Fridays Faces From the Past - Giving Back to the Community

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


What is your Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Extraction Committee doing for you and the genealogy community at large?

We are very happy to give back to the community and we are hoping that there are dedicated volunteers in all the other states that are doing the same thing. [hint hint:  Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and all the other states- Thank You!!)

Please check out our complete list of publications that we have completed.

RIGHT NOW - every Friday morning at the Center for Sacramento History we all meet and extract till noon. It really is very interesting work- strange, intertesting, very sad and funny items throughout all the projects.



"Sacramento County Coroner Inquest Records"  1850 - 1978

Let me give you some idea of what this project consists of and how an assigned box is indexed........... (yes we are indexing this project not extracting) 

This project is kept in boxes in the backroom 'vault' at the Center of Sacramento History. There are approximately 99 archival boxes in this one project. A volunteer is assigned to one box at a time.  Each box could hold 1 to 18+ folders depending on the size of the case.  Each volunteer alphabetically organizes the inquest file in each folder and numbers each folder numerically in that box.  Each case in the folder is then indexed with as much of the following information that is available: 

 

Surname, Given Name, Age, Date of Birth, Nativity Date of Death,              Cause of Death, Case Number (the earlier files do not have a number) and Box and File Number 

 

Of course there is a lot more information in the actual case files but this is only an Index project.  The files are available at the Center for Sacramento History.  Although most of the volunteers work their own box to completion but those who do not have access to a laptop will sort and lable each file and box and then another volunteer will input the data into the computer to a special form.  Some will scan the information and then transcribe it on their home computer. 

 

We will welcome anyone who has a desire to help.  The information we see is fascinating and a huge bonanza for anyone looking for that "little bit of extra information" you won't find in the regular records.

"City of Sacramento Records of Death and Internments" 3 volumes

1921 - 1925, 1925 - 1920, and 1941 - 1944 

We are extracting these 3 huge volumes page by page ....... we are including the following intormation if available......

Date of Death, Full Name, Nativity, Cause of Death, Depostion of Body

Like the first project it is being inputted directly into a spreadsheet on a computer right from the original volumes. Like all original documents, the reading the handwriting is probably the most difficult part of the extraction. Slow work but it will be well worth the effort. Like all projects these will be proofed several times. AND then Marilyn does her magic completing the project for the public to use.

    

"Sacramento County Sheriff' Mug Books"  4 volumes
.......... see my December 7th post on Society Saturday    AND
.........  see my December 11th post on Wordless Wednesday


We will be working on all these projects for a long time. But we do have a list of suggested projects to begin as new members come to help. So come on down and help get these records extracted and out to the public. Contact Marilyn for questions and directions.

 

 

Lots of fabulous genealogical information in all of these efforts! We want to share all of it with all of you.


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