{"id":5992,"date":"2026-07-28T11:32:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T19:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/?p=5992"},"modified":"2026-07-28T11:32:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T19:32:02","slug":"genealogy-and-family-history-symposium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/2026\/07\/28\/genealogy-and-family-history-symposium\/","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy and Family History Symposium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\"Genealogy<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Genealogy and Family History Symposium 2026 is a two-day conference presented by the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) and the California Genealogical Society<\/a> (CGS), featuring speakers from SFPL, CGS, SFgenealogy<\/a>, the Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/a> and others covering a diverse range of topics. Learn about physical and electronic resources available at the library that can aid your research, as well as how to search for specific ancestors like African American, Portuguese, Chinese, Filipino American, Russian American and more. The symposium takes place in the lower level of the Main Library with presentations in the Koret Auditorium and Latino\/Hispanic Room B, discussion groups in Latino\/Hispanic Room A and organizations tabling in the Koret Lobby<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, August 12<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Time<\/strong><\/td>Presentation<\/strong><\/td>Presenter<\/strong><\/td>Location<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.<\/td>Services: Local Genealogy and Family History Organizations<\/a><\/td> <\/td>Koret Lobby<\/td><\/tr>
10:15 a.m.<\/td>Intro to Genealogy<\/a><\/td>Jen Dix, CGS<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
10:15 a.m.<\/td>DNA Part 1 – Introduction to Genetic Genealogy<\/a><\/td>Sue Severson, Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr>
10:15 a.m. – 3 p.m.<\/td>Open Discussions<\/a><\/td> <\/td>Latino Hispanic Room A<\/td><\/tr>
11:15 a.m.<\/td>Using the Library’s eResources for Genealogical Research<\/a><\/td>Brian Weaver, SFPL<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
11:15 a.m.<\/td>Proud to be Portuguese<\/a><\/td>Ralph Severson, Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr>
1:15 p.m.<\/td>SFgenealogy.org<\/em><\/a><\/td>Ron Filion, SFgenealogy<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
1:15 p.m.<\/td>Intro to FamilySearch.org<\/em><\/a><\/td>Ralph Severson, Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr>
2:15 p.m.<\/td>Government Resources for Genealogists<\/a><\/td>Vaile Fujikawa, SFPL<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
2:15 p.m.<\/td>DNA Part 2 – Identifying an Unknown Parent or Grandparent Using Genetic Genealogy<\/a><\/td>Sue Severson, Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr>
3:15 p.m.<\/td>Storytelling Using the San Francisco History Center Archives<\/a><\/td>Christina Moretta, SFPL<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
3:15 p.m.<\/td>Got Questions?<\/a><\/td>Jane Lindsey, CGS<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room A<\/td><\/tr>
3:15 p.m.<\/td>Hispanic Genealogy: Finding Spanish Records Around the World<\/a><\/td>Lucy Sweeney<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Tabling<\/strong><\/td>Time<\/strong><\/td>Location<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
The following organizations will be tabling and providing information<\/a> about their genealogical and family history resources in the Koret Lobby during Day 1<\/a>…<\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Ancestry<\/a>Bay Area Chinese Genealogy Group<\/a>California Genealogical Society<\/a>Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/a>Sutro Library<\/a><\/td>10 a.m. – 4 p.m.<\/td>Koret Lobby<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, August 13<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Time                    <\/strong><\/td>Presentation<\/strong><\/td>Presenter<\/strong><\/td>Location<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.<\/td>Services: Local Genealogy and Family History Organizations<\/a><\/td> <\/td>Koret Lobby<\/td><\/tr>
10:15 a.m.<\/td>Wu Zeitan and Imperial Rank Badges & the Chinese Imperial Examination System<\/a><\/td>Lee Pearce, Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
10:15 a.m.<\/td>Russian American Discussion Group<\/a><\/td>Jim Russell, CGS<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room A<\/td><\/tr>
10:15 a.m.<\/td>Once Upon a Time…Creating Compelling Stories Out of Mundane Facts<\/a><\/td>Linda Okazaki, CGS<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr>
11:15 a.m.<\/td>Using Newspapers for Genealogical Research<\/a><\/td>Kelci Baughman McDowell, SFPL<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
11:15 a.m.<\/td>Chinese Genealogy Discussion Group<\/a><\/td>Lee Pearce, Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room A<\/td><\/tr>
11:15 a.m.<\/td>Preserving Family Collections<\/a><\/td>Elise Hochhalter, SFPL<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr>
1:15 p.m.<\/td>Intro to Genealogy<\/a><\/td>Jen Dix, CGS<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
1:15 p.m.<\/td>Japanese American Discussion Group<\/a><\/td>Linda Okazaki, CGS<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room A<\/td><\/tr>
1:15 p.m.<\/td>Using African American Funeral Program Archives to Enhance Your Research<\/a><\/td>Shawna Sherman, SFPL<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr>
2:15 p.m.<\/td>Researching National Archives Records Online<\/a><\/td>Marisa Lee, SFPL<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
2:15 p.m.<\/td>Open Discussion<\/a><\/td> <\/td>Latino Hispanic Room A<\/td><\/tr>
2:15 p.m.<\/td>African American Genealogy Discussion Group<\/a><\/td>Patricia Smith Jenkins, CGS<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room B<\/td><\/tr>
3:15 p.m.<\/td>Adventures in Filipino American Genealogy<\/a><\/td>Leo Esclamado<\/td>Koret Auditorium<\/td><\/tr>
3:15 p.m.<\/td>Got Questions?<\/a><\/td>Jane Lindsey, CGS<\/td>Latino Hispanic Room A<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Tabling<\/strong><\/td>Time<\/strong><\/td>Location<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
The following organizations will be tabling and providing information<\/a> about their genealogical and family history resources in the Koret Lobby during Day 2<\/a>…<\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Ancestry<\/a>Bay Area Chinese Genealogy Group<\/a>California Genealogical Society<\/a>Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California<\/a>Oakland FamilySearch Center<\/a>Sutro Library<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Genealogy and Family History Symposium 2026 is a two-day conference presented by the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) and the California Genealogical Society (CGS), featuring speakers from SFPL, CGS, SFgenealogy, the Oakland FamilySearch Center and others covering a diverse range of topics. Learn about physical and electronic resources available at the library that can aid your research, as well … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-com-ann-et-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5993,"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions\/5993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bacgg.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}