Lesson 9 -- History and Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps

Basic Challenge

1. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be dead to be listed in AncestryLibrary and can frequently find useful information in the U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002. You may even find your marriage license. Search for your own name in AncestryLibrary and report the results.

Well, I tried a few different ways of searching for my name, but every time I clicked on the "Search" button, nothing happened. This has happened to me on multiple occasions with this database, and I have no clue why. I tried it on a few different computers and no luck. 

2.  In AncestryLibrary, search for a grandparent or great-grandparent and see if you can locate them in the census.  Report your findings.

I tried searching my own name, husband, parents, etc and there seems to be a problem with the database, because it wouldn't search anything. This is a database I would love to use more, so this bummed me out. 

3.  In AncestryLibrary, type "South Dakota" in the location box and click Search. On the left side of the next screen is a link for Pictures.  Click Pictures, see what's there, and look at one or more. Report your findings. 

I wasn't able to type anything in to search, I was thwarted again, however, after much maneuvering I was able to find some documents on the USS South Dakota, on which my grandfather served. I was able to find the Muster Roll from 1943 and finally found his name listed: Jones, Harold "H"

I thought that even though I had a hard time using Ancestry, this was a win, because it connects me a little more with my family. 

4. In HeritageQuest, there are over 28,000 family and local histories in their online historical books.  Search for a place or browse the publications.  Report back on something that interested you.

I tried to do a little research on my father's side of the family. I did find some interesting information on the history of Montana, where his family hails from. The books were presented in a kind of microfiche style, which I thought was very neat. 

5. In Sanborn Maps, select South Dakota. Then select your town or a town with which you are familiar. Choose a date. Look at the first page containing the Index. Then navigate around the pages and see what you discover. Try to find a building on the map that is still in use today. Report your findings.

I had a lot more luck with this. I found some maps of Rapid City. I thought that these were very interesting because they showed how the city grew beginning with a map from 1885. I found a map from 1915, sheet 2, that showed a building that I work in now. It is now a restaurant with a bar downstairs and offices upstairs. From 1915, it showed that it was a: Garage, Heat: steam, Lights: electric,  cement floor 1st, 2 rows wood posts 1st, Rooming HO 2nd. There was a boarding house originally on the second floor of the building, so I thought that was very interesting, and the owners have pictures of the building when it was originally an auto garage. 
Common Core

In Lesson 9, spend some time exploring AncestryLibrary, HeritageQuest, and Sanborn Maps. Consider how you would use each resource to meet a Common Core standard. 

In your blog post, name the standards and briefly and specifically describe the lesson(s) you will teach using the genealogy databases to help meet the standard. Either describe a lesson that uses all three of these resources or three separate lessons using one resource each.


 5.RI.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or  concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.


 5.R.I.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.

I think that I could come up with a project using these standards. I think that it would be very interesting to have the students make and present their own family tree. They could start by interviewing one of their parents about their family history. Then, they could use Ancestry and HeritageQuest to delve further and confirm facts. I think that if they were able to incorporate a map image from Sanborn Maps it would help them to relate to their town more. Also, hopefully Ancestry would work. :-)



Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to get Ancestry to work for me. I would really love to use this database.