: Focus on the Civil War
In honor of History Month, the Genealogy Society has
invited groups with an interest in Civil War genealogy, living history,
and artifact collections to speak, present brief theatrical performances
and/or set up exhibit booths. Civil War memorabilia collectors, Sons of
Union Veterans, Daughters of Civil War Veterans, an expert on Civil War
fashions, and a historian who can speak to California’s involvement in
the Civil War are among those expected to attend and provide
information.
Tuesday, November 17, 7 p.m.
Location: 2635 Homestead Road
Speaker: Gabriel Ibarra
Topic: Photographing Santa Clara’s Historic Houses &
Landmarks
Gabriel Ibarra, “Photographer of Light,” will talk
about his interest in photography as a tool for historic documentation.
He has taken numerous photographs of historic buildings in Santa Clara
County just before they were demolished. He will display some of his
photographs of “lost landmarks” from Santa Clara Valley’s agricultural
past. He will also present a PowerPoint slide show of lovely historic
homes in Santa Clara that he has researched and photographed.
December
NO Meeting
MERRY
CHRISTMAS!
If you would like to see some of our previous meeting topics.
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