History of WAGS

Fulfilling a need . . .

The publication of Alex Haley's blockbuster 1976 novel, ""Roots: The Saga of an American Family" fanned the flames of interest in genealogy. When the novel was adapted into two popular miniseries, "Roots" in 1977 and "Roots: The Next Generation" in 1979, even more people became involved in tracing their own roots.

Whittier resident Gladys Muller's interest in genealogy reached back even further. In 1967, when her daughter was a student at Cal High and asked for help with a history assignment, Gladys was bitten by the genealogy bug. She eventually became a professional genealogist and also began teaching genealogy classes at Rio Hondo College in Whittier. In January of 1981, several members of her intermediate genealogy class realized they were repeating the same class over and over simply because there was nowhere else for them to go. Asked if they would be interested in forming their own beginner's genealogy group, they responded overwhelmingly in favor of the idea.

In January of 1981, three class members, Jean Denton, Barbara Duskin, and Carmel Ling, began drafting bylaws. On Saturday, May 16, 1981, the group held their first meeting at the Ettinger Faculty Center at Whittier College. It was a scorching hot day, and the organizing members decided that if 45 people came, they would deem the meeting a success. Imagine their surprise and delight when over 200 people showed up!

From the very beginning, the monthly meetings featured prominent genealogical speakers from throughout Southern California. The group sponsored a life story writing group, built an impressive library collection, completed projects that resulted in the publication of several books, and offered annual seminars featuring nationally known speakers.

WAGS has evolved over the past 40+ years, seeking to meet the changing needs of the genealogical community. Our monthly meetings, writers group, and annual seminars endure. We continue to offer research assistance for those with roots in and around Whittier. We invite you take advantage of our offerings and let us help you along your genealogical journey.

A moving story . . .

The WAGS founding members envisioned owning a permanent space where we could hold meetings and house our library. However, this dream never materialized, and over the years we became a "nomadic" society, using donated or rented spaces for our activities.

Our initial meetings were held at Whittier College, but the college soon asked us to move, since they had a policy against outside organizations using their meeting rooms. Our first home was the Whittier Community Center at the corner of Washington Avenue and Mar Vista Street. We stayed there until damage to the community center from the Whittier Narrows earthquake on October 1, 1987 forced us to find other places to meet.

During the next few years, meetings were held at such diverse locations as Hinshaw's Department Store, the Santa Fe Springs Mall, the Santa Springs Library, the Whittier Quad shopping center, and the Masonic Lodge on Beverly Boulevard.

On December 16, 2000, WAGS moved into the Masonic Lodge at the corner of Greenleaf Avenue and Mar Vista Street. This would be our home for the next twenty years. However, when the world closed down due to the pandemic in March 2020, we had to cancel our scheduled meeting and "re-tool." We were up and running in our new home on Zoom for the April 2020 meeting, and stayed there until we could return to holding in-person meetings.

On June, 18, 2022, we returned to the Whittier Masonic Lodge for one final meeting there. Rising costs meant we had to find a new home once again. After an extensive search, we found a new meeting place and moved to the Sorensen Library in West Whittier for our July 2022 General Meeting.

In the spring of 2025, we realized we needed to move again due to changing needs. On June 21, 2025, we held our first meeting at our new home in the South Whittier Library at the corner of Colima Road and Telegraph Road.

We are grateful to the Los Angeles County Library for renting the facilities at the South Whittier Library to us at a very affordable price.

We launch into cyberspace . . .

With the advent of the pandemic in March 2020, our leadership team had to find a way to continue meeting and quickly brought itself up to speed on conducting meetings via the Zoom platform. An unexpected bonus from the Zoom meetings was that we could also reach members who had moved out of the Whittier area and those who could no longer travel.

Since March 2020, we have been holding both our Monthly General Meeting and our Writers Group Meetings on Zoom. Since July 2022, our monthly meetings, held on the third Saturday of each month, have been hybrid - both on Zoom and in person. We hold two Writers Group Meetings each month. The first meeting, held on the second Wednesday of the month, is on Zoom only. The second meeting, on the fourth Wednesday of the month, is held in-person only at the Whittier Uptown Senior Center at 13225 Walnut Street.

Leading the way . . .

These are the men and women who have served as Presidents of WAGS since the beginning until now:

Building the foundation . . .

WAGS began with a roster of 207 charter members. We appreciate the efforts of all those individuals for their roles in establishing our organization. Of those original members, we honor the following who individuals who are still on our current membership list: