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HISTORICAL THINKING CONCEPTS | Historical Thinking Project

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HISTORICAL THINKING CONCEPTS | Historical Thinking Project

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The Historical Thinking Project works with six distinct but closely interrelated historical thinking concepts. To think historically, students need to be able to:

1. Establish historical significance

2. Use primary source evidence

3. Identify continuity and change

4. Analyze cause and consequence

5. Take historical perspectives, and

6. Understand the ethical dimension of historical interpretations.

Taken together, these concepts tie "historical thinking" to competencies in "historical literacy." In this case, "historical literacy" means gaining a deep understanding of historical events and processes through active engagement with historical texts.

Historically literate citizens can assess the legitimacy of claims that there was no Holocaust, that slavery wasn't so bad for African-Americans, that aboriginal rights have a historical basis, and that the Russian experience in Afghanistan serves as a warning to the Canadian mission there. They have thoughtful ways to tackle these debates. They can interrogate historical sources. They know that a historical film can look "realistic" without being accurate. They understand the value of a footnote.

In short, they can detect the differences, as Margaret MacMillan's book title reads, between the uses and abuses of history. "Historical thinking" only becomes possible in relation to substantive content. These concepts are not abstract "skills." Rather, they provide the structure that shapes the practice of history.

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The Historical Thinking Project works with six distinct but closely interrelated historical thinking concepts. To think historically, students need to be able to: Establish historical significance Use primary source evidence Identify continuity and change Analyze cause and consequence Take historical perspectives, and Understand the ethical dimension of historical interpretations.

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According to World Economic Forum these skills are need in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

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According to World Economic Forum these skills are need in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

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https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/

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Immigration Timeline - The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

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Immigration Timeline - The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

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This collection of recorded interviews documents the stories of people whose lives were shaped by Ellis Island. Passengers, families, immigration officials, military personnel, detainees, and former island employees share their perspectives and relive the moments that formed our collective history. Educational, uplifting, harrowing, and inspiring, these precious cultural artifacts give meaning and texture to our collections.

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Discover | Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

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This collection of recorded interviews documents the stories of people whose lives were shaped by Ellis Island. Passengers, families, immigration officials, military personnel, detainees, and former island employees share their perspectives and relive the moments that formed our collective history. Educational, uplifting, harrowing, and inspiring, these precious cultural artifacts give meaning and texture to our collections.

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Teaching Immigration with the Immigrant Stories Project FINAL.pdf - Google Drive

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Teaching Immigration with the Immigrant Stories Project FINAL.pdf - Google Drive

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Teaching Immigration with the Immigrant Stories Project FINAL.pdf

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Online Exhibits | Immigration History Research Center | College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

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Online Exhibits | Immigration History Research Center | College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

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College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

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There are a lot of discussions about immigration in the news today, but sometimes it's difficult to figure out how to teach about immigration in the classroom. We've had many teachers ask us to suggest Immigrant Stories that help students learn about immigration in the past and present. The 30 digital stories in this exhibit help answer questions like: What is it like to be a refugee? How do people express their immigrant identities through music, art, and dance? How are families formed and separated through migration? What is it like to be a child of immigrants?

This exhibit features 12 Immigrant Stories by Vietnamese, Hmong, Lao, and Cambodian Minnesotans who migrated to the United States in the years after 1975. They provide unique, first-hand accounts of the wars in Southeast Asia, the difficulty and dangers of life as a refugee, the vast resettlement bureaucracy, and the communities refugees and their families built in the United States.

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There are a lot of discussions about immigration in the news today, but sometimes it's difficult to figure out how to teach about immigration in the classroom. We've had many teachers ask us to suggest Immigrant Stories that help students learn about immigration in the past and present.

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See all the videos in the Immigrant Stories Collection

About Immigrant Stories

Immigrant Stories helps people tell, share, and preserve personal and family immigration stories. Use this website and create a digital story: a 3-5 minute video made from your own photos, text, and audio.

You tell your own story in your own words. Simply follow our instructions and video tutorials. We'll show you how to write a story, record a voiceover, and put your video together.

Immigrant Stories is run by the Immigration History Research Center (IHRC), where we've studied immigration for over fifty years. We share and preserve these digital stories for future generations through the IHRC Archives and the Digital Public Library of America. We created this website with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Learn more about this project

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See all the videos in the Immigrant Stories Collection About Immigrant Stories Immigrant Stories helps people tell, share, and preserve personal and family immigration stories. Use this website and create a digital story: a 3-5 minute video made from your own photos, text, and audio. You tell your own story in your own words.

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Immigrant Stories | Immigration History Research Center | College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

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Immigrant Stories | Immigration History Research Center | College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

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Immigrant Stories helps recent immigrants and refugees create digital stories: brief videos with images, text, and audio about a personal experience. The IHRC shares and preserves these digital stories for future generations through the IHRC Archives, the University Libraries, and the Digital Public Library of America.

Over 375 stories representing more than 50 different communities are now part of the Immigrant Stories Collection. A National Endowment for the Humanities grant is now helping us collect stories with our story-making website.

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Immigrant Stories helps recent immigrants and refugees create digital stories: brief videos with images, text, and audio about a personal experience. The IHRC shares and preserves these digital stories for future generations through the IHRC Archives, the University Libraries, and the Digital Public Library of America.

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Procedure - The Immigrant Experience: Down the Rabbit Hole - Lesson Plan | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Procedure - The Immigrant Experience: Down the Rabbit Hole - Lesson Plan | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Back to Lesson Plans
Lesson Procedure

Activity 1: Making the Literary Connection to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

As a lead-in activity, read portions of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to the students for a few minutes every day. You may be able to find the book online or in a local library.

Although there are many themes for discussion, for the purposes of this unit, highlight scenes that relate to the discomfort experienced by Alice because of the unpredictability of her experiences in Wonderland.

The four following scenes can be highlighted for introductory discussions about the immigrant experience:

Chapter IV: The Rabbit Sends In a Little Bill

"It was much pleasanter at home," thought poor Alice, "when one wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole - and yet - it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what can have happened to me! When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!"

Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar

The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.
"Who are You?" said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, "I - I hardly know, Sir, just at present - at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then."

Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper

"Cheshire Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. "Come, it's pleased so far," thought Alice, and she went on. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where - " said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
" - so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. "What sort of people live about here?"
"In that direction," the Cat said, waving its right paw round, "lives a Hatter: and in that direction," waving the other paw, "lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: the're both mad."
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

Chapter VIII: The Queen's Croquet-Ground

"I don't think they play at all fairly," Alice began, in rather a complaining tone, "and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't hear oneself speak - and they don't seem to have any rules in particular: at least, if there are, nobody attends to them - and you've no idea how confusing it is all the things being alive: for instance, there's the arch I've got to go through next walking about at the other end of the ground - and I should have croqueted the Queen's hedgehog just now, only it ran away when it saw mine coming!"

Actvity 2: Discovering the Common Themes of the Immigrant Experience - Connecting the Personal Experience

Students brainstorm the common threads of the immigrant experience. Through a teacher/student discussion of their own relocation experiences (city to city, state to state, or country to country), identify reasons for relocating, difficulties encountered, and the successes or failures of adjustments to new surroundings.

Use the following questions to guide your discussion:

1. Have you ever moved to a new place? If yes, do you remember feeling scared? Unsure? Excited? Angry? Relieved? Sad? Out of place?

2. If you have moved, how did you feel in your new location after three months? Six months? One year? Did you feel as if you would ever fit in? Did you make friends quickly or slowly? What did you miss?

3. Have you ever lived in a place where the people did not speak your language? How did that feel?

4. If you belong to a military family, where have you lived? Have you moved often? Can you describe your experiences? If you have lived in a foreign country, were you scared about moving there? Was the food strange to you?

5. Have you ever known someone from another country who has moved (immigrated) to the United States?

6. Can you think of several possible reasons why a person immigrates to the United States?

7. Did any of your ancestors emigrate from another country? Which country or countries?

8. Do you think that many immigrants to the United States face discrimination? Economic problems? Racial prejudice? Religious differences? Language difficulties? Educational challenges?

9. Do you think that all immigrants should learn English? Should immigrants keep their ties to their ethnic and racial heritage? Do you think that immigrant teenagers have difficulty being part of both the American culture and their own cultures?

10. What percentage of the U.S. population do you think is foreign-born? How could you find the answer?

Through student/teacher inquiry the following common themes of immigration should be identified and defined: motivation to emigrate, assimilation, economic issues (including living and working conditions), education, choice of destination, language difficulties, and issues of prejudice.

Activity 3: Analyzing Primary Source Texts to Identify Common Themes of the Immigrant Experience

Students use teacher-selected primary sources to identify the common themes of the immigrant experience.

1. Divide students into groups.

2. Assign each group to read a primary source oral history or narrative from the American Memory collections as homework. The oral histories listed below work well for a cross-section of immigrant experiences, or you may explore the collections on your own.

3. One student in each group will be selected as the group's discussion leader for the following day.

4. The group will choose a historian to record the group's conclusions. The groups should record their thoughts on the Primary Source Analysis Tool. Select questions from the Analyzing Oral Histories teacher's guide to focus the group work, and select additional questions to focus and prompt further discussion.

Oral Histories

The following oral histories are from American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940:

Gardenia Banta - Describes the experiences of an African-American woman who moved to New York City in 1888 during the post-Civil War northern migration. She tells of her previous life in Savannah, Georgia, and of the difficulties of moving north after her father died.

Philip Dash - This Russian Jewish immigrant describes his work in the shoe industry, his union involvement, and living in poverty in Brooklyn, New York.

Mr. and Mrs. Elias Pederson - Mr. Pederson was born in Wisconsin in 1849, the year after his parents emigrated from Norway. He and his wife recall plowing the fields with oxen, loading heavy railroad ties onto a sleigh, and carrying butter and eggs to nearby Pokerville to exchange for groceries.

Florence Cravens [I was born in Austin, Texas] - In 1886, Mrs. Cravens moved west with her family from Austin, Texas, on an immigrant train of covered wagons. She recalls hearing wolves, coming upon the newly dug grave of a child, a shooting, selling mesquite roots for firewood, the death of her mother, and a smallpox epidemic.

Albert Zeigler - A German immigrant, Mr. Zeigler describes running a dry goods store with his brother in New Mexico, selling stove pipe hats to Apache Indians, and the impact of gold mining on the town in the 1880s.

Giacomo Coletti - This narrative describes an Italian granite worker's life in Montpelier, Vermont, including the importance of family celebrations, living in poverty, working in "the sheds," and working with other immigrant groups.

The following oral history is from Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910:

Chrysostom Verwyst [Reminiscences of a pioneer missionary] - A pioneer missionary immigrant from Holland, Mr. Verwyst describes his train ride to Hollandtown, Wisconsin, and how his family carved a farm out of the woods and meadows. His memoirs contain accounts of festive celebrations, clothing, agricultural practices, and local community life.

Activity 4: Introduction to Photographic Analysis

1. Choose a photograph from the American Memory collections and project it on a screen. Italian bread peddlers, from the Detroit Publishing Company collection, works well for this activity.

2. Lead the students through a group photographic analysis activity, using the questions from the teacher's guide Analyzing Prints and Photographs to focus and prompt discussion.

3. Students work in pairs to search for and select a photograph from the Detroit Publishing Company collection to analyze. Search for photographs illustrating the theme of immigration by entering one of the following keywords:

Activity 5: Curating a Photo Exhibit of "The Immigrant Experience"

Students become curators of a photo exhibit entitled "The Immigrant Experience."

1. Hand out copies of The Immigrant Experience - A Photographic Exhibit instruction sheet and review with students.

2. Students choose an immigration-related theme to research.

3. In pairs, students search the American Memory collections and select and print five photographs depicting their immigration theme.

4. Each of the photographs should be accompanied by text that explains the photo's relationship to the chosen theme.

5. Students research their chosen theme and explain it in a written essay.

6. As a guide, the students complete an Analyzing Prints and Photographs worksheet used in Activity Four for each of the five selected photographs.

Activity 6: Grand Opening of "The Immigrant Experience"

Students combine their posters to create a poster display on a classroom wall. At the exhibit opening, students view all the displayed photos to reinforce their understanding of the various themes of immigration. If possible, display selected posters at a school "technology night" or other event, where students can explain the project to visiting parents and community members.

After the exhibit opening, guide a wrap-up discussion of the immigrant experience.

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The Immigrant Experience: Down the Rabbit Hole Procedure

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Back to Lesson Plans As a lead-in activity, read portions of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to the students for a few minutes every day. You may be able to find the book online or in a local library.

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Procedure - Immigration and Migration: Our Changing Voices - Lesson Plan | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Procedure - Immigration and Migration: Our Changing Voices - Lesson Plan | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Back to Lesson Plans
Lesson Procedure

These lessons can be amended to focus on any region of the United States. This project is divided into three lessons. They may be done individually or as a unit.

Lesson One: Research (2 - 3 days)

Introductory Activity

Begin by asking a variety of questions to assist students in thinking about their own cultural heritage.

1. What is the origin of your last name?

2. What is your mother's maiden name?

3. When did your family come here?

4. Where did they first settle?

5. What were your grandparents' occupations?

Assign students a preliminary family interview.

1. Have students interview a parent or grandparent.

2. After the interview, have students share information with one another and begin to understand their own family journeys.

Background Information

Discuss general facts about immigration to the United States.

1. Immigration brainstorm

1. What do we know about immigration?

2. What are some reasons people come to the United States?

3. Identify these terms and discuss how these issues affect immigrants:

2. Laws and immigration waves

1. What laws have been passed that have influenced the flow of immigration?

2. What are the areas where immigration laws have had the most impact?

Research

1. Allow students to choose an ethnic group to research, either based on their own ethnic heritage or interest level.

2. Have students consider some or all of these questions:

Using print and Internet resources, answer the following questions about your selected ethnic group. When did the majority of the migration occur? Were there other "waves" of immigration that occurred after the initial dates?

What had been happening in their "homeland" that encouraged or forced many people to leave?

Where in the United States did they settle?

What types of jobs/labor did they do?

What additional reasons for leaving did people cite?

What cultural impact did they have on the United States?

What language did they first speak when coming to the United States? Did you find anything about the infusion of English into their homes?

Did you find anything about infusion of education or religion?

How were the immigrants treated when they first arrived? Were there any laws that may have been passed that encouraged or deterred them from becoming "active community members"?

What is current emigration from your country/region like today? Are the reasons that people come over today the same as in the past?

Has treatment of new groups of immigrants changed from years past?

What other important information did you find?

Lesson Two: Searching American Memory (2 - 3 days)

Background Information

Discuss the Works Progress Administration project which resulted in the interviews found in American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940

1. What is the brief history of the WPA project?

2. Why was the project funded?

3. Look at the questions of the interviewers. Why were those questions important?

4. How descriptive were the answers?

5. What ideas were supposed to be gathered or taken from these interviews?

Research

Students research and analyze primary sources from American Memory about selected immigrant groups.

1. Review search assignment with students.

2. Have students research the immigrant groups chosen in Lesson One

Search Assignment

You have gathered general information from Lesson One about a group that immigrated to the United States. Now look for more specific information by locating pictures and stories from your chosen immigrant group from American Memory.

While you are free to search all collections, searching within the following individual collections may yield quicker results.

General search terms to use:

immigrants, migrants, migrant workers

specific ethnic groups such as: Swedish Americans, German Americans, Russian Americans, etc.

Photographs

1. Search for five photographs from your specific immigrant group.

2. If you cannot find your specific immigrant group, you may look for pictures from the time period when the majority of your group immigrated.

3. Look for visual images that make you aware of the experiences, celebrations and difficulties of the early settlers in this country.

4. For each of the pictures, students analyze the photograph, recording their thoughts on the Primary Source Analysis Tool. Before the students begin, select questions from the teacher's guide Analyzing Photographs and Prints to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.

5. Remember to document the title of each picture, the photographer, the date and the publisher.

6. Journal about the following topic: Why are these pictures so important for us in understanding things about our past?

Personal Narratives

1. Search for five personal narratives from American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940.

2. Try to find stories from your ethnic group and/or time period of immigration.

3. If you cannot find stories specific to your group or time, select stories you think are the most interesting.

4. Working alone or in groups, students analyze the oral histories, recording their thoughts on the Primary Source Analysis Tool. Before the students begin, select questions from the teacher's guide Analyzing Oral Histories to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.

Lesson Three: Our Voices (up to 5 days)

1. Next, students look at their own family's immigrant heritage.

2. Students interview members of their family, preferably from different generations. Consult Explore Your Community to learn more.

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Immigration and Migration: Our Changing Voices Procedure

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Back to Lesson Plans These lessons can be amended to focus on any region of the United States. This project is divided into three lessons. They may be done individually or as a unit. Begin by asking a variety of questions to assist students in thinking about their own cultural heritage.

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1. What kind of qualities do you think it takes for individuals to make the decision to leave one part of the world for another?

2. What kind of conditions (economic, political, cultural), do you think motivates people to leave one part of the world for another?

3. Is coming to the US an easier decision in more current times than it was at the end of the last century? Why/why not?

4. What kind of situation(s) would have to exist before you/your family would think about emigrating from the US?

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/lessons/oral-history/procedure.html

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Tariq Sheikh and Tabinda Sheikh – StoryCorps

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Tariq Sheikh and Tabinda Sheikh – StoryCorps

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In 1989, Tabinda was working in a Manhattan hotel as a housekeeper. She had just immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic and one day at work, she caught the eye of a fellow employee who was working behind the hotel's front desk-Tariq Sheikh.

Tariq was also a recent immigrant, but from Pakistan, and he remembers that the first time he saw her, Tabinda was hard at work. She was still in her yellow gloves and neither spoke English too well, but after a few clumsy love notes, a relationship was born.

Tariq and Tabinda have now been married for 25 years and have a 20-year-old son, Madani Sheikh. They live in Jersey City, New Jersey, not far from the park bench they were sharing the first time Tariq realized he had fallen in love with Tabinda.

They came to StoryCorps to share the story of how they met.
Originally aired October 21, 2016, on NPR's Morning Edition.

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In 1989, Tabinda was working in a Manhattan hotel as a housekeeper. She had just immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic and one day at work, she caught the eye of a fellow employee who was working behind the hotel's front desk-Tariq Sheikh.

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About this Collection  |  American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940  |  Digital Collections  |  Library of Congress

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About this Collection  |  American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940  |  Digital Collections  |  Library of Congress

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This collection of life histories consists of approximately 2,900 documents, compiled and transcribed by more than 300 writers from 24 states, working on the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project, a New Deal jobs program that was part of the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1940. Typically 2,000-15,000 words in length, the documents vary in form from narratives to dialogues to reports to case histories. They chronicle vivid life stories of Americans who lived at the turn of the century and include tales of meeting Billy the Kid, surviving the 1871 Chicago fire, pioneer journeys out West, grueling factory work, and the immigrant experience. Writers hired by this Depression-era work project included Ralph Ellison, Nelson Algren, May Swenson, and many others. The documents often describe the informant's physical appearance, family, education, income, occupation, political views, religion and mores. Pseudonyms are often substituted for individuals and places named in the narrative texts. The life histories comprise a small part of the larger Manuscript Division collection titled United States Work Projects Administration Records.

About the Federal Writers' Project

The Federal Writers' Project materials in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division are part of a larger collection titled The U.S. Work Projects Administration Federal Writers' Project and Historical Records Survey. The holdings from Federal Writers' Project span the years 1889-1942 and cover a wide range of topics and subprojects. Altogether, the Federal Writers' holdings number approximately 300,000 items and consist of correspondence, memoranda, field reports, notes, graphs, charts, preliminary and corrected drafts of essays, oral testimony, folklore, miscellaneous administrative and miscellaneous other material.

Well over one-half of the materials in this record group pertain to the American Guide, the sobriquet for the critically acclaimed state guides. The remainder of the material reflects other areas of interest that developed as the project grew in maturity. They include a rich collection of rural and urban folklore; first-person narratives (called life histories) describing the feelings of men and women coping with life and the Depression; studies of social customs of various ethnic groups; authentic narratives of ex-slaves about life during the period of Slavery; and Negro source material gathered by project workers. In addition, drafts of publications and intended publications are included. These publications express concern with the direction America was taking and with the preservation and communication of local culture. Titles include Hands That Build America, From These Strains, Lexicon of Trade Jargon, and Pockets in America.

The arrangement of the larger collection generally reflects the division of work within the Writers' Project such as material relating to The American Guide, the Folklore Project, Social-ethnic Studies, and Slave Narratives. Other series are compilations for archival purposes such as administrative papers or Negro studies material. Still others are groups of similar material such as printed matter and the like.

The plight of the unemployed writer, and indeed anyone who could qualify as a writer such as a lawyer, a teacher, or a librarian, during the early years of the Depression, was of concern not only to the Roosevelt Administration, but also to writers' organizations and persons of liberal and academic persuasions. It was felt, generally, that the New Deal could come up with more appropriate work situations for this group other than blue collar jobs on construction projects. To the Administration's liking were plans generated from a series of meetings held in 1934 between Jacob Baker, Harry Hopkins' chief Civil Works Administration assistant in charge of special and professional programs, Henry Alsberg, Bakers' assistant, Katherine Kellock, a writer familiar with international and social organizations, and others. The outcome of these sessions was a project for all the "arts," (labeled Federal One), divided administratively by each specialty and headed by professionals in the field. The Writers' Project, later characterized by some as the federal government's attempt to "democratize American culture," was approved for federal monies in June, 1935. Baker chose his assistant, Alsberg, as director. As the Project continued into the late thirties, the director was powerless to stop increasing criticism by reactionary Congressmen who were intent on shutting down the enterprise. In October 1939, the Project's federal monies ceased, due to the Administration's need for a larger defense budget. After 1939, emasculated, the Project sputtered along on monies funded to the states, closing completely one year or so after America's entry into World War II.

Researchers should note that the American Memory collection presented here is a coherent portion of the Library's larger Federal Writers' series and the WPA collection. It includes the life histories and corollary documents assembled by the Folklore Project within the Federal Writers' effort.

About the Folklore Project and the Life Histories

Within the Federal Writers' Project, material relating to folklore and social-ethnic studies was collected and shaped through the efforts of John A. Lomax, Benjamin A. Botkin, and Morton Royce. The activity documented in writing traditional statements, expressions, songs, essays, stories, and the like, with tilt toward accounts of frontier and pioneer life. The Folklore Project filed its material under the general headings "traditional" and "life histories."

The Writers' Project staff variously described the life histories as life sketches, living lore, industrial lore, and occupational lore. The narratives were meant to reflect the ordinary person's struggle with the vicissitudes of daily living.

This American Memory presentation is limited to the Folklore Project life histories. Similar accounts may be found in the Social-Ethnic portion of the WPA collection; these may be digitized in the future.

At the time, Botkin said, the collected lore and narratives were to be used as the basis for anthologies which would form a composite and comprehensive portrait of various groups of people in America. The entire body of material provides the raw content for a broad documentary of both rural and urban life, interspersed with accounts and traditions of ethnic group traditions, customs regarding planting, cooking, marriage, death, celebrations, recreation, and a wide variety of narratives. The quality of collecting and writing lore varies from state to state, reflecting the skills of the interviewer-writers and the supervision they received.

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About this Collection | American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

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This collection of life histories consists of approximately 2,900 documents, compiled and transcribed by more than 300 writers from 24 states, working on the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project, a New Deal jobs program that was part of the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1940.

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Overview - Immigration…- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Overview - Immigration…- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Overview - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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The feature provides an introduction to the study of immigration to the United States focusing only on the immigrant groups that arrived in greatest numbers during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Home - History of Immigration- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Home - History of Immigration- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Home - History of Immigration- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Presentation and classroom materials for teachers on the history of immigration into the United States. Includes: German, Irish, Scandinavian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Chinese, Puerto Rican,

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Immigration- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Immigration- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Immigration- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Immigration stories on this web site are for scholarly and educational purposes, to illustrate the American immigration experience during the second half of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st century.

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Immigration... Interviews - For Teachers (Library of Congress)

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Immigration... Interviews - For Teachers (Library of Congress)

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Immigration... Interviews - For Teachers (Library of Congress)

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The Library of Congress > Teachers > Classroom Materials > Presentations and Activities > Immigration

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In 2014, we heard a conversation between Paul Braun, a sergeant in the Minnesota National Guard, and the interpreter he served with in Iraq, who goes by the name Philip - a moniker bestowed on him by American soldiers because he favored Philip Morris cigarettes.

In Iraq, former interpreters' lives are in constant danger because of their association with American soldiers. So Braun helped sponsor Philip's immigration to the U.S., and at the time of their interview, they were living together in Minneapolis.

But Philip had to leave his wife and four children behind in Iraq. He spent three years attempting to obtain visas for them so they could join him in Minnesota, even putting his life at risk by traveling back to Iraq in 2014.

Finally, in October 2016, the visas came through, and now Philip's family - including his nephew, Andy, who was also an interpreter - are adjusting to life in the U.S. Two months after his family's arrival, Philip came back to StoryCorps to give Andy some advice on adjusting to his new home.

You can learn more about Philip's story in the 2015 documentary The Interpreter.
Originally broadcast February 3, 2017, on NPR's Morning Edition.
Bottom photo: Philip with his wife, Ghania, the day she arrived in Minneapolis. Photo by Sameer Saadi.

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In 2014, we heard a conversation between Paul Braun, a sergeant in the Minnesota National Guard, and the interpreter he served with in Iraq, who goes by the name Philip - a moniker bestowed on him by American soldiers because he favored Philip Morris cigarettes.

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This content resource is an interactive tour of Ellis Island. Students can explore different rooms in the main building at Ellis Island, and can view original photographs, listen to audio, or watch video.

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Who Lives in America: Teaching Immigration History With Data | Scholastic.com

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Who Lives in America: Teaching Immigration History With Data | Scholastic.com

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Who Lives in America: Teaching Immigration History With Data | Scholastic.com

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Explore the history of immigration in America through immigration statistics, research, facts, and data while learning how to read charts and graphs.

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Hear the immigration stories of real immigrant kids who have recently immigrated to the United States from Asia, Africa, and Europe. See videos, maps, and photos.

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Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today and Ellis Island | Scholastic.com

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Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today and Ellis Island | Scholastic.com

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Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today and Ellis Island | Scholastic.com

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Teach about immigration in America using a virtual tour of Ellis Island full of facts and photos, an interactive timeline, immigration stories from recent immigrant kids, and immigration statistics.

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Interactive Map Showing Immigration Data Since 1880 - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

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Interactive Map Showing Immigration Data Since 1880 - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

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Interactive Map Showing Immigration Data Since 1880 - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

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See how foreign-born groups settled in your area and across the United States from 1880 to 2000.