Dear Parents and Teachers The History Files series takes readers into significant eras in United States history allowing them to walk in the shoes of characters living in the periods they’ve learned about in the classroom From the journey to a new beginning on the Mayflower to the strife of the Vietnam War and beyond each title in this series delves into the experiences of diverse characters struggling with the conflicts of their time Each book includes a comprehensive summary of the era along with background information on the real people that the fictional characters mention or encounter in the novel Additional websites to visit and an interview with the author are also included In addition each title is supplemented with online teacher parent notes with ideas for incorporating the book into a lesson plan These notes include subject matter background information inspiration for maker space activities comprehension questions and additional online resources Notes are available at www RourkeEducationalMedia com We hope you enjoy the History Files books as much as we do Happy reading Rourke Educational Media 3
Table of Contents Chapter One 6 Chapter Two 12 Chapter Three 25 Chapter Four 36 Chapter Five 51 Chapter Six 65 Chapter Seven 71 Epilogue 83 5
Chapter One The caterwauling cries of a woman in distress carried down the stairs in shrill vibrations Mrs Walker was upset about something and she wanted everyone to know about it Sam O Neill got up and looked around the small enclave attached to the kitchen that served as his family’s dining area His sister Julia wiped her hands on her apron pausing from her work preparing the Walkers next meal You go look Sam said No you go Last time I went up there she nearly bit my head off They hate when I’m up there They say it looks bad to have a child working as the help Then maybe they shouldn’t have hired the poor Irish family that’s got three of them 6
