Rationale
In order to integrate family experience and genealogy into the broader context of culture, history, and place, it is important to understand the many diverse and overlapping "stories" that make up our lives.
Materials
Pen, notebooks, access to the World Wide Web
Methods
1.What is a chronology?From personal biographies to moments of international significance, chronologies map out a sequence of events arranged according to their occurrence through time. Encourage students to develop their own timelines: When were they born? What movies or songs were popular during the year they were born, and what 'news' made the headlines? How old were they when they started school? What other significant events happened during their lives?
2. Compare the following two chronologies, from the life and experience of Ernie Pyle. What other "timelines" overlap with these events? For example, in terms of technology - what radio programs were "on the air"? What movies were popular at the theaters? What important books were published? What were popular sports teams during World War II? What happened in YOUR family during this timeframe?
1900: Ernie Pyle is
born in Dana, Indiana
1919: Pyle enrolls in
journalism at Indiana University
1933: Pyle has cross the US
more than six times as a
"roving correspondent"
-
1933: Germany withdraws from the League of Nations.
- 1
935: Hitler denounces the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles.
-
The Nuremburg Laws
-
1938: The Anschluss: Germany annexes Austria.
-
1940: Germany conquers the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
-
1940: Italy enters the war as Germany's ally.
-
1940: The Battle of Britain begins.
1940:Pyle reports on the Battle of Britain
-
1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbo
-
1942: Battle of Midway in June
1943: Pyle serves as a war correspondent in North Africa.
1944: Pyle reports on combat in Italy
- 1944: American troops under General MacArthur land in the Philippines.
Pyle is awarded a Pulitzer Prize
-
1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy opens up a second front.
1945: On Ie Shima, a small island just west of Okinawa, while traveling with a group of infantrymen, Pyle was killed by machine gune fire on April 18th. At this time, Pyle's readership was worldwide; his column appearing in 400 daily and 300 weekly newspapers.
-
1945: Atomic bombs are dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
3. Search the web! For additional examples of World Chronologies and American history, consult these websites:
Back to Top
