Becoming Your Own Historian – A Personal Look
Purpose of the assignment:
Students will investigate their own family by doing historical research. They will gain an
understanding of legal documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates etc.)
as sources of historical information. By doing this project, students should understand that much
of our history is the history of ordinary people, and ordinary daily activities, which has not been
recorded in textbooks. Through an examination of family photos, students will learn how to use
critical thinking to uncover clues about the past. By uncovering their past histories students learn
that they have a direct connection to past historical events as reported in social studies textbooks.
Each student should emerge with a greater understanding of his or her own significance
in the continuing story of America, because each student has a different ethnic background and
different “story” to tell, students gain an understanding of ethnic and cultural heritage, along with
gaining the perspective of cultural diversity within the classroom. It is hoped that this
assignment will create an opportunity for dialogue between students and their family members.
The Poet Carl Sandburg said, “When a society or a civilization perishes, one
condition can always be found. They forgot where they came from.” With a
history of your family in hand, there is no forgetting, no sense of coming to an
end. Because there is no end, there is only the sense of continuing.
Description of the Assignment:
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Each student will work alone
Each student will need to purchase a “tri-fold” presentation board.
Students will create a family tree that traces at least one side of their family tree to their
great-grandparents – trace for 4 generations.
Each family tree will include a PHOTO COPY ONLY of at least three original
documents. (E.g. Birth, death, or marriage certificate, baptismal or other religious
certificate, certificate of naturalization, page from a family bible, letters or diary entries
written by relatives, records from a ships’ log or passenger manifest etc.)
All students must be able to distinguish a primary from a secondary source of
information.
Each family tree should include the students own brothers and sisters as well as any stepbrothers and step-sisters. DO NOT INCLUDE PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS
BROTHERS AND SISTERS
The ethnic background and sex – male (mars symbol
) or female (Venus symbol
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) (names alone can be misleading) of each family member must be clearly
indicated together with the birth and death date. Note: in some cases the day and month
may not be available but the year is almost always located if you look closely.
PHOTOS - you should show a photo of your generation and parents and
grandparents -you will probably note some facial similarities.
For each generation pictured, you must also list 4 Major Historical Events and 4
significant inventions that were created during that time period.
Written Report:
In addition to the graphic presentation your project also includes a written
summary of your family history. In it you should answer such questions as:
 Where did the immigrants come from and why did they leave their own
country to come to America?
 How did they get here? How much of their income did it take to make the
journey?
 Where did they enter the United States? What was their port of entry?
 Where did they first settle before coming to Western New York?
 What type of work did they do once they arrived here?
Special notes on quality:
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Sloppy or careless work will not be accepted and students will be required to do the
assignment over again or receive a “no credit” for the task.
You must supply your own materials: pencils, markers, tri-fold tag boards, papers and
folders etc.
It is suggested that you do a rough draft of the primary information on a sheet of
paper to check the information.
MR. DAVISON WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY AND ALL
QUESTIONS AT ANY TIME. PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU HAVE BEEN
ADOPTED OR HAVE "FOSTER PARENTS" THEY ARE YOUR "FOREVER
FAMILY" YOU SHOULD DO THE PROJECT AS IF THEY ARE YOUR
"ONLY FAMILY".
More work will absolutely result in a higher grade! Creativity is encouraged! Think
outside of the box on this project!
Extra Credit: 25 pts.
Visit a local cemetery and make a tombstone rubbing. Any stone will do BUT doing a rubbing
of a family member is preferred. Old tombstone rubbings can often be found on e-bay and are
sometimes worth a considerable amount of money. Decorators will use unusual rubbings in the
proper frame as accents when decorating. It’s not as “creepy” as it sounds. Good Luck and
remember to treat any cemetery with the proper respect!
METHOD - to make a rubbing. The paper to use is sometimes referred to as "synthetic
rice paper" or "printers’ paper". Anything that does not tear easily will probably work
fine. Non-woven interfacing or pattern materials sold in fabric stores, such as
PELLON, will also work. A carpenter's crayon or lumberman's crayon can be used, or
a crayon from the thick box of crayola crayons will work to do the actual rubbing.
Many web pages are available with more detailed descriptions of the process.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A MAJOR
PROJECT AND THE GRADE WILL COUNT TWICE
WITH THE EXTRA CREDIT FACTORED IN
THERE IS A POSSABILITY OF EARNING A
TOTAL OF 225 POINTS FOR THIS QUARTER
GRADE.