Have you read Frances Dinkespiel's book - Towers of Gold - about her great-great-grandfather Isaias Hellman ? Tracing the Tribe highly recommends it.

San Francisco-area residents can hear the author talk about the book at the next meeting of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society on Sunday, March 27.

Doors open at 12.30pm, and the program begins at 1pm at Congregation Beth Israel-Judea, 625 Brotherhood Way,  next to Brandeis Hillel Day School.

Dinkelspiel's lecture is entitled "Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California."

Isaias Wolf Hellman left Bavaria at age 16 and within 10 years of arriving in Gold Rush-era California founded Los Angeles' first bank. A brilliant entrepreneur and financier, he was integral to the founding of Wells Fargo Bank, the establishment of the University of Southern California, and the financing of the burgeoning oil industry. Frances Dinkelspiel (Hellman's great-great-granddaughter) will talk about Hellman's impact on early Los Angeles and his role in the development of San Francisco as a major financial center.
An award-winning journalist, Dinkelspiel's work has appeared in the New York Times, People, the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Magazine, and other publications. She is the co-founder of Berkeleyside.com, a new local website about Berkeley, and lives in Berkeley. Read more about her and the book here.

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