Passengers to California via ship during the Gold Rush years of the 1800s from The Maritime Heritage Project with News of Captains, Ships, Ports and Passengers

Passenger Lists

San Francisco Ship Passenger Lists November 7, 1851 to June 17, 1852
Italians To America: New York Arrivals 1901

Across the Pacific: Liners from Australia and New Zealand to North America.
For just over a hundred years there was a regular passenger liner service across the Pacific connecting Australia and New Zealand with the west coast of North America. This book describes the rather chaotic development of these services into a reliable and successful trade that flourished into the 1970s and the termination of the trans-Pacific passenger liner. With meticulous research, Peter Plowman describes the liners that traversed the Pacific and companies that owned and managed them. The main North American ports were San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was the first to instigate regular operations; the route was then taken over by the Oceanic Steamship Company. This in turn became the Matson Line with its famous liners the Mariposa and the Monterey. Some of the liners operated by the Union Steam Ship Company to San Francisco and Vancouver included the Makura, Marama, Tahiti, Niagara, Aorangi and Monowai. Details of the liners and their fittings are given, their voyages, changes of name and ownership and their eventual fate. The various company mergers and associations are covered (such as that of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand). Some of the liners were requisitioned during the two World Wars. This information is supplemented with accounts of crew conditions, union activities and of passenger life on board, in peace and in war. One chapter gives popular novelist Zane Gray's atmospheric account of a Pacific crossing in 1925.

A History of African Americans Since 1880, Volume 2: To Make Our World Anew
Robin D.G. Kelley and Earl Lewis
Oxford University Press
Illustrated.

The two volumes of Robin D.G. Kelley and Earl Lewis's seminal work offer the most up-to-date and authoritative account available of African-American history, from the first Africans brought as slaves into the Americas, right up to today's black filmmakers and politicians. In this first volume the authors begin with the story of Africa and its origins. They then present an overview of the Atlantic slave trade, following the forced migration and enslavement of between ten and twenty million people.

French San Francisco
Claudine Chalmers Ph.D.
Many visitors from France—starting in 1786 with legendary explorer Count de Lapérouse—made their way to the remote and beautiful territory. As France’s troubled revolutionary era began in the 1840s, tens of thousands of Frenchmen journeyed to California’s goldfields. Some found wealth, others freedom, and some death. Many remained in San Francisco, helping shape the city and make it French from the inside.

Germans to America, Volume 51: December 1884-June 1885: Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports, Ira A. Glazier, P. William Filby

The German Americans Immigrants in America by Diane Yancey.

The German Americans
Diane Yancey
Covers reason for leaving their homeland, conditions during the voyage to America, and adjustment to life in America. Includes primary source quotations, informational sidebars, and annotated bibliographies. Starts with events that triggered mass immigration. (Reading Level: 9-12)

The German-American Experience, Don Heinrich Tolzmann
Representing one-fourth of the population, German-Americans constitute the largest ethnic element, according to the U.S. Census, with well over 60 million claiming German heritage. In 26 states, they comprise at least 20 percent of the population, and in 5 states they number more than 50 percent -- important statistics in understanding the role played by German-Americans in U.S. history. The German-American Experience provides a comprehensive record of the essential facts in the history of this group, from its first U.S. settlements in the 17th century to the present. Beginning with "The Age of Discovery, " this volume explores the earliest contacts between America and Germany, immigration and settlement patterns of Germans, foundations of German-American community life, their major involvement in the American Revolution, and the role German-Americans played in our Civil War. The author also analyzes German-American influences on agriculture, industry, religion, education, music, art and architecture, politics, military service, journalism, literature, and language.

The Greek Americans
Meg Greene
Covers reason for leaving their homeland, conditions during the voyage to America, and adjustment to life in America. Includes primary source quotations, informational sidebars, and annotated bibliographies. Starts with events that triggered mass immigration. (Reading Level: 9-12)

The Exiles of Erin: Nineteenth-Century Irish-American Fiction
Winner: American Book Award of the Before Columbus Foundation

This rich collection of three generations of Irish immigrant fiction from novels, magazines, and newspapers, vividly captures the spirit and experiences of immigrant life across an impressive range of settings and perspectives, from New York and Boston to Chicago to San Francisco, from urban ghettos to prairie farms.

Irish Family Names Map (Collins British Isles and Ireland Maps)
Nora O'Shea
The map will help anyone trying to develop a family tree. It is well laid out and clear. Gives one a solid grasp on where families originated and lived.

The Dictionary of Irish Family Names, Ida Grehan

This comprehensive reference includes over 550 entries with the origin, geographical distribution, and historical anecdotes for each name.

Italian Immigrants to America by Petrini.

The Italian-Americans
Catherine M. Petrini
Reviews the reasons why millions of Italians have immigrated to America, what their passage was like, the kind of jobs most found, communities they formed, and the prejudice they faced.Each Immigrants in America volume describes the immigrants' reasons for leaving their native country, challenges the people faced in their new home and the group's lasting legacy. Primary source quotations enrich the stories and enhance the clear, compelling narrative.

The Italian Americans
Richard Bowen
Describes the history of Italian immigration to the United States from the late nineteenth century to the present, including the reasons for immigration, how they thrived, and the cultural legacies Italian immigrants have left behind.
Italian Voices: Making Minnesota Our Home
Italian-American Folklore: Proverbs, Songs, Games, Remedies
Oral History, Oral Culture, and Italian Americans, Edited by Luise del Guidice
The Italian 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Cultural, Scientific, and Political Figures, Past and Present, Stephen J. Spignesi

Cosmopolitans: A Social and Cultural History of the Jews of the San Francisco Bay Area
Levi Strauss, A.L. Gump, Yehudi Menuhin, Gertrude Stein, Adolph Sutro, Congresswoman Florence Prag Kahn--Jewish people have been so enmeshed in life in and around San Francisco that their story is a chronicle of the metropolis itself. Since the Gold Rush, Bay Area Jews have countered stereotypes, working as farmers and miners, boxers and mountaineers. They were Gold Rush pioneers, Gilded Age tycoons, and Progressive Era reformers. Told through an astonishing range of characters and events

Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet, Masako Fukawa
An impeccably researched history of Japanese Canadians--their stuggles and triumphs--complete with photographs and detailed biographies.

Encyclopedia of Japanese American History, Inouye Niiya, Brian Niiya
Japanese Americans have played an important and largely unrecognized role in American history. Only in the last twenty years has a more complete story emerged, when scholars began focusing on the Japanese Americans themselves. Completely revised and updated, this accessible A-to-Z reference is organized into four sections -- an illuminating historical overview by Gary Okihiro, a distinguished scholar of Japanese American history; a chronology of major events in Japanese American history; encyclopedic entries on significant individuals, organizations, events and movements; and an updated bibliography. More than 400 entries cover such topics as changing migration laws, picture brides, the "yellow peril", J-towns, the revolution of 1954, and the redress movement.

Lectures of Lola Montez, Countess of Landsfeld: The California Adventures of Europe's Notorious Cortesan
This study details Lola Montez's western adventures. This stunning nineteenth century beauty dominated and manipulated the social circles with which her life became entwined, and she added much needed glamour to California in the years following the Gold Rush.

The Madams of San Francisco
Curt Gentry
A hundred years of the City's secret history unfold in these pages. Many of society's own started in the saloons and dancehalls of the Barbary Coast. San Francisco in the 1840’s was a place nearly absent of women. "It is estimated that during the first half of 1849, 10,000 people landed in San Francisco; only about 200 were of the weaker sex," wrote Gentry. "Over the next six months some 24,000 gold seekers arrived by sea; not more than 500 females were among them." With the stage set, Gentry begins a description of the colorful women and their men who made their fortunes plying the oldest profession in the world. A French woman is reputed to have made $50,000 in one year, the author attests.
1964

Early Women Architects San Francisco Bay Area.

Early Women Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area
This book presents the lives, careers, and work of fifty path-breaking women entering and claiming space in the male-dominated field of architecture. Included are photographs of buildings, portraits of the architects, and blueprints. Each biography includes vital data, a description of the career, a list of known buildings and work, and a bibliography.

As the designer of tourist attraction "Hearst Castle" on the California coast, Julia Morgan was widely known as an outstanding architect. Though women architects were unusual, she was not alone. Many other women practiced architecture in the late 19th and early 20th century in California, though their work was often overshadowed by the work of male architects. This book presents the lives, careers, and work of fifty of these largely unknown pioneers. It chronicles the triumphs and challenges these path-breaking women faced in their pursuit of entering and claiming space in the male-dominated field of architecture.

From Shtetl to Milltown: Litvaks, Hungarians, and Galizianers in Western Pennsylvania, 1875-1925
Robert Perlman

The Litvaks: A Short History of the Jews in Lithuania, Dov Levin.

Ukrainians of Western Pennsylvania, Images of America Series

Trade in Strangers: The Beginnings of Mass Migration to North America
Marianne Sophia Wokeck
This book addresses the earliest trans-Atlantic mass migration to North America - those immigrants from southwestern Germany and northern Ireland who arrived prior to 1775. The elements of the system of immigration to America which were to remain constant until at least 1924 are highlighted because they were first used to channel these two early immigrant streams from Germany and Ireland. A thoroughly-researched, well-written book of interest to historians of the American colonial experience, students of immigration, and family historians

Voyage to California: The Journal of Lucy Kendall Herrick
In 1852, 24-year-old Lucy Kendall was a passenger on the "Josephine," traveling from New York City around Cape Horn to San Francisco. She was traveling with her family to join her father, Joseph Kendall, who had sailed to California in 1849. During the 137-day voyage, the travelers suffered many hardships: extremes of temperature, terrifying storms, a man lost overboard--and boredom, all of which Lucy records with wit and compassion. She also describes the pleasures of travel at sea: an endless horizon filled with glowing sunrises, radiant sunsets, a luminous moon, and countless stars. Lucy's journal is framed with the story of her childhood in England and New York and her later life in San Francisco. This book, identical in size to Lucy's original journal, has twenty-six black-and-white illustrations, including charming sketches by Lucy and her father. An introduction by historian Andrew Rolle places the journal in its historical context.

Kobo wireless eReader

We initially resisted switching to eReaders because we like the smell and feel of books. However, when travelling, it is difficult to carry 5-6-7 books, which we often did in the past . . . you know, the novels about the country you are visiting, current bestsellers, guidebooks for various areas. It got heavy.

Easily connect via Wi Fi or USB to access over 2.4 million books, newspapers and magazines from the Kobo Store. Also borrow and read books from your local library.

The Kobo eReader Touch will be the first eReader to be available in multiple languages and will offer a completely local experience, including content, recommendations and the Kobo store. Currently available in English; with French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian coming soon.

Confidence Men and Painted Women: A Study of Middle-class Culture in America, 1830-1870
(Yale Historical Publications)
Professor Karen Halttunen
From Amazon.com: Aa must for both scholars and living historians alike. Halttunen's work vividly details the social and cultural development of 19th Century Middle Class America, their etiquette, values and mores. Taken from etiquette books, manuals and magazines of the era, Halttunen's study covers the sentimental culture of fashion, etiquette, hypocrisy of the time and even mourning the dead.

Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America

From 1910 to 1940, over half a million people sailed through the Golden Gate, hoping to start a new life in America. But they did not all disembark in San Francisco; instead, most were ferried across the bay to the Angel Island Immigration Station. For many, this was the real gateway to the United States. For others, it was a prison and their final destination, before being sent home. In this landmark book, historians Erika Lee and Judy Yung (both descendants of immigrants detained on the

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