A Student's Guide to British American Genealogy [Hardcover]

Grade 7 Up?This volume explores why people trace their roots and includes a discussion of adopted children and a list of resources available to them (primarily for searching for birthparents). Chapters summarize English, Scottish, and Welsh history and traditions, describing names, nobility, clans, and heraldry, and the history of British immigration to America. Instructions are given on how to start a genealogical search. The last chapter addresses how to preserve what is found. Each section includes an extensive bibliography. While most students doing genealogical projects would not be going into the depths of research outlined here, the basic information should prove useful. Black-and-white reproductions of historical drawings and photographs appear throughout, along with a 16-page insert of full-color photographs that focus on Britain today. There is one problem with this title. While material about finding birthparents is important to adopted children, a book on genealogy of a specific ethnic group may not be the most appropriate place for a four-page list of resources for adoptees searching for biological family. Altogether, however, this is a well-written and rich resource for interested students.?Jane Gardner Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This is a well-written and rich resource for interested students." -- School Library Journal, April 1996

This major contribution to young adult genealogy studies helps create ethnic pride, self-esteem, and awareness of the extraordinary accomplishments each ethnic group has brought to the American experience. Designed for use in grades 6-12, this important new series explores the creation of the American people while promoting the use and understanding of solid research techniques. Oryx American Family Tree Series enhances the social studies curriculum--especially the thematic strands in the New Curriculum Standards for Social Studies-- * culture, time, continuity, and change * people, places and environment * individual development and identity * individuals, groups, and institutions * power, authority, and governance * global connections While using the volumes in this series, young adults experience a uniquely personalized opportunity to practice the historians craft as they learn how to collect data, obtain and evaluate documents and sources, use the latest electronic tools for researching, and conduct and record eyewitness accounts of historical events in family life. The volumes carefully describe the challenges unique to researching each ethnic group or region. Also explained are the "why" and "how" of tracing their roots if users are adopted or come from nontraditional families. Also, each book in the series provides basic historical and cultural background information. As young adults explore their cultural heritage, they gain self-esteem, personal identity, and ethnic pride. Each volume in the Oryx American Family Tree Series is packed with hundreds of annotated bibliographic references for print, electronic, and media sources, as well as many helpful organizations. Every book is lavishly illustrated with 4-color and black and white photographs throughout and features a glossary and an index. The series is published in sturdy 6" x 9" casebound volumes of approximately 200 pages printed on acid-free paper.

Anne E. Johnson holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin. She has spent many years researching and performing traditional ballads and songs from the British Isles and Ireland. This work inspired her interest in British history and emigration and in her own British roots.