Tracing Michelle Obama's Roots

By: Dan Farber
Topics: White House

(NYTimes.com)

Melvinia was born in South Carolina around 1844. She was valued at $475 by the master of the estate, who willed the slave girl to relatives in Georgia. This the starting point of a New York Times article that traces the path from Melvinia, Michelle Obama's great-great-great grandmother, to the White House.

With the aid of a genealogist, reporters Rachel Swarns and Jodi Kantor uncovered five generations of the First Lady's maternal ancestors. As a teenager, Melvinia had a son, Dolphus T. Shields, born of a white father.

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It's not unlike the stories of many whose lives started in bondage in the U.S., but "for the first time fully connects the first African-American first lady to the history of slavery, tracing their five-generation journey from bondage to a front-row seat to the presidency," the authors said.

Read the full article here. And watch the geneologist who helped trace Mrs. Obama's family tree, Megan Smolenyak, who spoke with co-anchor Harry Smih on The Early Show Thursday, at left.

Daniel Farber is editor-in-chief of CBSNews.com.

Dan has more than 20 years of journalism experience. He has served as editor in chief of CBSNews.com, CNET News, ZDNet, PC Week, and MacWeek.
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by Michelle-Obama-Examiner October 9, 2009 9:16 AM EDT: Michelle Obama is not a militant anymore, thanks to spin doctors
http://www.examiner.com/x-19673-Michelle-Obama-Examiner~y2009m10d9-Michelle-Obamas-image-softenedhats-off-to-CatherineKatie-McCormick-Lelyvelds-think-tank; Reply to this comment


by slebrok October 8, 2009 6:34 PM EDT: look it's like this we all need to work together and turn this nation around. We need jobs 1st of all. let's spend our money wisely build green.
use our resoures coal, oil, natural gas ...etc become independent. Buy
american support our country. treat your neighbors as you would want them to treat you. respect we need respect. our country is only as strong as the weakest link. education is an essential we are falling behind. knowledge/wisdom is priceless.; Reply to this comment


by barbaram99 October 8, 2009 4:27 PM EDT: I have been looking in to the slave thing. I am white and Maine born. It may surprise ye that America hides a dirty secret. We think obly our blacks folk were the only slave in Ameica .Not true. There were way more whites what were slaves. Yep We all came from other bations our forebears were slaved . My late grammum knew and her would never tell me what nations our kin came from. I believe she knew and I pushed her for the answer. She answer American, I told her that was not the answer I am seeking. I think we may have come from Iraland /England. She knew the truth. I think it was our forebears were white slaves. I heard something about it as a child. Slavery is part of this nation's history both white and black. I trully have felt gate from a Native American woman who told me to go home. I asked my sighted friend what she mean as I live and born here. That was not not the answer she wanted. I heard anout wounded knee in the 70s.
Let me say this the constution is clear on ehe steps to be President. Mr Osbama has to know that he is born in US of A in order to hold the offic we the people put him in that office. HI was a state wgen he was born there. It is no secret First Lady Michelle comes from slaves.So does alot of whites in this nation. That is right ye read right. Whites were enslaved lomh before blacks ever were.; Reply to this comment


by anchoragemichael October 8, 2009 12:30 PM EDT: It always makes me chuckle, while also viewing the speaker warily, when I hear people compare liberals like myself to the Taliban and al Qaeda. I mean, what liberal ever blew up a building? What liberal ever tied a man to a fence and pistol whipped him to death? Etc., etc.

I'm proud of President Obama and Michelle too. America is a better place with them in it.; Reply to this comment


by pickaguitar1 October 8, 2009 10:53 AM EDT: YES WE CAN!; Reply to this comment

by clancy49 October 8, 2009 1:33 AM EDT

Will this slave issue ever end? For Pete's sake Slavery began in the West Indies by Dutch Traders who bought the slaves from the African coastal tribes. The coastal tribes often warred with the inland tribes and took captive slaves for their own purpose. When the costal Africans realized their captives were of value in a life of decadence and debauchery they began in earnest to make more war, take more captives and sell the captive slaves. Not withstanding there was brutal handling of the slaves, but in reality most slaves were valuable capital and treated as such. Slavery is wrong but part of world history for all races and all colors of the world. Can't we start punishing the Dutch for their merchant greed? Shouldn't we hold Africa accountable for their coastal tribal greed? You talk of roots but pray tell what is the African nationality? In Africa you are proud of your nationality. Your are Botswana, Nigerian, Zulu, South African, Zambezi, etc. Just like Irish, Polish, German, French, English etc. You don't say I'm European heritage. You shouldn't say I'm African heritage. You should say I am American.

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by armyoftwelve October 8, 2009 6:14 AM EDT: Actually, the arabs were trading black slaves waaaaay before the Dutch did. In fact, slaves were an economic pillar of the ummayid dynasty-there was even a slave revolt that took 15-20 tears to put down because the arabs treated their slaves like dirt.

Saudi arabia didn't outlaw slavery until the 1960's, there is still chattel slavery in mauritania. From time to time sudan has enslaved many of the blacks in southern sudan..even as late as the 1980's.

If we're going to punish people for trading slaves, we don't need to single out the Dutch, or the British.

by bajajohn1 October 8, 2009 12:05 AM EDT

Most amazing is how all these white plantation slave owners were sleeping with black women but would hang a black man for even looking at a white woman. Guess those white boys were not too happy with their homelife, had to go looking elsewhere.

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by dblbar1 October 8, 2009 11:13 AM EDT: Im not so sure they weren't happy with their home lives, as much as at that time in history, the slaves were their property, and they could do with them whatever they wished, which provided more sex for them, and nobody could do a darned thing about it......


by toldyouso21 October 7, 2009 10:42 PM EDT: hmmmm--now trace Melvinia's white master who fathered her son--and tell us if Michelle is related to either George Bush or Cheney--like Obama.; Reply to this comment


by bubbadubba October 7, 2009 9:36 PM EDT: right wingers - oxycontin eaters.; Reply to this comment


by khrish October 7, 2009 9:33 PM EDT: Don't you know that you can't entertain these folk. They get so little attention unless they are "teabagging or some other stupid form of attention begging project. And don't try to talk with them because you will only get a really bad excederin headache #500. I try to just ignore them and move ahead to living in the "real world" instead of the hog pen they create for themselves.; Reply to this comment