Angelica Gumucio

Prof. Presnell

ENGL 1103

02/25/14

Ancestors Proposal

Inquiry question: Are my ancestors really from the Czech Republic and why did the come to South America?

Primary purpose: To explore.

I want to know all about my dad’s background. I really want to know where my last name came from and if my ancestors from my dad’s side are really Czech Republic. We have a family crest and I also want to know if that comes from them as well. At this point in my research I will google my last name and see what comes up with that and maybe search my crests. I have also been thinking about using ancestors.com website but I do not want to pay money for it but at the same time it might be worth it to find out about my ancestors. I might find something completely different than what I was told or I might find out that my ancestors were nobility in Europe. You never know.

Prior beliefs, assumptions, stereotypes:

I do not know anything about the Czech Republic at all. I do not know of any stereotypes that they hold or even what language they speak. But my dad and mom both grew up in South America, which I am sure, is completely different from the Czech Republic. My parents speak Spanish, and just like my ancestors, my parents left South America for better opportunities, I am sure of that.

Maybe I should also look up my mom’s side and not just my dad’s side of the family. I do not know much about my ancestors from my mom’s side either and I am sure that would be interesting as well.

I became interested in finding out about my ancestors when I was in high school. I would always get asked if my last name is Italian and I would say no until one night I decided to ask my dad where our last name came from and he said the Czech Republic and that his great grandfather was from there. After that when people would ask I would tell them what my dad told me but now that I am older I need more depth to that answer and to what out if it really is true or not.

Working knowledge:

So as I started my research to find out about my ancestors, I googled my last name and one of the many things to pop up was this article by Marcelo A. Gumucio named “In Search of My Ancestors: From Vizcaya to California” which is another person’s search to find out where his ancestors come from. What intrigued me about this article was that it does mention Bolivia in it and how he has family members living there and well my dad is from Bolivia so I think this resource well come of good use to me. I do not know who this person is but maybe he could be a relative I do not of.

When I also googled Gumucio, a result that I found was of a man named Alfonso Gumucio Dragon, who appears to be a famous Bolivian writer, filmmaker and journalist, which I know I have a relative named Alfonso but I do not know if this is him but if it then I think this is pretty cool. I would have to ask my dad and family members in Bolivia if they know this man or not.

Another google search I did was of my dad’s full name, which is Wenceslao Carlos Gumucio and I got results of him from my hometown, Siler City, NC, and of Grasonville, Maryland, which is where he use to live a long, long time ago and I got results of articles and publications in Bolivia. The articles and publications in Bolivia seem to be very broad so I do not think they will come in handy but I will look over some of them to see if anything is relevant.

Something I am debating in using is ancestry.com, first because I do not want to pay for it and second what if I do pay for their services and nothing comes up? It is a good source to use I think but I do not know if there will be any useful information there if it isn’t already on the web itself.

My first and most important go to resource would be my family members, they might not know everything but they do know what path to send me down to collect information. I have asked a few of them already thru facebook and email so all I am waiting for is a response. I have not asked my dad just yet but I want to be able to do it in person and actually capture what he says, instead of over the phone. I know my half brother did research on this topic a long time ago as well so he will also be a helpful resource for this.