Bakersfield’s Beale Memorial Library, in partnership with the Kern County Genealogical Society, played host to a genealogy open house April 16.
The Kern County Genealogical Society was founded in 1964 with the sole purpose of helping those who desired to know more about genealogy and their own personal history.
The KCGS currently operates in the genealogy room found in the Beale Memorial Library, located at 701 Truxtun Ave.
Volunteers from the KCGS staff the room. They share the same vision to provide resources to any individual who needs help when researching his or her family’s past.
The volunteers have a vast knowledge on how to use the resources found in the genealogy center, which includes military, immigration, birth, death and marriage records.
They also have maps, immigration charts, California obituaries dating back to 1973 and a wall that holds nothing but past genealogy research on certain families.
Dotty Grammes, 19, attended the open house and was overwhelmed by the vast resources found in the genealogy center.
“It’s hard, you know,?trying to find out more about your roots when you have no idea where to start,” Grammes said. “I’m glad this place not only has all these records but someone who can help me read them.”
Miriam Martin, originally from Ontario, Canada, has been volunteering since 1980 in the KCGS.
She first learned about genealogy from Mormon missionaries, and she took an interest in genealogy soon afterward because she believes that it’s fun.
She has volunteered for the KCGS as well as for the Family History Center while living in Bakersfield.
The genealogy room is open every day and volunteer hours are from 1-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 6-9 p.m. Monday evenings.
For information on genealogy and the KCGS visit the genealogy room on the second floor inside downtown Bakersfield’s Beale Library or visit http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cakcgs/.