I’m happy to announce that the first of two grant recipients in the first quarter of 2019 is Regina Dillard.

Regina shared that before passing away in 2010, her grandmother named her the family historian. Regina sought funding to do Y-chromosome DNA testing of the only two men of her grandmother’s generation left in the family who could be tested, ages 86 and 72.

In Regina’s words, she hoped the testing would help her family to “determine our father to father to father over generations and to know our true ancestry. We were slaves, and we carry the slave master’s surname, but are we related to the former master or did we just use their name? Also if we aren’t related to the master, perhaps the test will pick up the unknown relatives that we are related to. This testing will determine our ancestry.”

I was excited to receive Regina’s grant application because it illustrates that there’s still a role to be played by Y-DNA for particular scenarios. Different types of testing play well together!

Watch for announcement about the second grant recipient shortly. Meanwhile, though, as a reminder, you can apply for a Seton Shields grant here. Don’t miss checking out the cool projects I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to over the years, plus an article that will give you a behind-the-scenes peek into my grants program (and might help you increase your odds of being selected when you apply)!