Mike Pence’s Immigrant Saga Makes a Case for Compassion – I’ve decided that I have to occasionally speak up, even when it’s uncomfortable. I have a problem with the mean, I-got-mine-too-bad-for-you attitude that seems so prevalent these days, so when I spot inconsistencies, inaccuracies, or hypocrisy, I’m going to point them out.

The Lost Art of Victorian Human Hair Shrines – just wondering – is this a tradition we should revive or nah?

The Multicultural Family Tree of Bruno Mars – Given all his Grammy wins this past weekend, I thought it was time to freshen up my piece on his multicultural heritage.

How ‘chain migration’ brought us the Trump White House – This piece includes a shout-out to the research efforts of Jennifer Mendelsohn and yours truly.

Poised to make history, Justin Fairfax got a powerful reminder of his own heritage – Determined genealogist makes for exquisite timing.

Photo Credit: Ancestry.com DNA “Together Forever” video

The post Genealogy Roundup, January 31 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

A Personal Sort of Time Travel: Ancestry Tourism – Nice article, but not just for the retired! Also, a shout-out for George G Morgan!

Unravelling Brazil’s diverse DNA – I LOVE this juxtaposition of portraits and genetic ancestry!

Talking Statues in New York – A Public Art Project – Love this idea. Ellis Island, Douglass and the oft-overlooked Kossuth! Looking forward to these talking statues in NYC!

In Praise of the Go-Between – Totally agree with this. Genealogists face the same “bridging the gap” challenge.

11 Ways To Get a Letter from the White House – Hmmm . . . so you can get a letter from the White House if you’ve got a family reunion that’s been going on for at least 25 years.

Photo Credit: Third Roosters/Треті Півні

The post Genealogy Roundup, August 3 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

VIDEO: Sneak Peek – TLC Premieres New Docu-Series LONG LOST FAMILY, 3/6 – You know how we’ve all been scratching our heads wondering about TLC’s version of “Long Lost Family,” which was piloted so long ago and then disappeared? Well, it’s finally going to start airing on March 6th. And like every other genealogical show in the U.S., it’s sponsored by Ancestry. Based on this preview, it looks more promising than other adoption-reunion shows that have run in America.

On the Prowl for Springsteen’s Irish Roots – So Bruce Springsteen is going to play Ireland in May. Wonder if he’ll make a jaunt to Rathangan, Co. Kildare to explore his roots? Incidentally, his then-14-year-old gggrandmother came to the US in the winter of 1853 with 2 younger sisters in tow. Song-worthy, don’t you think?!

Long White House tradition nears end for a family descended from a slave – What an intriguing family history! Thanks to Suzanne Smith for sharing this!

Photos: 70 Years Of Family Photos Are Plastered On This Manhattan Beach House – Fun story from Suzanne Smith! Who’s going to decorate their house on the outside?!

What Race Is Bruno Mars? – For those who enjoyed the Half Time show during Super Bowl 50, here’s a peek into the family tree of Bruno Mars. Good looking granddad, eh?

The post Genealogy Roundup, February 10 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I posted saying someone in the media was looking for surprising genealogical stories and asking you to send me emails to forward? Well, here’s the resulting Wall Street Journal article – and a few of you are in there! Congrats! And thanks for sharing your experiences!
When a Genealogy Hobby Digs Up Unwanted Secrets

A video to go with the WSJ article! Heather Quinlan and journalist, Sue Shellenbarger both in there!
Video – DNA Testing, Online Genealogical Data Help Americans Discover Their Ancestry – WSJ.com

In honor of Michelle Obama’s birthday – everything you ever wanted to know about her family tree Michelle Obama’s Roots – Five generations, from slavery to the White House – Megan Smolenyak’s research

The post Genealogy Round Up, January 17 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

This is a simple, homemade video – a narrated PowerPoint – and subsequent research has revealed more than what’s included here (for more insight, please read this recent, seven-part series and/or the “Finding Melvina” and “Road to a First Lady’s Roots” chapters of my book, Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing), but I hope you’ll enjoy this overview of the remarkable family history of our First Lady.

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Chicago Beginnings (part 1)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: The Great Migration (part 2)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: The Great Mixing (part 3)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: LaVaughn Johnson (part 4)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Fraser Robinson (part 5)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Rebecca Jumper (aka Coleman) (part 6)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Purnell Shields (part 7)

The post Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: The First Lady’s Multicultural, Great Migration Past appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Chicago Beginnings (part 1)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: The Great Migration (part 2)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: The Great Mixing (part 3)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: LaVaughn Johnson (part 4)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Fraser Robinson (part 5)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Rebecca Jumper (aka Coleman) (part 6)

Like his future wife, Michelle’s maternal grandfather, Purnell Nathaniel Shields, arrived in Chicago as a youngster.  He was the second of three children born in Birmingham, Alabama to Robert Lee and Annie Shields, but before his tenth birthday, both his father and younger sister would be out of his life.  In the early 1920s, his mother Annie married a man named Frank Coleman and joined the northward trek, bringing her children with her.

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Purnell was a carpenter, but finding difficulty securing construction jobs, he spent much of his life churning through an impressive array of positions including laborer in a syrup factory, turntable engineer for the Northwestern Railroad (that is, one of the fellows who changed the directions of trains to make return journeys), relief worker for the city, garment worker, and building decorator.

Even though Purnell’s father, Robert, was a bit of a mystery man, more is known about the Shields branch of Michelle’s family tree than any other.  Robert’s father, Dolphus Theodore (or D.T. as he preferred to be called), was married four times (partly because he outlived several wives).  Robert was D.T.’s third child from his first marriage to Alice Easley.  He would also be the last one born in Georgia before the family moved to Birmingham.

D.T.’s mother, in turn, had begun her life in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  Born into slavery, Melvina was sent south to Georgia upon the death of her first owner, David Patterson (read more about this in the “Finding Melvina” chapter of Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing).  Shocking as it sounds to us today, his estate assigned her a price tag of $475 and doled her out to David’s daughter, Christianna Shields, to help ensure that all of his children would receive an inheritance of roughly equal value.  It was in Georgia that she encountered the white man who would father at least four of her children, including Dolphus.

In spite of his white father, Dolphus was also born into slavery.  Like his mother who lived nearly a century, he enjoyed a generous life span of 91 years – long enough to witness the initial stages of desegregation and just 14 years shy of Michelle’s birth.  Known to be an optimist in matters of race, D.T. lived in hopeful expectation, but even today, it’s stunning to think that the life of this one-time slave overlapped with that of his great-granddaughter, Marian, who now resides in the White House.

(to be continued)

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Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Chicago Beginnings (part 1)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: The Great Migration (part 2)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: The Great Mixing (part 3)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: LaVaughn Johnson (part 4)

Michelle Obama’s Ancestors: Fraser Robinson (part 5)

Michelle’s maternal grandmother, Rebecca Jumper, did an admirable job of keeping her past a secret, but that’s probably because she didn’t know much about it herself.  That’s unfortunate, because hers is an intriguing history, some of which can be traced back the 1700s.  Like LaVaughn, Rebecca was the baby of her family, the youngest of Jim and Eliza Jumper’s children.  She was born in Virginia, and whether she knew it or not, had a solid wall of Southern Virginia ancestry.

Many don’t realize that approximately ten percent of African Americans were free before Emancipation, and Rebecca’s Jumper ancestors were among them (read more about this in “The Road to the First Lady’s Roots” chapter of Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing).  Because of that, it’s possible to march back through the generations to her great-grandparents, Peter and Dolly, and their children, Peter, Syrena, Nicy, Richard, Puss, Molly, John and Kitty.

The name Jumper itself is interesting because the family is believed to descend from a woman named Hagar Jumper who managed to obtain her freedom around 1800 on the basis of her Indian heritage.  In fact, the earliest known mention of the name pertains to a Tuscarora Indian named Tom, and dates to 1707, though the connection between Hagar and Tom is uncertain.

All of this would have been news to Rebecca, though, as her family moved to North Carolina by the time she reached her first birthday.  But that was minor compared to what happened next.  Before long, she was sent to live in Chicago to be raised by a childless aunt and uncle.  While this might strike us as odd today, child-shipping was a pronounced feature of the Great Migration.  As members of an extended family spread out to different locations, all were expected to pitch in and help each other, and child care was frequently a component.  If young parents ventured to a northern city, they often left their children behind with Grandma until they got settled, and the reverse was also true.  If a portion of the family that stayed in the South was struggling – if someone died, lost a job, was widowed or otherwise struck with bad luck – a shuffling of children would often ensue.  Of course, in some cases, it was simply a matter that the family concluded that life in the North offered better prospects (such as a good education) for a child.

Rebecca was parceled off to her maternal aunt Carrie and her husband John Coleman while she was still very young.  As a result, although she had been born into a family of at least eight children, she was raised as an only child, and it’s clear that she regarded the Colemans as her parents.  She not only assumed their surname, but also dutifully wrote their names when requested to list her parents in official paperwork.

Rebecca’s uncle/father proved injury-prone with medical woes ranging from a bullet in the wrist to a fall that occurred while working for the WPA and left him using a cane. Perhaps it was tending to him that led Rebecca to become a practical nurse, but not before she married Purnell Shields.  Among the children she and Purnell had was a daughter named Marian who would one day become known as the “First Grandma.”

(to be continued)

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      By Chicago standards, January 17, 1964 was less frigid than it could have been.  Windy as expected, but partly sunny, temperatures would reach about 40 degrees that Friday.  But that was the last thing on the minds of Fraser and Marian Robinson as they welcomed their daughter, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, into their lives.  
      Fraser and Marian were both Chicago natives, born almost exactly two years apart in the city they would call home until Marian would eventually join Michelle in the White House – a scenario that probably seemed less likely at the time than the notion of recently assassinated President John F. Kennedy to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.  They had married in October 1960 and become parents for the first time in April 1962, so Michelle was also greeted by big brother Craig, whom she would one day describe as “my mentor, my protector, and my lifelong friend.”
      On the surface, the world seemed a more innocent place in 1964.  The Beatles hit the Billboard Chart for the first time the day after Michelle was born with a song called “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” Julie Andrews won the Best Actress Oscar for her singing nanny role in Mary Poppins, and the Easy-Bake Oven (soon to be a favorite of Michelle’s) was introduced.  And all things considered, life was indeed going well for the Robinson family.  
      Michelle’s arrival capped perhaps one of the most memorable weeks in their lives as Fraser had just obtained a job as a “station laborer” for the city’s water department three days earlier.  Essentially a janitorial position, it offered security, opportunity for advancement, and a salary of $5,748.  At the time, only nine percent of Chicago’s African American families earned $10,000 or more a year, a pay level that Fraser would attain by 1969 through a series of promotions.  Soon to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Fraser would have even more reason to value his new position, but for the purposes of his young family, what mattered most is that his income was sufficient to support them all.  Marian had the option and chose to be a stay-at-home mother.
      With Michelle’s birth, the Robinsons became a nuclear family of four and would remain so, but scattered around Chicago that day were four grandparents and one great-grandmother for the newborn.  Of these five elders, only one – the grandmother from whom Michelle would inherit her distinctive middle name of LaVaughn – had also been born in Chicago.  Like Michelle, LaVaughn Delores Johnson Robinson could be a considered a consequence of the Great Migration.  The others had begun their lives in Alabama, South Carolina and Virginia and were part of it.

(to be continued)

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