A Day in the Life: Your Ancestor's Thanksgiving
Write a two-page story of one ancestor's Thanksgiving, and read it at the table on November 26.
You bring a name, a place and a census record. In three one-hour sessions we write together. You leave with a finished, sourced story about one ancestor, on one Thanksgiving, in one place.
What you'll do
Day 1, Tue Nov 17: Place them. The year, the address, the household and the work, straight from the census. You write the opening.
Day 2, Wed Nov 18: The day itself. The table, the work, the church, what things cost. You find the detail nobody in your family knew, in that week's newspaper.
Day 3, Thu Nov 19: Finish and read. Write the close, cut anything without a source, and read your first paragraph aloud.
Every session runs one hour on Zoom and we work together while on the call so you leave with work in progress. Each class is recorded.
What you need to bring
One ancestor and one Thanksgiving year. A census year is easiest. The census image. Any AI tool. A free plan is enough.
What you leave with
A chronicle started, every detail traced to a record or a named source, with your source list at the end. No made-up dialogue. Just what we can know. You also get the A Day in the Life Workbook, a printable PDF: the prompts for each day, fill-in pages, your source list and your plan for finishing.
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Denyse Allen, Chronicle Makers