Big Apple History . Lesson Plans . Who Was Here?

	Who Was Here?


		4 to 8 (middle school) social studies, ethnography, history approximately 3 class periods

As your students are probably already aware, the United States is a country built on immigration. This is especially the case with New York City. The articles "The First Wave of Immigrants," "No Irish Need Apply," and "Little Germany" focus on the waves of Irish, German, and other immigrants who came to New York and America in the mid-19th century. In this activity, students will learn how their community has also had various waves of immigration over the years. It asks the students to visit a local cemetery and examine the names and dates on the headstones to find evidence of who lived in the community and when.

Begin by having your students read the articles mentioned above. Next have students discuss the topic of immigration generally. Why do immigrants come to this country? In the 19th century and today? Where have they come from?

You might also have students consider the different ways people have come to this country: as slaves, indentured servants, free immigrants, or, in the case of Native Americans, gradually and tens of thousands of years ago.

Also, how do people maintain their cultural traditions? Is it important to assimilate quickly or hold on to traditions? How can immigrants strike a balance? Also, have students consider the pluses and minuses of immigration. What kinds of benefits do they bring? What kinds of problems? Again, have the students consider the situation in history and today.

What about responses to immigration? Should it be restricted? Or kept wide open? What should be done about illegal immigration? Should public services be restricted for illegal immigrants? What laws have been applied to encourage or discourage immigration in the past? What laws are on the books today? How are they enforced? Who does the enforcing?

You might want to narrow the discussion at this point to your school and local community. Some questions to pose might include: how many immigrants live in your community--or attend your school--today? Has this grown or shrunk in recent years and by how much? Have they generally contributed to your school and community? In what ways?

Several activities can help bring the question of immigration into the classroom, as well as help students with the activity below.

Activity 1: Have students bring in an object connected to their ethnic heritage and then have the class figure out what that heritage is.
Activity 2: Have students wear costumes or bring foods connected to their own ethnic heritage. Have a pageant/party; take pictures; create a visual display for the class or school.
Activity 3: Have the students write riddles, with clues about their heritage. Then distribute these at random and see if students can guess the ethnic heritage of one of their fellow students.

This activity is probably best conducted by individual students or small groups of students. Of course, it can also be made into a field trip for the entire class.

The activity begins with students finding and visiting a local cemetery. They are then asked to examine a number of headstones to note and record names and birth/death dates. A critical element of this step is determining the ethnicity of various names.
The students are then asked to connect the ethnic groups represented by the names to the dates of birth and death. This helps them determine when various immigrant nationalities lived in the community.
Finally, the students are asked to create a graphic or tabular interpretation of their findings. Detailed instructions and a sample form for data compilation accompany the activity.

Who Was Here?

As we have learned from this activity, America is a land of immigrants. Unless you're a Native American, you or your ancestors came from somewhere else. And because Americans all come from somewhere else, we are a country of great ethnic diversity. But we are united in one thing: together--those who came before, those coming now, and those yet to come--we have and will continue to build America.