John V. Robinson (born 1960) is an American writer and photojournalist who specializes in photographing heavy construction work with a focus on bridge construction and the men and women who do the work. Robinson goes onto construction sites and does detailed photo essays of the iron workers, pile drivers, carpenters, laborers, and crane operators who do this demanding and dangerous work. He frequently collects oral histories of the workers.  Robinson also does freelance photography work and his construction shots are frequently published in San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, used in calendars, and used in advertising campaigns of construction and engineering firms. John Robinson's photo-essays on bridge construction and history have been published in nine books and his articles and photographs regularly appear in professional and trade journals like The Ironworker^[5] and Engineering News Record.

 

 

This meeting will NOT be on Zoom. The event location is at Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum at 734 Marin Street in Vallejo California. Masks are encouraged but not required. The meeting starts at 1:30 pm PST.

  Genealogy Society of Vallejo was informally started in March 1993 and officially established in October 1997. In 2001 the name was changed to Genealogy Society of Vallejo-Benicia. GSVB is a nonprofit California Association and our monthly newsletter Taproot is sent to our members and exchanged with other societies. We maintain contact and exchange schedules with other societies via e-mail as well.
If your research takes you to Vallejo, Benicia, or anywhere nearby, we can help.  Our well-stocked reference library is located in the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, Second Floor, Room 9 (see: "Our Library" for days and hours). The library is open to both members and the public. Also available is the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum's reference library.

 

Stephen Morse is the creator of the One-Step Website for which he has received both the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Outstanding Contribution Award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society, first-ever Excellence Award from the Association of Professional Genealogists, and two awards that he cannot pronounce from Polish genealogical societies. In his other life Morse is a computer professional with a doctorate degree in electrical engineering.  He has held various research, development, and teaching positions, authored numerous technical papers, written four textbooks, and holds four patents. He is best known as the architect of the Intel 8086 (the granddaddy of today's Pentium processor), which sparked the PC revolution more than 40 years ago.

The 1950 Census was released on April 1, 2022, after being sealed for 72 years. Since the release date, many of us have tried to find records in the census and have run into various quirks. This presentation will discuss the things that we have learned since opening day, and covers the specific topics covered are searching the census by name and what was involved in creating a searchable name index, searching the census by location and the various websites that have tools to support this, confusion between census sheets and census pages, transient handling and the Individual Census Reports, and the cross-referencing that was done if nobody was home when the census taker came to call.

This meeting will NOT be on Zoom. The event location is at Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum at 734 Marin Street in Vallejo California. Masks are encouraged but not required. The meeting starts at 1:30 pm PST.

Part 1 - Finding Ancestors East of the Mississippi - Madeline Yanov

As American colonies grew, people migrated to the frontier in search of more space, land, and job opportunities. Part I of this presentation covers U.S. migration along the eastern seaboard, southward and westward to the Midwest. Viewers will discover the reasons people moved, the records (including land records) that reveal when they arrived, and the common routes they traveled between the colonies/states to new lands in the Northwest Territory or the Louisiana Purchase. Also, you will find out the role that canals, waterways, and early railroads played in migration.

 

Part 2 - Go West Young Man - Madeline Yanov

As American colonies grew, people migrated to the frontier in search of more space, land, and job opportunities. Part II of this lecture begins with the Louisiana Purchase, and Lewis and Clark Expedition. With the acquisition of more land, people felt the need to explore and settle the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. Viewers will see what routes and trails their ancestors traveled from the 1820s until the Civil War, beginning in the Midwest and pushing to the Pacific Coast, and southwest to Texas and New Mexico. We will focus on the Santa Fe Trail, Mormon Pioneer Trail, the Oregon Trail, California trails, the Trail of Tears, and many other minor trails. Also, we will discuss the part the transcontinental railroad played in the settling of America.

Non-Members: If you are interested in attending, please send an e-mail to GSVBzoom@gmail.com to request a Zoom invitation.  Members will automatically receive a Zoom invitation.  Zoom invitations will be sent out a couple of days before the meeting. Meeting time is 1:30 PM PST

"The Oakland (California) Regional Family History Center is one of the largest and most accessible centers for genealogical research in California, with over 9,000 volumes of books, periodicals, family histories, city and county histories, city directories, plus over 37,000 reels of microfilm and 9,000 microfiche containing millions of local vital records and historical census data from all over the world." 

The History Center is extremely well equipped, with 60 computers with printer access; copiers, 10 microfilm readers, 2 microfiche readers, 3 mircorfiche/film scanners, and a flatbed scanner.

Within the Center is an area with a computer, scanner, printer and software to assist in the scanning of photos and transfer to your flash drive or DVD; scan slides or negatives and transfer them to your flash drive or DVD, convert your photo files back and forth from gif, tiff, jpg or other sources.

We will probably have carpooling available.

Originally part of Rancho Suscol, Mexican land granted to Gen. Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the city of Vallejo, California, has been home to a Hispanic and Latino community since its establishment in the mid-19th century. The son of General Vallejo was the first medical doctor in Vallejo, and Frank Antonio Blanco was the city’s first public school probation officer. His son Edwin J. Blanco was a public elected official. During World War II, the bracero program brought an influx of Mexican immigrants, and the city of Vallejo saw a resurgence in Spanish-speaking community members. Over the next few decades, community organizations were created, and the number of Hispanic- and Latino-owned businesses increased. In the last decades of the 20th century, the community grew to over 25 percent of the city’s population. Today, Hispanics and Latinos are business owners, professionals, job creators, advocates, and a strong economic power in the city.

A mother, wife, business owner, and community advocate originally from Mexico, Marisela Barbosa-Cortez immigrated to Vallejo with her parents, Graciela and Israel; her sisters Maria and Sonia; and her brother Jose. Barbosa-Cortez is a forward-thinking catalyst for change, and her commitment to community betterment is reflected through her years of involvement and leadership in the areas of economic development, advocacy for children and women, and civic engagement.