Twentieth Century Pilgrims

An Oral History Project

Gail Desler - Elk Grove Unified School District

"Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life." --John f. Kennedy

Over the past four centuries, pilgrims have continued to immigrate to the United States. In short, immigration has built America. Much like The Pilgrims of our early chapters in American history, today's pilgrims have left their homelands in search of a better life - or in order to survive. Their stories are important chapters in America's current and future history.

The Task

Who are the twentieth century pilgrims? Where do they come from and why are they here? What is life like for immigrants today in the United States? These are some the issues you will investigate as a historian - an oral historian. Through a series of interviews, you will have the unique opportunity to explore and record the often extraordinary events in the lives of ordinary people.

The Process

Brainstorming Session

• What do we already know about immigration?
• Who in our class or school is an immigrant?
• Who has family members who are immigrants?
• Where can we find recent immigrants who are willing to be interviewed?

The Project

As soon as you find an immigrant who is willing to share his/her story, start preparing for the interview. Some questions you might want to ask are:

• Where are you from?
• What was your childhood like in your native country?
• What motivated you to emigrate?
• What did you bring with you? What was the most difficult thing to leave behind?
• How did you get to America? What was your journey like?
• Where did you go when you first arrived? Why did you come to the Sacramento area?
• Did you come by yourself? Who was your first American friend? How did this person become your friend?
• Could you speak English when you first arrived here? If not, what problems did you have that were caused by language differences?
• What did you expect the United States to be like? Is life here what you thought it would be?
• Has your lifestyle changed since you first arrived?
• What do you like best about the United States? What do you dislike?
• What is your favorite story or memory of when you first arrived here?
• What do you miss most from your homeland?
• What advice would you have for anyone planning to immigrate to the United States?
• What would you like us to know about your experiences as a twentieth century pilgrim?

Final Product

Once you have completed the interview process, you will be compiling your research into a storybook format. Through illustrations and descriptive passages, you will retell the immigration experience of your twentieth century pilgrim. You might want to browse through my collection of children's storybooks for ideas on how produce an award-winning (A+) edition.

Checklist:

___ Eye-catching cover that includes title and author?

___ Dedication page?

___ An opening that will grab the reader's attention?

___ Illustrations that enhance your storyline?

___ Strong verbs and nouns?

___ Detailed paragraphs, with rich, descriptive language?

___ Excellent writing mechanics (spelling, punctuation, sentence and paragraph form)?

___ "About the Author" paragraph included at end of story?

___ All pages are neatly bound inside cover?

Evaluation

Checklist, plus Language Arts Rubric

Reflection

• What have you learned about immigration from doing this project?
• What have you learned about interviewing as a research tool? What might you do differently the next time you have an oral history project?
• What have you learned from the process of converting an interview into a written product?

Conclusion/Final Assessment

Are all Americans in agreement with John F. Kennedy's quote (see opening page)? You have only to scan current newspapers and magazines to know that there are two sides to the issue of immigration. The debate, however, is not a new one. Read what Ben Franklin once wrote about immigrants (http://education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/v2i2/they.html). Take a stand and respond to Mr. Franklin - and/or the general public - with a persuasive letter (three to five paragraphs). Be sure to clearly state your opinion on the immigration issue and to support your statements with facts. Whether you agree or disagree with Ben Franklin's stance, if he were alive today he would congratulate you on your research and on exercising your right - and responsibility - to express your own opinions. And I do too!

Note: The inspiration for this project has been the International Studies Project at Sacramento (ISPAS) Summer Institutes. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions regarding this web page, please contact me at gailhd@jps.net.

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