{"id":4515,"date":"2021-01-27T18:05:28","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T00:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/?p=4515"},"modified":"2021-01-27T18:05:28","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T00:05:28","slug":"family-history-book-project-by-young-author","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

High school student chronicles her connection to extraordinary Native American women<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s so much fun to hear about other people\u2019s family history books and be inspired by their work! I\u00a0<\/span>recently interviewed Abby, a 15-year-old high school student from San Diego, California, who has a serious passion <\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>documenting family stories. Abby, who is a distant cousin of mine, is a smart, charismatic storyteller who is writing a book! Isn’t that awesome?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"15-year-old<\/p>\n

Abby is writing stories about her mother\u2019s side of the family, which includes some amazing Native American women from the Northern Paiute tribe. Each chapter of her book<\/span>\u00a0will chronicle the life of a different female relative. It sounds so inspirational and interesting. I can\u2019t wait to read it!<\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully Abby and her enthusiasm for family history will inspire you to get started on your own project.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Question: What got you interested in writing about your family history?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Abby\u2019s answer:<\/b> My mom has this bookshelf in her room and there\u2019s a Native American section. I was looking through the books one day, and started reading about a really interesting woman named <\/span>Sarah Winnemucca<\/span><\/a>. I was like, \u201cThis lady is so interesting and cool!\u201d And my mom said, \u201cYou know we\u2019re related to her, right?\u201d And I was like, \u201cNo way!\u201d So then I started asking my grandma all these questions about her because Sarah was from her side of the family. The more I learned, I was like, \u201cOh my goodness, I can’t believe I\u2019m related to this lady. I need to know more!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Question: It\u2019s fun to hear a young person get excited about their family history. Have you always enjoyed it?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Abby\u2019s answer:<\/b> Yes, I\u2019ve always been interested in history. I have dyslexia and dyslexics really like storytelling. I think that\u2019s how I came to like it. Plus, I really like talking to people older than me. I\u2019ve always loved hearing my grandparents\u2019 stories and learning about their lives when they were younger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Question: So, when did you decide to write a book?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Abby\u2019s answer: <\/b>I started getting into Native American history when I was 11 or 12 years old. I knew my grandma was Native American but I didn\u2019t have much knowledge about it. When I learned we were related to Sarah Winnemucca, I became very interested. She\u2019s really incredible. She wrote books and was an advocate for Native American rights. The more I read about her, the more I wanted to learn about my other relatives and their stories. So, that\u2019s when I decided I should write my own book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Question: What else have you learned about your mom\u2019s family?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Abby\u2019s answer:<\/b> Usually, when people say Native Americans, it\u2019s the Plains tribes they envision — teepees, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, you know, the well-known chiefs. Sarah and my ancestors were from the Northern Paiute tribe in Nevada. Sarah lived during the time when they sent young Native American children away to Catholic schools in California. Later, her mother was killed during a U.S. Cavalry attack on their tribe. It was a hard life for them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Statue<\/b><\/h3>\n

Despite everything that happened, Sarah traveled around the country educating white Americans about Native American issues. My great aunt Louise worked decades trying to get Sarah publicly known and recognized for her work. She even helped get a statue of Sarah built in Washington D.C<\/a>. It\u2019s in the Hall of Columns in the U.S. Capitol Building.<\/span><\/p>\n

My grandma was really close to my great aunt Louise. So I would visit with them all the time. Unfortunately, I was too little to really ask questions and then great aunt Louise passed away in 2016. I\u2019m bummed that I never got to interview her and ask questions about Sarah. But I’m proud to continue all the work she started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Question: So how are you researching Sarah, her life and the Northern Paiute tribe?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Abby\u2019s answer:<\/b> I have a couple books about Sarah and I\u2019ve been doing a lot of Internet research. Just recently I got so excited because I found Sarah\u2019s grave through my online research! No one knew where it was. My parents said I should become a detective! I also found pictures of Sarah and her sister Elma on a Facebook website. It even has a picture of Elma\u2019s house. I know it\u2019s hers because there are Native American baskets in the photo. In that area of Idaho, there weren\u2019t many Native Americans around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the books I have about Sarah was really interesting. College professor Sally Zanjani wrote the book. I found her mailing address and sent her a letter with questions about how she found all her information. Unfortunately, Sally had already passed away. But I got a really nice letter back from her son. He said she would have loved to meet me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another tool I use is ancestry.com. It\u2019s a great place to find dates, relatives, marriages, birth places, documents, and other information about your relatives. It was really useful when I was making timelines for my book.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question: What\u2019s next on your project list? Do you want to keep writing family history books?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Abby\u2019s answer:<\/b> I haven\u2019t really thought about it too much, since I\u2019m still writing this book. But I definitely want to keep writing. It would be fun to research my dad\u2019s family, too!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Has Abby inspired you to start collecting and preserving family stories? I\u2019ve outlined <\/span>seven easy steps to help get you started<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

High school student chronicles her connection to extraordinary Native American women It\u2019s so much fun to hear about other people\u2019s family history books and be inspired by their work! I\u00a0recently interviewed Abby, a 15-year-old high school student from San Diego, California, who has a serious passion for\u00a0documenting family stories. Abby, who is a distant cousin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[54,42],"tags":[79,59,66,62],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nYoung Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book : Circa Legacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Need inspiration for a family history book project? Read 15-year-old Abby's inspiring story about the Native American women in her family.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book : Circa Legacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Need inspiration for a family history book project? Read 15-year-old Abby's inspiring story about the Native American women in her family.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Circa Legacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/circalegacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/circalegacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets-1024x576.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"circalegacy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"circalegacy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"circalegacy\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e179465840495f74995c9955e56e515\"},\"headline\":\"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/\"},\"wordCount\":949,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png\",\"keywords\":[\"defining your legacy\",\"family history\",\"family memory book\",\"family project\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Project Ideas\",\"Writing Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/\",\"name\":\"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book : Circa Legacy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Need inspiration for a family history book project? Read 15-year-old Abby's inspiring story about the Native American women in her family.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png\",\"width\":2240,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"A tapestry of family history stories with brightly colored collection of Native American blankets hanging on wall.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/\",\"name\":\"Circa Legacy\",\"description\":\"They're not just stories\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Circa Legacy\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/circalegacy_hor_plum.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/circalegacy_hor_plum.png\",\"width\":318,\"height\":54,\"caption\":\"Circa Legacy\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/circalegacy\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/circalegacy\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/keesia-w-27890810\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e179465840495f74995c9955e56e515\",\"name\":\"circalegacy\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/circalegacy\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/circalegacy\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/keesia-w-27890810\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CircaLegacyStories\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book : Circa Legacy","description":"Need inspiration for a family history book project? Read 15-year-old Abby's inspiring story about the Native American women in her family.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book : Circa Legacy","og_description":"Need inspiration for a family history book project? Read 15-year-old Abby's inspiring story about the Native American women in her family.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/","og_site_name":"Circa Legacy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/circalegacy","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/circalegacy","article_published_time":"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets-1024x576.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"circalegacy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"circalegacy","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/"},"author":{"name":"circalegacy","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e179465840495f74995c9955e56e515"},"headline":"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book","datePublished":"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/"},"wordCount":949,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png","keywords":["defining your legacy","family history","family memory book","family project"],"articleSection":["Project Ideas","Writing Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/","url":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/","name":"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book : Circa Legacy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png","datePublished":"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-28T00:05:28+00:00","description":"Need inspiration for a family history book project? Read 15-year-old Abby's inspiring story about the Native American women in her family.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png","width":2240,"height":1260,"caption":"A tapestry of family history stories with brightly colored collection of Native American blankets hanging on wall."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/family-history-book-project-by-young-author\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Young Writer Begins an Inspiring Family History Book"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/","name":"Circa Legacy","description":"They're not just stories","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#organization","name":"Circa Legacy","url":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/circalegacy_hor_plum.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/circalegacy_hor_plum.png","width":318,"height":54,"caption":"Circa Legacy"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/circalegacy","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/circalegacy\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/keesia-w-27890810\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e179465840495f74995c9955e56e515","name":"circalegacy","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.circalegacy.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/circalegacy","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/circalegacy\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/keesia-w-27890810\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CircaLegacyStories"]}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/native-american-blankets.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circalegacy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}