Michelle Obama's Roots

In 1850, the elderly master of a South Carolina estate took pen in hand and painstakingly divided up his possessions. Among the spinning wheels, scythes, tablecloths and cattle that he bequeathed to his far-flung heirs was a 6-year-old slave girl valued soon afterward at $475.

In his will, she is described simply as the “negro girl Melvinia.” After his death, she was shipped to Georgia. While she was still a teenager, a white man would father her first-born son under circumstances lost in the passage of time. Melvinia Shields, the enslaved and illiterate young girl, and the unknown white man who impregnated her are the great-great-great-grandparents of Michelle Obama, the first lady.

During the presidential campaign, the family learned about one paternal great-great-grandfather, a former slave from South Carolina, but the rest of Mrs. Obama’s roots remained a mystery.

The newly discovered story of Mrs. Obama’s maternal ancestors for the first time fully connects the first African-American first lady to the history of slavery. The findings, uncovered by Megan Smolenyak, a genealogist, and The New York Times, substantiate what Mrs. Obama has called longstanding family rumors about a white forbear.

You can read more about this story in the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/us/politics/08genealogy.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1an and you can also watch a video slide show featuring Megan Smolenyak who provides a LOT more information on Roots Television at http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_africanroots3.php?bctid=35742160001&bclid=4865138001. The video includes details about Michelle's Native and Irish heritage, free and enslaved ancestors, 10 states that claim a piece of Michelle's past, and which relative invented a marble shooter.

Comments

[Renewable Ray]

Amazing story, I wonder if we'll see this in the mainstream media?

[Roger Moffat]

Well it was the last item on tonight's ABC World News with Charlie Gibson - necessarily quite abbreviated, but I think that counts as mainstream news :-)

[jking]

I always thought the New York Times was mainstream media.

[Vera]

As unreliable a source as the NYT has become, it'll be interesting to follow this story to see if it's legitimate.

[d.r.]

oh brother! everyone has black and white and who knows what else in their genes-big deal.

[Candy Spiegel]

Wonderful and moving story. Thank you for sharing it.

[Bonnie]

What a great presentation by Megan Smolenyak on Roots Televsion. It is a valuable medium.

[Pat Spencer]

How more "mainstream" can you get than the New York Times? The question is, will it appear in the conservative media?

[Jay]

it was on front page of the New Orleans Times-Picayune...full article with photographs

[Terri England]

Who cares? I'm considered white but the census records show my ancestors were either mulatto or black. This is not an appropriate article given Michelle Obama's thesis and her outspoken disgust for her white heritage. Why doesn't someone write an article about my family and my black forefathers? My original ancestor was a white slave for the first 30 years he was in Colonial America. It's all the same thing...which is equally boring. We are all a mixture and the point it moot.

Terri Brigman England

[Dick Eastman]

Reminder: The comments section here is for discussion of the articles immediately above the comments. I invite comments about genealogy, history, the facts discussed within the article, etc. Political attacks and libelous comments will not be tolerated. I have already had to delete several such comments from this thread of messages.

Now, who wants to discuss the facts?

- Dick Eastman

[Billie Bollwinkel]

Fascinating! I loved watching the video slide show and listening to Megan explain her finds and conclusions! Good research.

[Glenda Edwards Boyajan]

The real question is: Did you learn something from this that you can incorporate into your research?

It was an interesting article, and might provide someone with the necessary encouragement to start, or work on, their genealogy.

I suspect that many of us have a touch of "tarbrush" from either black or indian DNA imparted into our heritage at a time when it wasn't "fashionable". Many of us who can document our direct ancestors as slave owners through the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules could and very probably would find a multitude of black cousins among our contemporary cousins.

The sin is in being ashamed of this heritage, not in bearing it.

We can't do anything about what happened 150 years ago. But we can take pride in being who we are and what we are accomplishing today in our own genealogy.

[patricia Spear]

Fascinating story. I sure wish Megan could find out that much information on my illusive ancestors. I Throughly enjoyed the video. Thanks.

[sharryn clark]

"American Hertiage"magazine article couple decades old discussed European ancestry; 90% had some degree of color mixed into caucasian DNA. We all share this hertiage!

[Leonard McCown]

$475 for a six year old girl sure seems high for that time. I could understand that amount for a young man. Wondering if anyone else finds that price expensive. Much higher than any I have found in my research in Mississippi.

[Rozlyn Kelly]

Thank you for posting this story and the link to Megan's presentation. We each have a unique history and particular interest in our own ancestry, and that is also true for African Americans. It is a history that is as unique and interesting as any other, and should not be minimized in any way. Seeing Megan's presentation encourages me to continue to work on documenting my own family history and research in a way that will not only preserve it but also help others, including my own family, to appreciate it. I appreciate the integrity of your website and respect for history, in all aspects. I regularly check here to see what you have to say and always learn something that I can rely on.

[Mariann]

I agree, having a bi-racial or multi-racial background covers all of us if we go back far enough. My grandparents came here from Sciliy. Any comments about my background? I love the search for all the different parts that make up ME. I am now looking at Greece and Turkey which is quite the challege since I know nothing about either language. Suggestions?

[LindaS]

Great video by Megan Smolenyak on Michelle's roots. And thank you for keeping the political statements off the blog, I too find them offensive.

[Fran Parker]

Did Michelle give her permission for this study? If not isn't this a breach of privacy?

[Dick Eastman]

No. The facts of birth, marriage, and death are public domain information in the U.S. Anyone may legally research anyone else's ancestry. There is no legal breach of privacy.

I believe that every First Lady's ancestry has already been studied carefully. Michelle Obama is only the latest.

- Dick Eastman

[Sarah H. Studstill]

I found this to be very interesting, as most genealogy is

Far be it from me to question a leading genealogist, but then
questioning is exactly what led me into genealogy.

Just following some of this seems to be a pretty big "jump" tho on going to the Death Certificate, studying that document, which is on that 'Mattie McGruder' & having her (Mattie) be the same person as Melvinia ____ from SC on down into that later death in Bartow Co, GA.

Has anyone else had questions about this?

[Elaine]

I agree with Leonard that the price seems very high for a female child, and with Sarah that the big jump from assuming Mattie is the same person as Melvinia. We could all claim ancestors by assuming rather than by proving with actual written records. It is interesting, but seems a bit far fetched to me.

[Jane M. Fraser]

Has anyone found any information about the source of the name Fraser as a given name in Michelle Obama's tree? She is descended from a line of three men named Fraser Robinson? Thank you.