History assignments

Family History / Genealogical Project:  Write a family history on at least one side of your family.  Try to trace back your family as far as possible.  This is a good opportunity to ask older members of your family about your family history.  It is a good way to connect with older generations before they are no longer with us.  These are sample questions to give you some guidance.  Does your family maintain any customs and traditions from their homeland?  Have the customs been adapted to living in the United States?  Try to determine when your family arrived in the United States and from where did they come?  What was their immigration trip like?  What did they do for work when they arrived?  Were they single, married or with some family members?  Did they have difficulties adjusting to American culture?  Did they have problems when children or relatives married outside of their culture or religion?  Did the family live in an ethnic neighbourhood or in a more diverse neighbourhood? If you are a recent immigrant or a foreign student, focus on your family and their history in your home country using stories from their lives there.  Include family stories as they are part of your history.  This project is part social history as well as part genealogy.  You must include a genealogical chart with names, dates and places.  If you are having problems contacting family members, please talk to me to arrange an alternative project.

A family history project is a good way to approach history.  People often do not think of where and how their families fit into history.  Examples: Where was your family during the Second World War?  Did the war have an impact on them?  What was the impact of the Great Depression on your family?  What was the impact of Communism if your family came from an Eastern European state or an East Asian state?  If you are Central American, what was the impact of government on your family?  Did American imperialism affect your family?  These are just examples of the types of things to think about.

In summary, you are the product of generations of history.