Free Library Presentations
Burlingame Library, 480 Primrose Road, Burlingame, CA, April 27, 2PM – 4PM
Foster City Library, 1000 E Hillsdale Blvd, Foster City, CA, May 1, 5:30PM – 7:30PM
Brisbane Library, 163 Visitacion Ave, Brisbane, CA, May 4, 2PM – 4PM
Half Moon Bay Library, 620 Correas St, Half Moon Bay, CA, May 8, 5PM – 7PM
Atherton Library, 2 Dinkelspiel Station Ln, Atherton, CA, May 16, 11:30AM – 1:30PM
Millbrae Library, 1 Library Ave, Millbrae, CA, June 24, 2025, 10:30AM – 12:30PM
What you will learn
- Research tools and resources to discover your China roots.
- Oral histories of a Chinese American family’s struggles
- How 150 generations of family genealogy was found
- ChiAm checklist of online, live and local genealogy groups
- Interviews from Angel Island Immigration National Archives
- Experience a visit to a Chinese ancestral village
Abstract
This multimedia session offers key resources to help you find and explore your China roots and access Chinese American research tools. Showcased are the struggles and assimilation of a Chinese American immigrant family through oral histories of hardship, poverty, segregation, discrimination, and a city’s formal apology—80 years in the making—came to life. Unsure of where your ancestral village is in China and how to find your jiapu (ancestral lineage book)? Learn how 150 generations of family genealogy was documented in China. You’ll receive a checklist of research resources – where to ask live and virtual questions, and details on attending a paid three-day Chinese American Genealogy Conference or joining the free Bay Area Chinese Group. Can’t read Chinese? No problem using a Chinese to English translation tool. Discover how the National Archives in San Bruno can help uncover your Chinese ancestors’ interviews at the Angel Island Immigration Station, where 175,000 Chinese immigrants entered the U.S. between 1910 and 1940.
Session Time: 2 hours
About The Speaker: Ron Chan
Ron is a seasoned lecturer on family history documentation best practices, captivating audiences worldwide at genealogy workshops and libraries across the San Francisco Bay Area. As a published genealogy author, he has a passion for storytelling and teaches innovative technologies to bring ancestral tales to life. Ron is the Founder and Executive Director of the Bay Area Chinese Genealogy Group, dedicated to preserving ancestral stories. He is also a co-founder of the Chinese American GI Project, ensuring that veterans’ legacies are not lost, forgotten, or ignored. Ron shares with you how to capture and share family struggles of the past so future generations can embrace, remember, and learn from those who came before.
