Descendants of Early San Diego Families

30th Annual San Diego Old Town Descendant's Day! (Click Here)

The goals of the Descendants are to promote public awareness and interest in the heritage of early San Diego and to clarify misinformation about all eras of San Diego history.  Also, to organize and conduct gatherings of descendants of the founding and other pioneer families for the purpose of exchanging information and renewing or creating closer family ties.  It is our mission to assist and augment the creation of genealogies through supported research and networking; to assist in the writing of biographies as part of family histories; to conduct oral history interviews on family histories and to make available to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park such materials as are gathered.  (Ref. Descendants Mission Statement May 1985)

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park Pioneers Reflect California's Historic Diversity

Committee Officers
Victor Crosthwaite Contreras, Chairperson viccroscon@yahoo.com
Corey Braun, Vice-Chairperson coreyj58@yahoo.com
Elena Orosco, Secretary
Benita Gray, Treasurer gray850@aol.com
Georgia Callian, Research Chairperson geocal1769@cox.net

10/20/11 Update

Encouraging Descendant Participation
 
The activities of the Descendant Group of Old Town San Diego is expanding.  We are being asked to participate in presentations, research, conferences, and special events to share our experiences and the history of our families.  It is by participation that we gain more knowledge about our past and our heritage.  With this personal enrichment we then are empowered to share with others.  Please contact us directly if you would like to be more involved with our group.  We are working very hard on outreach programs where theatrical presentations of historical figures are presented in short skits as a stimulus for historical discussions.  We need actors, writers, public relations, marketing  people, and fund raisers/grant writers.  We need YOU!
 
And we need to keep in touch with all descendants:  Please help us update our records of addresses of other descendants.  Send updated/or new information for descendants to Descendant Committee Secretary, Elena Orozco, Old Town San Diego State Park, 4002 Wallace St. San Diego, Ca. 92110.  Include: name, address, email, and phone number.  Thanks for keeping us going!

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

 Descendants of Old Town San Diego 2012 Calendar
(All Welcome--Bienvenidos)

Descendants’ Research Workshops are gatherings where the Descendants group shares their private collections of records, books, information resources, sometimes artifacts, and general knowledge about the early settlers of San Diego.  Historians as well as knowledgeable descendants are available and enjoy exchanges about the early days of California.

"Each of us is a thread in the tapestry of Old Town San Diego's history and our group's mission is to preserve it and share it with others. Please join us this year for guided research; networking; a special guest speaker; and to make new family connections." Georgia Callian, Research Chairperson

These research workshops provide an opportunity to find out more about the early San Diego settlers and the genealogy of their descendants. They are open to anyone interested in doing this kind of research.
Workshops are scheduled at the McCoy House (upstairs meeting room) on the following dates, 11am - 4pm:
2012
February 25
June 30
August 25
November 3

Descendants’ Committee Meetings scheduled the second SATURDAY of ODD numbered months at the Machado Silvas Adobe at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park at 10:00 am.
We encourage anyone interested in the activities of the Descendants Group and especially all descendants of early San Diego settlers to attend any or all of these meetings. 
2012
January 14
March 10
May 12
July 14
September 8
November 10

A Call to Update Contact Information

We would like to ask everyone's help in updating our list of descendants, and keep our presence known.  We did not just contribute to the early days of San Diego but many of us continue to live and contribute to the greater community of Southern California.  We are teachers, lawyers, mothers, nurses, mechanics, neighbors, tax payers and our common thread is that our ancestors walked the Southern California area during the days when this land was first controlled by the original Native American Tribes, through the Spanish Period, through the Mexican Period, and finally celebrating the early days of San Diego becoming a city and California becoming a State.  The Park in Old Town celebrates the period of time between 1821 – 1872 and most of our activities focus on this period but if you consider your ancestors to be a person who was here during and through the four transitional periods, we welcome you to register with us so we can advise you of our annual luncheon and possibly other activities from time to time that may be of interest to you and your family.  We share information to jointly learn about our pasts from each other and research materials, we gather to celebrate our common roots and the accomplishments and contributions of our fore fathers and mothers.

Because we take great pride in our family trees and wish to pass our heritage on to our children we want to invite you to help us keep our efforts alive by helping us update our list.  Please advise us of updates to our data base for yourselves, family, and friends you know that should be a part of our lists.  It is a growing concern for us to pass our heritage to next generation so I would like to especially outreach to those who have more recently started their own homes and may not be reflected in our contact lists.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CONTACT INFORMATION FORM IN PDF

Descendants' Committee News

We are looking to increase involvement of descendants within the many activities of the park, and have many new exciting projects planned for the future. We would like to extend an open invitation for anyone interested in preserving their family histories within the context of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park to join us at the Descendants’ Committee meetings.

All are welcome!

For current activities please see the links to our Newsletters below.

For more information, contact:  Victor Crosthwaite Contreras, Chairperson
     viccroscon@yahoo.com
     
History of Old Town Descendants Group

Open Letter to Old Town San Diego Descendants

Descendants News 2010 #1

Descendants News 2010 #2

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, Visitor Information Center, 619-220-5422