I’ve written before about how my great grandfather, Theodoro, changed his surname from Pacheco to Smith. We were all told for generations that he thought there were too many Pacheco’s in Oakland, CA so he changed his surname to Smith. Ha Ha silly immigrant! The truth was far more complicated. My great grandfather contracted leprosy…
Tag: Algarva
Further proof my relatives could not spell their own names
After I found the letter written by Theodore Pacheco in the Garden Island newspaper, I decided to see if there was a World War I draft registration card for him. Sure enough, I found one. I am not sure how I missed it the first time, except for the peculiar middle name. The person who…
Women Working in the Factories
Here’s another entry for my Labor Day photo series. I found this photograph in the Oakland Tribune [Oakland, Alameda Co., CA], 15 May 1942, Front Page. The article was titled “Women Now in War Plant in Emeryville.” The article documented local women who were moving into manufacturing jobs as men headed off to war. This…
Wedding Chapel Wednesday: Wedding Photo Mystery
Around 1994, I contacted a cousin who sent me an enveloped with a bunch of old photographs in it. Almost known of the photographs had names on them. I went over the photographs with my Mom, my Grandmother, and my Mom’s cousin, Ted. They identified as many as they could, but many went nameless….
That’s Old News: Youth Clubs
While going through the Oakland Tribune Newspaper [Oakland, CA] dated 17 Sep 1933, I found this little article about the John Swett Leader’s Club. John Swett was born in 1830 and died in 1913. He was the California State Superintendent of Schools from 1863 to 1867. He is considered to be the founder of California…