Chinese Immigrants: Chinatown, San Francisco (19th Century)
Irish Immigrants, 19th Century
Mexican Immigrants, 1917
Ellis Island: Immigrant children being examined for signs of sickness
Puerto Rican Immigrants ("Cane-cutters") on a lunch break, 1941
Learning objectives:
Have each student learn how to research their family history using library resources.
Have students learn more about social and cultural history by researching the context within which they want a fictional 19th century character to live.
Give students an opportunity to apply their content learning and research through a creative writing exercise.
Project description:
Each student will find the name of an actual person who lived in the late 19th century. Hopefully, most students will be able to find the name of one of their ancestors through their ancestry research. If a student cannot find an actual relative, they will find an actual person who came from the same town or province as their ancestors during that time period. Using that ancestor/person’s name as the main character, each student will write a piece of historical fiction that will place that ancestor/person within one of the migrations/immigrations of the late-19th/early-20th century that we have studied in this unit. In order to give a more detailed and complex picture of their character’s life and experience, students will do further historical research using the library and library resources.
An Introduction to Historical Fiction:
The website Good Reads offers the following definition for the genre of historical fiction:
Historical fiction presents a story set in the past, often during a significant time period. In historical fiction, the time period is an important part of the setting and often of the story itself.
Historical fiction may include fictional characters, well-known historical figures or a mixture of the two. Authors of historical fiction usually pay close attention to the details of their stories (settings, clothing, dialogue, etc.) to ensure that they fit the time periods in which the narratives take place.
In some historical fiction, famous events appear from points of view not recorded in history, showing historical figures dealing with actual events while depicting them in a way that is not recorded in history. Other times, the historical event or time period complements a story's narrative, forming a framework and background for the characters' lives. Sometimes, historical fiction can be for the most part true, but the names of people and places have been in some way altered.
As this is fiction, artistic license is permitted in regard to presentation and subject matter, so long as it does not deviate in significant ways from established history.
Project Deliverables:
Students will find and print an archival record (census, birth certificate, marriage license, immigration record, etc.) of the ancestor/person whom they will make their main character (feel free to find other ancestors/people to use as characters as well).
Students will create an annotated bibliography in Chicago Manual Style/Turabian using NoodleTools for the historical research that they perform on the historical context of their story. A complete annotation should include a brief summary of the book’s topic, how it informed your use of the history in your fiction, and where you have applied this information (if at all) in your story.
Students will write a 3-8 page piece of historical fiction (12 pt. Times New Roman font, double spaced with 1” margins), with Chicago Style Footnotes to indicate where elements of the story are supported by historical research.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed on the following criteria:
Skills:
Creativity
Cultural Competency
Critical Thinking
Content:
Knowledge and understanding of the cultural and social contexts of the major migrations/immigrations of late-19th and early-20th century America.
Research into personal family history using online research databases.
Research into specific historical context(s) that goes beyond the textbook.
Ability to craft a fictional plot within a well-researched historical context.
Ability to document and annotate research sources.
Individual Reflection:
Each student will submit an individual reflection describing their self-assessment of the skills and content focus areas and their personal experience completing this project.