Your Family, Your History with Genealogist Linda Harms Okazaki and the Center: Monthly Workshop Series on Researching, Preserving and Sharing Your Japanese American Roots
Generously Supported by The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation
First Thursday of Every Month Beginning October 3, 2024 (October Workshop is FREE)
6:00pm - 7:30pm PST
Online via Zoom
Single Workshop Registration: $25 Center and JACL Members / $35 General Public
Discounted Full Course Enrollment (9 months): $250 Center and JACL Members / $300 General Public
Have you wanted to start researching your family history but didn’t know how to begin? Did you start your family history journey, only to get stuck, or hit a brick wall? Do you want to write your family story, but need some assistance?
Please join genealogist Linda Harms Okazaki as she takes you on a genealogy journey. She will guide you through the research and help you to write your story. Each session includes a homework assignment and culminates with sharing your written project.
This monthly series will begin on October 3, 2024 and end on October 2, 2025. The first session shall be free and open to the public. Participants may enroll for subsequent sessions, to be held monthly. Classes may be taken individually or as a complete series. All classes will be held remotely via Zoom. All sessions except the Introduction to DNA and field trips will be recorded. Students who register for the full course will have access
to the recordings for one year. Students who enroll in individual classes will have access to recordings for 30 days.
This series is suitable for teens through seniors. Prior family history research is not required, but seasoned researchers are welcome to attend. Students must have access to a computer and should feel comfortable navigating websites and attending remote classes.
Homework will be assigned after each session. Students are encouraged to participate in class. Handouts will accompany each presentation. The course includes three sessions dedicated to creating a Shutterfly book. Students who participate in the full series will have their projects professionally printed and bound. One-to-one private consultations may be arranged with the instructor for a fee. Field trips will be arranged for local participants in the Bay Area to the Oakland FamilySearch library and the California Genealogical Society (exact dates TBA).
Monthly Course Outline
Thursday, October 3, 2024
1. Introduction to Family History (Free Admission)
This initial session covers getting started in genealogy, organization, pedigree charts, and family group sheets, interviewing relatives, navigating websites, planning a writing project, and ends with an opportunity to “ask the genealogist.”
Thursday, November 7, 2024
2. Preserve Your Artifacts
Every artifact has a story waiting to be told. What should you look for in your house? Your grandmother’s house? Learn tips for searching through the house repository, organizing your artifacts and ephemera, determining what to keep, how to keep it, what to donate, and what to store. Should some of your items be donated to a museum or historical society? If so, how do you choose where these items will live for perpetuity?
Thursday, December 5, 2024
3. How to Interview Family Members
Who should you interview? What questions should you ask? How should you record the sessions? What if you are the oldest family member?
Thursday, February 6, 2025
4. Finding Records in the U.S. - Part 1
Learn how to find the important records which will help tell your family story. Basic records covered include census, directories, immigration, land, manuscripts, naturalization, newspapers, vital, and more. Incarceration records will be covered in a separate session.
Thursday, March 6, 2025
5. Finding Records in the U.S. - Part 2
Continuation of Finding Records in the U.S.
Learn how to find the important records which will help tell your family story. Basic records covered include census, directories, immigration, land, manuscripts, naturalization, newspapers, vital, and more. Incarceration records will be covered in a separate session.
Thursday, April 3, 2025
6. Camp Records
Do you have friends or family members who were incarcerated during WWII? Learn what records exist, where to find them, how to order them, and how to decipher the information.
Thursday, May 1, 2025
7. Records In Japan
This overview will include koseki retrieval, land records, village histories, and translation tips. Assistance for obtaining these records for a fee will be offered. Free resources will be discussed for those who wish to obtain these on their own.
Thursday, June 5, 2025
8. Shutterfly Photobook - Part 1
If you have been writing throughout the series, much of your narrative has written itself. In these three sessions, we will look at the story, formatting, layout documentation, inserting kanji into the narrative, proofreading and printing.
Thursday, July 3, 2025
9. Shutterfly Photobook - Part 2
Continuation of Shutterfly Photobook workshop.
If you have been writing throughout the series, much of your narrative has written itself. In these three sessions, we will look at the story, formatting, layout documentation, inserting kanji into the narrative, proofreading and printing.
Thursday, August 7, 2025
10. Shutterfly Photobook - Part 3
Continuation of Shutterfly Photobook workshop.
If you have been writing throughout the series, much of your narrative has written itself. In these three sessions, we will look at the story, formatting, layout documentation, inserting kanji into the narrative, proofreading and printing.
Thursday, September 4, 2025
11. Introduction to DNA (Session will NOT be recorded)
Have you wondered if and how DNA might be able to help you with your genealogy? This introductory class will help you to determine whether or not you should take a DNA test, which one you might want to take, and how to understand your results.
Thursday, October 2, 2025
12. Share Your Stories!
This is an opportunity for everyone to share their personal stories. Participation isnot required but is encouraged.
About Linda Harms Okazaki:
Linda Harms Okazaki is a fourth-generation Californian, active in the genealogy and Japanese American communities in California and beyond. She is passionate about teaching Nikkei to research, document, and share their personal family histories. Her other areas of research include upstate New York, England, Australia, and the use of DNA in genealogy. Linda has been researching her husband’s ancestry since 2012, documenting his family in the internment camps and in Japan. A charter member of the Nikkei Genealogical Society, and a consultant for Ancestry.com’s Progenealogists, she is also a featured columnist for the Nichi Bei Weekly. Her column, Finding Your Nikkei Roots, is published bimonthly. Her guide to Finding Your Japanese Roots was updated in 2020 and is available in hard copy. Ms. Okazaki is the author of numerous articles, including the recent National Genealogical Society magazine article “Paper Sons and Picture Brides,” which was co-authored by Grant Din. She is a member of as the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Genealogical Speaker’s Guild, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Linda currently serves as the past president of the California Genealogical Society, as a board member of the Nichi Bei Foundation, and a family history consultant for Densho.
Ms. Okazaki holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and a Master of Arts degree in Education. She can be reached at LindasOrchard@gmail.com.