Do You Create School Chronologies?

A chronology of school attendance can be good for you to develop for yourself or as something to ask someone you are interviewing. People who moved around a lot as children may remember names of schools they attended better than specific addresses.

I’ve posted mine as an example. My residence never changed, but the school district moved us around a little bit:

  • kindergarten-second grade–Ferris Elementary School, Ferris, Illinois [where my parents both went to grade school for time]

    carthage-illinois-high-school-1935

    Photograph of postcard showing former Carthage High School. Subsequently it was the junior high school.

  • third grade–Lincoln Elementary School, Carthage, Illinois [where my mother taught elementary school for over thirty years]
  • fourth-fifth grade–Union-Douglas School, east of Basco, Illinois
  • sixth grade–Ferris Elementary School
  • seventh-eighth grade–Scofield Junior High, Carthage, Illinois [it was the high school when my maternal grandmother attended it]
  • ninth-twelfth grade–Carthage High School, Carthage, Illinois [where my parents went to high school]
  • freshmen year college–Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Missouri
  • remainder of college (BS and MS)–Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois [where my mother and several great-aunts and great-uncles attended]

It’s ok to have blanks, especially as you work back in time with earlier family members.