Set your DVRs for Who Do You Think You Are

Tonight on NBC 8/7c

I’m doing this post very quickly because I have to volunteer in my son’s classroom in about 15 minutes. But I want to encourage you to set your DVR for NBC’s  Who Do You Think You Are? Tonight at 8pm. Originally a BBC show, the series will trace the genealogy of seven celebrities, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields and Spike Lee.

I confess, I used to think tracing one’s ancestors was something you did when you weren’t babysitting the grandkids or playing bingo. Back in November, though, I had a friend tell me some fascinating information she’d learned about her ancestors through ancestry.com. Since this friend doesn’t have grandkids or play bingo, I was persuaded to jump on and check it out. I started doing it as a Christmas present for my husband. Unlike real work projects, I found this to be compatible with parenthood (not just grandparenthood). You can do in fits and starts – and even with a lot of noise and interruptions. At points it does take concentration, but much if it is looking at Census data and other documents. One side of my husband’s family has only been in the U.S. for two generations so I didn’t get far with them, but the other side I did. In a matter of 6 weeks working at it here and there, I managed to trace many of my husband’s ancestors back to the 1600s. I even figured out that he was related to one of the first families of Virginia and a cousin of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Several weeks ago I decided to start a little work on my side of the family. I quickly found out that one of my grandfathers was a college musical director in Ohio. I had no idea! And then I stumbled on this info: a grandmother five generations back on my father’s side was mulatto (that’s what it said on the Census data, anyway). I assume that means she was half African-American. Her children, as well as every generation after that, were listed as white. I’m  blonde (ish)-haired, blue eyed Midwestern-born. My father and his parents passed away many years ago so I have no one to ask about this. I doubt they even knew because my mother didn’t.

To many people, what matters is what’s happening today, not what happened 150 years ago. I understand that. Live for today and all. Yet, there is something important about this. Wouldn’t we be a more inclusive society if we really understood where we came from? Bring it down to your neighorhood. Or my neighborhood. People say the burbs are getting more diverse. I can attest that at least my street is a smidgeon more diverse than any of us knew.

I have five minutes now to get to the classroom, so I’ll leave it at that! Happy viewing!