Empire State and a State of Empire

Interview for a Great Depression and WWII Vet

2009-04-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

We have the unique opportunity as a class to be able to ask questions for a man who served in President Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps as a teenager in the Great Depression and then in the US Military in World War II in his early 20's. The questions will be asked by one of our classmates and the responses will be videotaped. He loves talking about his experiences and telling stories about his life, but does not have the stamina to come in and talk to each class.

Please post a question about:
1. Life in the Great Depression
2. Work in the Civilian Conservation Corps
3. Life as a soldier
4. Experiences in WWII
5. Life back at home after the war

When you post your question, please indicate which topic you are addressing by copying the topic from the list above and pasting it in your response. Please tell us who you are, or what class period you have Social Studies if you are posting as "anonymous." Thanks! This should be fun!

Here is some information about the man we will be interviewing:

17 or 18 years old when he left Alabama and joined the CCC's firefighters in California
4th Air wing Marine 13th Air group in the Pacific
WWII are from his stint in the Marshall Islands and Fiji

Sample Immigration Assignment

2007-11-24T17:50:00.001-08:00

"Life has taken a turn for the worst. We are getting abused by the British, persecution is getting overwhelming, and now our potatoes are diseased and rotting! We have to leave Ireland... the potato famine is too much for us to handle. I can't believe that our staple crop has been diseased and rotting in the ground! We can't take this abuse... we will die without this food, and no money! We need to leave... maybe, just maybe, we could get to America! We could leave from Dublin, I know it would be long, but we need to make the trip. Uncle James is there, I wonder if he could find us some jobs!!! We so desperately need it!"

First Post

2007-10-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would need or want a blog. Friends have had them for a long time, and I never saw a need to post about something random online. I have recently realized that there is more to blogging than random posts. I would like this site to be a discussion forum for students of our world and country. That means students in a classroom, and it includes those of us who are wanting to understand what is going on in our world. It is my hope that we can be critical and understand why the world is the way it is. I am based in New York, and as a citizen of this state and country, the parody of Empire State and the nation's state of empire was too good to resist.

Two of the most difficult concepts for people to understand in American history are colonization and imperialism. Perhaps they are difficult to comprehend because they have become so ingrained in our country's lifestyle. Share your thoughts!

Newspapers

2007-10-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

What is the future of newspapers and print media? How much more will we be ignorant and tolerate the propaganda that our news media feeds us? Get educated and understand how the rest of the world feels! It matters!
Check out two sites:

http://www.crayon.net/read.cgi?jredeker@gmail.com

http://www.aldaily.com