Name:

Date:

Period:

FAMILY HISTORY
Due Date:

Description: History is the study of where we came from, and how we are the way we are
today. Every family has its own a history. For this assignment, you will act like a historian to
perform research about people and events of the past.

Family History Interview

Instructions: Find a family member who is willing to participate in an interview and ask them
the following questions. The interview can be performed in person, on the phone, or in email.
You might even consider performing your interview over the dinner table. Be sure to keep an
open mind while interviewing. These questions are not the only questions that you should ask
during your interview. Sometimes the best information is the information historians do not even
know they want until they find it.

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Who are you interviewing?

What is the origin of your last name?
What is your ethnic/national makeup? If possible include percentages for each.
When did your family come to the United States? How?
When did your family come to California? How?
What do/did your parents do for a living?
What do/did your grandparents do for a living?
Do you know any family members that served in the military? If so, where, when and
what did they do?
9. How have historical events (for example: The Great Depression, World War II, the
Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, 9/11, the Great Recession, etc)
affected your family? Did anyone in your family participate in any of these events or
movements?

Family Tree Outline

Instructions: Draw a graph of your family tree. Try to include as many generations as possible,
and as many branches as you can. Of course, this will be very different for every family, and
factors such as adoption, divorce, remarriage and even family disputes can make every family
tree look a little different. However, family trees are generally shown with older generations at
the top, and with mother's and father's sides of the family on the left and the right. They also
include information like birth (and death) years. Look up examples of family trees online if you
aren't sure of the format.