HONOLULU COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY --- MAY 14, 2022

    The May 14th 2022 HCGS meeting will be on ZOOM.   Contact Lenore Hansen for the code and password.  Lenore attended from Washington and Susan from Michigan..

                                               The May 2022 Zoom meeting

Susan Victor with head lei for Ukraine from Michigan by Zoom

    Leilani Maguire opened our meeting with the following question, “Has anyone written down your family history?” She recalled a speaker who suggested researching relatives, one at a time.

Deborah Richards shared that her family does not like to write, so they video tape share sessions.

Lenore Hansen-Stafford encouraged people to sit down with your subject and ask questions in an

interview format.

     Donna Wendt recommended taping the conversation on a tape recorder, diction machine or other

recording device. Using photographs are great memory joggers.

     A live transcription/translation program highly recommended by Susan Victor – Live Transcribe which is only for Apple I-Phone or I-Pad users. As a person is speaking, the program is transcribing the

conversation onto the I-phone or I-pad. It is also able to translate from a foreign language. Susan did a

quick presentation from Michigan. Find it on www.livetranscribe.app.

     One of most commonly used online translation provider is Google Translate. Members have found that translations are not perfect, but it is still a popular, and free, site.

      Deborah Richards exclaimed, “I’d love a book from each of you!” With that encouragement, to those who have already begun recording their life and family stories, keep going; and to those who have yet to begin, e’eu (get going/get a move on, from hilo.hawaii.edu/wehe website).

     Heritage Tour   -  Needing a guide and translator in Portugal, Leilani negotiated with the taxi driver to spend the day taking them around and helping to translate. It worked out very well for her.

Contact Hawaii’s Portuguese Heritage Society if you are looking for information of Portuguese ancestors.

     Ancestry.com – New feature:  A new DNA feature on Ancestry is the Side View Technology. It sorts/organizes your DNA into the portions of each region you inherited from each parent. The chart will not tell you which parent the result is for, but there are ways of deduction that you may be able to figure it out on your own.

     DNA testing for the mitochondrial (maternal) and the Y (paternal) is currently only being offered by

Family Tree. For $159 you can discover the migratory path of your female and male ancestors. Go to

FamilyTreeDNA.com.

     As fascinating as this information sounds, there was a word of caution from Donna. Trying to

understand and research DNA information can be overwhelming. She has chosen to turn her focus on

the stories of more recent relatives for awhile.

     Suggested Reading

Ann Sloat recommended looking into the American Ancestors Magazine by the New England Historical

Genealogical Society. It is a rich resource for genealogical research.

     Volunteers

Ann also offered to try to help anyone who has a brick wall (or block). There are already 3 or 4 people

she will be trying to help, but she is open to helping others.

     Trisha Robertson shared about her limitations due to health issues, but she still has the deep desire to

continue work on her book of her family’s Polish letters project. Karin Jones volunteered to help Trisha

organize and compile her book through Forever.com.  Leilani suggested providing a copy of Trisha’s completed book to a Polish society.

     Passing It On

What a blessing passing on your collection to someone who will treasure it.

Trisha sent the original Polish letters back to a cousin in Poland whose grandmother had sent them her

family in America.

Donna is sending her brother’s letters from Vietnam to his son.

     Military Service

Looking for correspondence, photos, etc. of military during war times? Leilani suggested searching the

Library of Congress archives.

     Trisha’s father was a photographer when he was stationed overseas in England. While stationed at

Walla Walla base, he was tasked with taken photos of the base and surrounding area during WWII.

Trisha donated these photos to a very grateful Walla Walla museum.

      Karin had a great uncle who took photos during WWI, tied to a bi-plane as he was flown over the fields.

     Nuuanu Pagoda

Donna provided an update on the Nuuanu Japanese pagoda. It is currently in the process of being

restored. Though access is not possible, one can still view the beautiful temple from outside. Access to

reach the site is through the lane next to Craigside Place.

     Cemetary Pupu Theatre – Oahu Cemetery

Last month, the topic of the Hawaiian Mission Homes Cemetery Pupu Theatre was suggested as a future excursion to consider. Well, it is certainly back in 2022. Presentations will run from June 10th to the 25th at Oahu Cemetery. Tickets will soon be available for purchase online.   Many notable figures in history are buried at Oahu Cemetery – one such person is Alexander Cartwright who is credited with helping to organize the rules of modern day baseball.  If you would like to learn more about this cemetery, Nanette Napoleon, a guest speaker in the past at HCGS meeting(s), has published a book about Oahu Cemetery, “Oahu Cemetery Burial Ground and Historic Site”.

     Leilani noted another upcoming event at the Oahu Cemetery. On May 30, 2022, 9:30 AM, there will be a ceremony remembering the British Officers buried there. If you would like more information or would like to attend, contact Caitilin Embree at (808) 261-2409, or caitilin.embree@gmail.com.

In other cemetery related news:

     Trisha mentioned that she has a plot for sale.

     Leilani’s daughter had signed up as a volunteer at Find-A Grave. She was sent to the old cemetery by the former Waialae Drive-In site.

     Charts

Karin unrolled a printout of her Swedish family tree going back to the 1300’s. A cousin in Sweden had

shown the original to her. Karin took photos, returned home and made copies.

Local print shops – Kinko’s, UPS Store and HonBlue should have no problem assisting you with printouts of your trees.

[On May 17, 2022, Lenore emailed the membership a notice for a Memorial Day Sale from Family

Chartmasters. This was a site mentioned in previous meetings providing a good selection of pedigree

charts.]

     Our next meeting will be on Saturday, June 11, 2022, 9:00 a.m.

     Meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

(Emailed 06/10/2022 by Isabelle Rivera)