Seminar: "China Roots: How to Trace Your Family History" (thru Sept 20)

Various Bay Area libraries will be hosting a FREE seminar on the subject of China Roots: How to Trace Your Family History.

Location/Date/Time

• Castro Valley Library, 3600 Norbridge Ave, Castro Valley, CA, May 10, Sunday, 2 – 4 PM
• Mountain View Library, 585 Franklin St, Mountain View, CA, May 23, Saturday, 2 – 4 PM
• San Mateo Library, 55 W 3rd Ave, San Mateo, CA, June 13, Saturday, 1 - 3 PM
• Castro Valley Library, 3600 Norbridge Ave, Castro Valley, CA, Sept 20, Sunday, 2 – 4 PM

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—come 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 Genealogy 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.

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. As a CHCP Advisory Board Member, Ron is a contributor to CHCP's Oral History Project. 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.