history
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When Wakanda Was Real
The reason people love superheroes is that, when done correctly, they are the perfect combination of our wildest fantasies and reality. There is no white guy born on a distant planet who came to Kansas and discovered that he could fly. If you are ever bitten by a bat, you probably want to get a…
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Tracing Your Roots: Who Were My Kin Born During Slavery?
Differing surnames and living arrangements complicate the search for the parents of an ancestor born during Reconstruction in North Carolina. Dear Professor Gates: I am curious to know who the parents were of my paternal great-grandfather Turner Bond (1868-1925). He was a self-employed blacksmith in Windsor, Bertie County, N.C., who could read and write. He…
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Tracing Your Roots: Did Grandma Have Creek Indian Roots?
An ancestor identified as black reportedly spoke a language of the Creek people. The family’s paper trail reflects the complicated history of the American West. Dear Professor Gates: I am seeking more information about my paternal grandmother Matilda Jane Tillman and her origins. Matilda Jane (or Tilly) was born on Dec. 26, 1895, in Marlton…
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Tracing Your Roots: Were My Ancestors Freed in a Big Court Case?
The largest manumission case in U.S. history led to a unique community in Virginia. Dear Professor Gates: My father’s side of the family are the Pleasantses from Henrico County, Va. They were free since around 1760 due to John and Robert Pleasants setting their slaves free and going to court with John Marshall as their…
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What Does It Mean to Have a ‘Gentrified’ Martin Luther King Jr. When Some Blacks Are the Gentrifiers?
My first real experience with the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. happened in 1980, just 12 years after his tragic assassination in Memphis, Tenn. I was a 14-year-old freshman at Loyola High School, a prestigious Jesuit all-boys school in Los Angeles built on the philosophy that rigorous academic training would produce the next generation…
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Tracing Your Roots: How Did My Ancestors Come to Texas?
On the trail of a great-great-grandfather from Louisiana who farmed in Texas at the height of Jim Crow. Dear Professor Gates: I have been working on my family history for several years; now I have hit a brick wall with my great-great-grandfather John H. McCants. I have only been able to locate him in the…
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Rosa Parks, Recy Taylor and Gertrude Perkins Are Mothers of the #MeToo Movement
In 2016, former Oklahoma City Police Officer and rapist Daniel Holtzclaw was sentenced to 263 years in prison for the rapes and sexual assaults of seven black women and one black girl, ranging in age from 17 to 58. He was found guilty of 18 of 36 charges, including four charges of first-degree rape, one…
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Tracing Your Roots: Where Was Grandpa Before World War II?
A town lost to history and a family fracture are among the factors complicating a search for ancestors. Dear Professor Gates: I have been trying to research my maternal line for 10-plus years, but I have not been able to find any documentation of my great-grandfather beyond his enlistment in World War II. I have…
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Tracing Your Roots: DNA Connected Me With White Kin
A reader wants to know if and how the black and white branches of his family connected during slavery. Dear Professor Gates: My entire life, I’ve never met another person with the surname Tillage that I wasn’t related to. They all have originated from Murfreesboro, Tenn. My great-great-grandfather was named Jesse Tillage and was born…
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Tracing Your Roots: Were My Ancestors Melungeon?
A find in the 1860 census catches a reader by surprise, and points to a possible heritage that is subject to debate. Dear Professor Gates: I have been asked many times, “What are you?” My response was always, “My mother’s family is from the mountains near Chattanooga in Tennessee, so probably a little bit of…