This section of the Crossroads website was created to highlight the different waves of immigrants that have come to live in this area over time, reinforcing the idea that the Hayward area is a crossroads of people. Included are stories of 12 children who live in different historic eras and represent different ethnic groups. The children are either real historical characters or are composites based on what life may have been like for a "typical" child of a particular era and cultural group.

Meeting the Standards

The entire Crossroads website was developed in conjunction with elementary educators and district personnel. They helped to ensure that the content reflects California State Curriculum Standards. Currently, this People section is most appropriate for History/Social Studies for 3rd local history and 4th grade California state history. Our long-term goals include adding resources that are appropriate for K-12 and are multi-disciplinary.

The Children

The list of children was created by our team of advisors from California State University Hayward, including Dr. Colleen Fong from Ethnic Studies, and Dr. Jessica Weiss and Dr. Robert Phelps from the History Department. They selected significant eras of immigration, beginning with the first people to come to the region thousands of years ago, to the most recent immigrants. We have tried to offer a broad cross section of people that reflect the historic and current demographics of the East Bay.

It is of course impossible to represent each cultural or ethnic group that lives in our community. However, because of the flexible nature of websites, adding stories, information, resources, and curriculum about other members of the community is possible and can be looked forward to in the future. In the meantime, we think that we have presented a solid foundation from which to teach about our local heritage and contemporary population.

The stories of these children provide insight into the experiences of immigrants as well as offer historical information about why people came here, how they got here, and what were some of the traditions they brought with them. Each has been researched by a team of scholars, university students, and elementary school educators.

The Stories

From the "people dial" you and your students can select a child to learn more about by clicking on the image, the name and date, or on the short bio below the picture. From the child's menu page, students will have the options of reading a story, viewing a map, or seeing images. We plan to add more choices to this menu to include activities and further explorations.

You will also find a Teacher link on the child's menu page giving you additional information about the child, lesson plans, and links to other resources. Again, we plan on expanding the options here for you to include additional content and teaching materials.

The Immigration Kit

Coming in the spring of 2005…
This latest addition to our classroom discovery kits will feature the 12 children found on this website. It will include artifacts and images from their lives, as well as maps, audio visual materials, and suggested activities. To reserve this kit for the spring, please contact Adrienne McGraw at adrienne@haywardareahistory.org.