Primary Document Family History Project
Due May 4, 2009
I. The Family History Project
The United States is a country of immigrants. Unless you are 100% Native American, your family came to America as an immigrant. In our last units, we have been studying about the immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Now we will take history to the personal level because every family has a history, every family has a story and we all collectively make history.
This project will count as a test grade for the fourth quarter. Your finished project can be presented in many ways; as a family history website that you create, as a PowerPoint presentation, or in a scrapbook. If you have another idea, let me know. However, you are encouraged to be creative. Add music to your presentation.
II. Getting Started
III. The information that you collect for the project should include all of the following:
Family Pictures. If you are creating a scrapbook or displaying on poster board, do not bring original pictures to school. Put copies of originals on your poster. If you are creating a web page, scan your pictures. If you don't have a scanner, take a picture of your picture.
Map Research where your ancestors are from (Russia, Ireland, Germany, etc.) and have a map that pinpoints where in that country they lived. Do this for both your dad & your mom's side of the family.
Copies of Primary Documents.
There are many primary documents you should include: birth certificate, census, ships records, letters, military records, letters, or other family records. Do not bring in originals.
Records from County Carlow & Wicklow, Ireland
There are many genealogy websites out there, here are a few more
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp
http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/
http://surnames.behindthename.com/
http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/
http://www.flgenweb.net/index.html
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/african/
If your family immigrated to America between 1892 and 1960, you can get a copy of the ship’s manifest at the Ellis Island website. You can also get a picture of the ship they traveled on.
Interviews with Family Members This part of your project can be taped or videotaped. You should interview parents, grandparents and other relatives. Ask them for information and stories about their parents and grandparents. Ask them what it was like when they were children and what, in the United States, has changed the most. If they have recently come to the U. S., ask them how life in the US is different from where they are came from.
Written Summary Create a written summary of who you are, the ethnic origin of your family, and interesting information about your family.
Veterans Records can be obtained by writing and asking for a form. Write to the following address:
National Archives and Records Administration
General Reference Branch
7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
Military Records : War 1812 Civil War Pensions
IV. The grade
You are expected to trace your family back as far as you possibly can but some will be able to go back further than others. I expect everyone to at least notate themselves, their siblings and I expect everyone to talk to both parents and note dad and mom's full name, dad and mom's mother and father's full name, brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles. I expect you to talk with your grandparents and note their father and mother's full names, their brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles, etc. Before your family was in south Florida, where were they and how did they get to south Florida? Before they were in the United States where were they. Trace the family migration to America. Because some families have already had their genealogy traced, I will place great emphasis on your "investigative reporting" into your family history and how creative you are with the presentation of your finished project is to the class.
V. Places to search for records: