Family History Connections

After reading numerous stories of my classmates, I found that the social and educational ways and conditions of different families were quite similar in the past, regardless of the country. From Carly's family history about many of her relatives, John's story about his great-grandparents, and Camal's history about his parents, I noticed that the neighborhoods of their elders did not have high education, were poor, and/or the children had to become responsible and take on jobs at a young age.

She gave herself the responsibility of raising her siblings, from when they were babies to adults..."Everyone was equally poor.” The entire country suffered from poverty...the children in the family mostly had elementary school education. (Carly)

Carly's grandma had to take the responsibility of raising her younger siblings at a young age, and as a result, became more like a motherly figure in her family. During the Mao period, everyone was poor, and the entire country suffered from poverty. They didn't have much to eat for meals, and the main meal everyday was always dinner. The children there also did not have a high education, with most children having an elementary school education.

My grandmother's grandparents...where two school teachers who had about a 12th grade education. At that time in Texas for African American people that was considered to be rather high. (John)

John's great-grandparents were different from others in their neighborhood, and had an education around twelfth grade, which was considered to be high. Many of the African Americans in Texas then did not have an education as high as their's.

Not a lot of money flowed in and out of this area so the income level was real low. As a kid, my dad was already given huge responsibilities. (Camal)

Camal's parents lived in poverty in Yemen, and his father had to take on large responsibilities as a child. He would take on many tasks on the family farm to make sure thieves didn't steal and that the farm and cattle were fine by watering and watching them.