On a street map of New York, outline Harlem as it existed during the Great Depression. Using the geographic clues in the story, plot the Grimes house, the rockpile, the area where Richard's son drowned, and any other events or locations that you can identify from the story's descriptions.

In the story, the Grimes family lives in a tenement apartment. Research how many African Americans lived in houses, apartments, and other types of housing developments in Harlem during the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Plot both sets of statistics on a chart or graph, and discuss the housing trends between the two time periods.

Research the number of illegitimate African-American children in Harlem during the Great Depression, as compared to the number of illegitimate African-American children today. Write a profile of one famous illegitimate African American &mdash...