Think You Are (dot com)

You have heard about DNA testing for Genealogy and might be concerned that this will put you in some huge criminal database.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Both types of DNA testing are entirely different and the databases do not mix.  Do not worry about it.

With the popular television program, “Who do you think you are“, there has been a renewed interest in testing for Genealogy DNA purposes.  This NBC series produced by Lisa Kudrow of “Friends” fame has spurred additional interest in this already growing field of high tech family history sleuthing.

Follow the pursuit of several well known personalities and see how they were able to locate their family tree branches from only knowing a few modern day bits of the family story.

The method that cells are collected to be used for genealogy is totally pain free and you do not have to give a blood sample for this test.  The DNA kit that you select will have a small scraper sort of like a toothbrush that you rub up and down inside the cheek of your mouth.  Enough cells are rubbed off so that the swab is then sealed in a mailer and sent back to the testing lab for analysis.

Select one of the many DNA Testing Centers and order your sample kit online.   You will learn as to the part of the world that your earliest ancestors came from and also if your test results match any other people that have submitted a sample previously.  If you do not immediately find a direct connection then your data will remain in the database and in the future when there is a match you will be notified.

You will find that DNA kits are able to be purchased online here and other places, such as Discount Shopping Online.  There are several different companies and your choices are plenty. The  cost of DNA testing may vary from less than a hundred dollars to several hundred.  It all depends on how deep you want to go with the lab test.  With more markers being tested you will have a better possibility of finding that you match in part with others in the program.

In previous years you were only able to determine for males, the male surname line.  In other words the paternal line only of your father, grandfather, great grandfather and on back to the earliest times.  This is called the Y-DNA test.

Females can test their “umbilical line”, so-called as the mtDNA test goes to the maternal line only, such as your mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and  further back through ancient time.

There is also a new type of autosomal test that can match up family connections on the inner branches of your family tree.  You will locate first, second and third cousins with a high degree of probability and even might find matches to fourth and fifth cousins to a lesser degree.  This is called the Family Finder DNA test.  This means that you do not only have options to check the male Y-DNA line or the female mtDNA line.

Now go ahead and have some fun and in the process you will find new friends and relatives through this exciting new technology.  Once you have discovered genetic matches you may then use standard genealogical search procedures to document just how it is that you are related to these new found relatives.

It was the early death of his mother that spurred film director Spike Lee to delve into his maternal family tree. The director of 26 films, Spike Lee provides a creative voice for the black experience in America.

Lee was familiar with his father’s side of the family from some research done by an uncle, but his mom’s death when Lee was only 19 cut off the line of information that gets passed down when children grow up and inquire about their origins.

Lee had an early maternal influence from his grandmother Zimmie, a rare black college graduate in the 1920s.   During a trip to his great aunt’s home he discovered photographs and documents indicating his great-great-grandmother Lucinda had been born a slave.

Proving once again that heritage has a voice when we are not even aware of it, Lee learned an interesting fact about his ancestry that appeared quite innocently in his work.

In 1986 when Lee was directing his first film She’s Gotta Have It, he was trying to think of a name for a character.  He mentioned this task to his grandmother who suggested the name Mars.  Lee instantly loved it and created the movie character Mars Blackmon.  It turns out; Mars was the name of his great-great-grandfather.

As is the case with many African Americans seeking clues about their ancestry, Lee learned the family surname had been changed around the time of slavery in the U.S.  His great-great-grandfather Mars Jackson came from a family with the surname Woodall.

Woodall was the name of a slave owner in central Georgia and it was common for emancipated slaves to adopt the name of their masters, at least temporarily.

Spike Lee’s history is a common tale in black America.  His story helps answer confounding questions for many in his community.

This was the last of the “Who Do You Think You Are?” series for this first year on NBC.  Each and every one of them was filled with emotion and surprises.  We are so happy that the program will live for another year and personally wish that it ran all year long.  You may watch the past issues online for free at www.hulu.com.

We think of Hollywood celebrities as being privileged and blessed and with ancestors who provided much in the early days. Popular actress Susan Sarandon is proof this notion is misplaced. Her story is a familiar one of immigration, struggle, hardship and early death.

Sarandon’s maternal grandmother was a mysterious figure in Sarandon’s life. The only glimpse Sarandon had of her grandmother Anita was a curious photograph taken with her mother at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. The two stood before a funhouse mirror and the image is distorted and odd looking. Because Leonora’s father had remarried, he no longer wanted his daughter to have contact with her biological mother and the two lost contact.

Sarandon set out to find more about her elusive grandmother and learned through New York City census records that Anita had married, pregnant, at the age of 13. By then, her own mother had been dead for one year, leaving young Anita without the critical role model of a good mother.

Heartsick for this tale of tragedy in her family, Sarandon traveled to the family homeland in Tuscany to dive into details of the Rigali family history. She learned one of her ancestors produced plaster statues that were sold throughout Italy. And the excellent record keeping there traced her family name to the 1600s. Her great-grandfather emigrated to the U.S. in 1888, during a wave of immigration from Italy to the States.

Little Anita had a tough time. The first marriage when she was 13 did not work out. Neither did a second marriage in 1932.

Sarandon enlisted the help of her son to search all Anitas born on her grandmother’s birthday and learned her grandmother lived until 1984 very near where Sarandon grew up.

With so much genealogy DNA testing going on now, perhaps future generations will come to know their mysterious relatives are within close proximity.