Younge House

Today Ms. Younge told us all about her grandfather, Dr. Fitzroy Egerton Younge, who immigrated to America from Guyana in the 1920’s.  He passed away when she was young and so she never got the chance to hear his immigration story.  Luckily he wrote it all down as his autobiographical notes and now it is preserved for all time.  Each year in Younge House, his story is passed down.  That is what makes our upcoming Oral History project so special.  We will be recording real people’s stories to preserve and add them to the history of our country.  To get a better sense of the actual process, check out this video Mr. Andre made (it’s about 4 minutes long).  This week’s assignment is choose someone to interview and schedule a time to talk to them.  All interviews should be completed no later than October 13th.

 

 Oral History Movie: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

To kick off the year, Younge House has begun its study of beloved author E.B. White. All of us are currently enjoying his children’s classic, Charlotte’s Web, and will soon delve into his other novels, Stuart Little and Trumpet of the Swan. Meanwhile in class, we are also reading other articles he has written, some on these works, as well as articles written about him, deepening our understanding of White’s life, motivations, and writing process. So what have we found out?

E.B. White was born in Mt. Vernon, NY on July 11, 1899. His father thought he was a lucky baby because he was born on the 11th day of the 7th month. He died on October 1, 1985 of Alzheimer’s disease.

His entire name was Elwyn Brooks White, but people called him “Andy” because the president of Cornell University was named Andrew White, and students with that last name earned the nickname.

He married Katharine White. They met while working at The New Yorker. They had one son named Joel.

E.B. White had a farm in Maine and raised animals, including pigs, on it.

He once found a spider, watched it form an egg sac, took both the spider and the egg sac home, and witnessed the birth of the baby spiders.

E.B. was the 6th child and youngest in his family. (Wilbur was also a “runt”.)

Our E.B. White fact board is certainly growing. Do you have any
facts for us to add?