SONOMA COUNTY HISTORY & GENEALOGY LIBRARY
 
 
NEWSLETTER MAY 2019
Volume 1 Issue 2 

Staff Highlights
"Out & About" by Katherine J. Rinehart

Megan Jones, Wine Library curator (left) and Holly Hoods, executive director and curator, Healdsburg Museum
April 13: Katherine Rinehart and Simone Kremkau attended the Sonoma County Heritage Network meeting at the Wine Library, which is located within the Healdsburg Regional Library branch. Wine Librarian Megan Jones provided a welcoming environment for the group of twenty-five attendees. The Heritage Network is a committee of the Sonoma County Historical Society that keeps historical societies, museums, libraries, cultural heritage organizations, and individuals with an interest in Sonoma County and contiguous area histories in touch with each other.
 
April 16: Daniel Trucios of KSRO interviewed Katherine about genealogical resources available at the H&G Library. Listen to the recording here!
 
April 25: Zayda Delgado presented at the Society of California Archivists Annual General Meeting in Long Beach. Her session “Building Belonging: Strategies for Diverse & Inclusive Collection Development, Inreach, Outreach and Instruction” examined how cultural identity affects areas of professional responsibility.
 
Photo by Katherine J. Rinehart. Megan Jones, Wine Library curator (left) and Holly Hoods, executive director and curator, Healdsburg Museum, at the Heritage Network Meeting. 
 
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Zayda also attended the We the Future Social Justice Conference at the Santa Rosa Junior College Petaluma campus on April 12 to talk about library services and local history resources.
 
Zayda Delgado at the We the Future ConferenceHosted by SRJC Petaluma and the North BayWe the Future Conference poster Organizing project, this daylong conference offered an opportunity to build solidarity among activists of color, working-class folks, interfaith allies, feminists, members of the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants and the undocumented, labor organizers, and environmentalists whose diverse work is united by a desire to build a more just, humane world.
 
Photos by Rosalie Abbott.
 
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month takes place in May. It celebrates the culture, traditions, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.
 
New Collections
"Japanese Americans in Sonoma County - Documenting a conflicted past" by Joanna Kolosov
 
Each year since 2016, the H&G Library has received a “California Revealed” award from the State Library to digitize and provide online access to selected archival material.
 
Now available is the 1940s newspaper clippings collection from the Petaluma Argus-Courier of local women and Japanese Americans enlisted in the armed services during World War II. Three men who appear in the collection — Yoshio Hirooka, George Miyano, and Hajime Yoshizawa — served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit comprised of Americans of Japanese descent that fought on the European front, becoming, according to the Densho Encyclopedia, “the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service.” Twenty-seven Sonoma County men served in the 442nd, three of whom were killed in action.
 
The records of this collection provide a poignant backdrop to the collection I am currently processing of Sonoma County District Attorney case reports investigating alleged violations of the 'Alien Land Law' by Japanese residents. Some of the case files include a form titled “Information Concerning Citizenship of German, Italian and Japanese Farmers of Sonoma County,” canceled checks, and notes from interviews with neighbors. The contradictions of military service and escheat suits - legal proceedings whereby the state takes possession of private land - reflected in these archival materials was similarly voiced by Sergeant Akira Iwamura in a letter to the editor of the Press Democrat: “My brother and I came out of the army to find an Alien Land Law suit to escheat my farm and evict the family from home. Your newspaper, and the magazines and newsreels told about the 442nd Infantry regiment made up of Japanese-Americans. They praised its combat record and said the terrific casualties suffered bought the right to fair play for us and our families.” (10 October 1946)
 
Juxtaposing the news clippings with government records from the Sonoma County Archives, a more nuanced picture emerges of the Japanese American experience, affording us an opportunity to question what current practices are in place to protect civil liberties.
 
Image: Yoshio Hirooka newspaper clipping, Petaluma Argus Courier, March 15, 1945.
 
Events
10th Annual Pacific Cultural Night
Filipino American Association at SSU
May 4, 7 PM - 9 PM
Evert B. Person Theatre
Sonoma State University
 Matsuri! Japanese Arts Festival
May 19, 11 AM - 5 PM
Juilliard Park
227 Santa Rosa Ave, Santa Rosa
 

Growing Up as an Asian American
Dr. Albert B. Yu
 
May 22, 7 PM - 8 PM
Petaluma Regional Library
Albert B. Yu, currently professor in the business department at SRJC, was born in Urbana, Illinois, where his parents attended graduate school after emigrating to the U.S. from Taiwan. He will lead a discussion on experiences growing up as an Asian American in the U.S. 
New Books
Where the World Begins: Sonoma Mountain Stories and Images. Arthur Dawson (2019) 
Where the World Begins Book CoverWith contributions by Meg Beeler, Rebecca Lawton, and Tracy Salcedo. Photographs by Ed Cooper, Scott Hess, Ulrich Kolbe, and others. Glen Ellen, CA: Sonoma Mountain Preservation.
 
How much do you know about Sonoma Mountain? Though in plain sight, most of us pay it no mind.
 
Take a tour with Arthur Dawson, historical ecologist and prolific local author, and discover the secrets of this elusive giant. Meet the first settlers, Coast Miwok, for whom it represented the center of a cosmos and powerful place of creation; follow the steps of missionaries, pioneer families, artists, visionaries and people living in the area today.
 
Do not, however, expect a simple coffee book-style, linear non-fictional description of another Californian landmark - this publication pays poetic homage to its subject and will lead you in spirals through space and time – with intertwining chapters covering its geology and waterways, its wildlife, vegetation and seasonal cycles, its parks and trails as well as past and present preservation efforts.
 
Despite being known as difficult to capture in photographs, the striking photographic artwork manages to grasp its sense of place in a powerful way. Easy to read maps add interesting information – learn the names of fifteen peaks visible on clear days, for example, some as far as over 150 miles away.
 
Read on, hike beyond the clouds and lose yourself in “deep mountain-time.” You will never look at Sonoma Mountain the same way again.
 
Text and photo: Simone Kremkau
 
City of Santa Rosa Certificate of Appreciation
for Sandy Frary and Ray Owen
City of Santa Rosa Certificate of Appreciation
On April 2, 2019, Sandy Frary and Ray Owen were honored by the City of Santa Rosa for over 6,000 combined hours of volunteer research for the Santa Rosa Rural cemetery. This is the second award they have been given by the City, having received a Merit Award in 2016.
 
Sandy Frary and Ray Owen with certificates of appreciation
 
 
 
Sandy and Ray are currently completing the updated and expanded 3rd edition of the Rural Cemetery Burial Listings book, which will contain a comprehensive alphabetical list of 5,510 burials with detailed genealogical information and many photos of the deceased. For the first time it will also include a list of 351 indigent burials at the Santa Rosa County cemetery which borders the Rural cemetery. The book is expected to be published in the fall of 2019 and is a must for everyone with family roots in the area. 
 
            Congratulations, SANDY AND RAY!
 
New Sonoma County Library Databases
Archives Unbound offers online access to 12 million pages of primary source material from 300 archival collections covering topics of importance to US and California history. Find historical documents, interviews, speeches, personal accounts, government publications, periodicals and newsletters in many categories including African American Studies, Women's Studies, Environmental Studies and Social History.  Have your library card ready, click here and find over 300 results for "Sonoma County"! 

The Sonoma County Heritage Collections are now the Local History & Culture Digital Collections. Find over 42,000 historic photographs, postcards, videos, maps, architectural drawings and historical advertising at https://digital@sonomalibrary.org or sonomalibrary.org - Research - Digital Collections - Local History & Culture. Images and new materials will be continuously added.
  
Events
Sonoma County Library and History & Genealogy
Wednesday at the Hospice Flyer

Look forward to an engaging presentation by Joanna Kolosov,
H&G Librarian! Free. Everyone welcome.
 
North Pacific Coast Railway Presentation
May 6, 7 PM
Sonoma County Library, Santa Rosa
 Luther Burbank
Home & Gardens, Santa Rosa  
Mother's Day Plant Sale and Expo
May 12, 11 AM - 3 PM
 
May 15, 7 PM
Petaluma Historical Library and Museum 
 
Scott Hess presents images from On a River Winding Home: Stories and Visions of the Petaluma River Watershed in conjunction with an exhibit of his work.
Find On a River Winding Home by John Sheehy, local historian and author, and Scott Hess, photographer, at the H&G Library. Read more here. 
John Sheehy and Scott Hess are recipients of this year's Petaluma Good Egg Award.  
 Congratulations! 
 
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Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library
Mailing Address: 211 E Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Physical Address: 725 3rd Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Phone: (707) 308-3212 
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Sonoma County Library
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