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Do you know how valuable you are to The California Genealogical Society (CGS)?  Our member-volunteers are why our genealogy society and library exist.  From our first president, Dr. Edward Stephen Clark, in 1898 to our current president, Linda Okazaki, our society is filled with dedicated volunteers that are always pushing for genealogical excellence. You are now part of this heritage and we want you to know how your society can help you.

Visit the library

One way to help is to remind you to visit our research library. It is an amazing resource to historians and family history researchers alike.  Have you been to the library lately? Just a reminder that we’re located in Oakland’s Uptown District and the area is hopping with great restaurants, cool coffee shops and wonderful stores that are filled with the energy from the neighborhood. Luckily, we’re in the middle of it all!  

Full of surprises

One of the unsung heroes of the library is our Manuscript Collection. It is comprised of 108 linear feet on the shelves, as well as loose papers, research and family histories that have been donated to our library over its almost 118 year history.  We are forever grateful to volunteers Pat Bonderud and Linda Darby for cataloguing and organizing this treasure trove. The incredibly helpful and insightful Georgia Lupinsky and Virginia Turner are now the volunteers who manage our collection. They created a thirty-page inventory (in pdf format) available for download our website.

This searchable database provides a synopsis of each collection, providing enough information to help you determine if further examination of a manuscript is beneficial to your own research. Individual collections may be viewed at the Library by appointment.

Another way we can help you search for research materials is to use our online Library Catalog. I think you’ll be amazed once you start looking at what’s available to assist in your genealogy search.

Our Capital Campaign Needs Your Donation

Even with all of the free labor given by our volunteers, we still need money to continue our mission. Between high real estate costs in the Bay Area, continual upgrades to our computer equipment, offering high quality speakers and classes, along with keeping our library filled with new resources (including online databases), a group of long-term volunteers realized the society needed a committee dedicated to raising long-term funding for CGS. So earlier this year, the Capital Campaign was born. 

Chris Pattillo (Chair), Jane Lindsey and Sandy Fryer began raising money that will help cover the shortfall in the annual operating expenses of CGS.  Think of it as a substantial rainy day fund that lets us all benefit by having access to great classes, seminars, plus all of our online and library resources.  

How you can contribute:
*  Make a donation on our website or send a check.
*  Become a Life member to support the campaign. 
*  List CGS as a beneficiary in your will or personal trust. 
*  Provide a tax-deductible donation through your IRA or 401K .

  
Become a part of the campaign, and make a donation today.  Thank you for your continued support.