FAMILY HISTORY Taylor George-Forte

Geography 10

November 26, 2013

INTRODUCTION

• James Cornelius George was

born on January 8, 1940 in

Texaskana, Arkansas. He was

born to James E. and Arlee

George and was the first born of

three.

• Mattie Mae Parham was born

on May 21, 1944 in

Eutaw, Alabama. She was born

to James and Ida Parham and

was the second of six children;

the first girl.

ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS

An ethnic neighborhood can be described as an

area that with higher concentration of a certain

ethnicity or group that minority elsewhere. In

1946, my grandfather and his family moved to

Monterey County, California. They moved into the

ethnic neighborhood, where the majority were

African American and low income. The neighborhood

was located in the unincorporated part of Monterey

Country which is today Seaside and Sand City.

Where my grandfather’s house was originally in Sand

City is now covered completely by sand dunes. His

family moved to a house a mile further inland in

Seaside where my great-grandma still stays by

herself at the age of 92.

PUSH FACTORS

A push factor is a subject or event that pushes

you to move from your home to another place.

My grandmother grew up in

Birmingham, Alabama, which at time there were

high tension because of the Jim Crow Laws. On

September 15, 1963, there was a bombing on

the steps of 16th Street Baptist Church in

Birmingham. Mattie was set to attend that

Sunday of the bomb but did not per her father’s

request. The bombing was a sign of the racial

tension escalating in the South at the time. This

was reason my grandmother was eager to move

to California.

EDUCATION

Education has always been important to my

grandfather. While in Junior College, his

friend wanted to tryout for the Oakland A’s

Major League Baseball team and my

grandfather went too for fun. They liked him

and offered him a position on the team. My

grandfather turned it down to attend San

Francisco State and further his education.

He graduated with a bachelor in engineering

and later got his master degree from UCLA.

WORK SECTORS

My grandfather, after finishing

school in 1972, he went to work

in the secondary sector as an

engineer for Southern California

Edison. He worked there until

1997 when he retired. In 2001

he went back to work but in the

quarternary sector as a

substitute teacher. He currently

works for Pomona School

District.

RELIGION

Religion is an important part of my

whole family. My grandmother was

brought up in the South as Baptist and

she passed it to the rest of the family.

We attend church every Sunday. My

grandmother is involved in the Women’s

Ministry, my mother in the Audio/Visual

department, and myself in the choir and

Usher board. We attend Mt. Zion

Baptist Church in Ontario.

CONCLUSION

That’s my grandparents story therefore it is my

story. It was wonderful seeing how Geography

can connect to my family. I learned more about

my family and that this class is more than just

remembering cities and states.