Continuance

Continuance Spring / Summer 2003

Family History Day at the Capitol

Middle school and high school students and senior citizens met at the State Capitol on May 1 for the first annual Saving Our Stories Family History Day. Saving Our Stories is a program designed by educators and historians to encourage everyone to record and preserve family, cultural and community history. Through this intergenerational history campaign, youth will take a greater interest in the importance of their own history and will help promote the telling and saving of family stories in their schools and communities. As a result they will have a greater awareness of how personal history fits with national and state history.

On May 1, the entrance hallway in the Capitol contained a wealth of information about gathering family stories, getting started with family history, preserving family history, and where to find resources. A migration timeline circled the Rotunda of the Capitol and gave students, visitors, and legislators an opportunity to place their ancestors from prehistory to the present. An Illinois map presented a view of how our ancestors arrived and where they lived. Last, a world map depicted the far away continents where our ancestors lived before coming to the U.S. and Illinois. Students place their ancestors on the Migration Timeline "My ancestors came from Russia."