Who: Alton Brown, author, food-wizard, and television host
What: Looking for food heritage—and real American road food—with his latest show, the Food Network’s Feasting on Asphalt
Why: “For the vast majority of human history, hotels didn’t exist and eating meant lighting a fire,” says Alton.
With the price of oil hovering at record highs, who wouldn’t want to inherit a little? And the best way to find out just whose roots tap into black gold? By checking family history.
Just ask Genevieve Main. She put her family history expertise to work for the U.S. government for 14 years digging up the genealogy of land.
Before reading any further, see if you can answer the question. And here is a hint—you’re looking for something that’s not there.
You’re looking for children who aren’t in the photo. You can tell the couple had at least five children by the gaps in the ages of the children pictured.
Who: Susan Sarandon, actress
What: Coming Home, a family history series produced by BBC Wales in which Sarandon participated
Why: To discover her Welsh roots
“Of course when I started acting, all these very interesting actors were Welsh, and it just sounded like a very kinda’ explosive background.
Maybe your third great-grandfather insulted Abraham Lincoln or your great-grandma was the first woman to vote in her town. You’ve heard tales that your grandma’s sister was J. Edgar Hoover’s secretary or her bassist brother used to jam with Miles Davis. What do you do when you uncover a great family story that you know just needs to be told?
If anyone knows about researching family history, it’s Antwone Fisher. His name is recognizable from both his gripping memoir, Finding Fish, and the Denzel Washington-directed film depiction of it, Antwone Fisher.
Antwone Quenton Fisher was born in prison to 17-year-old Eva Mae Fisher and 23-year-old Eddie Elkins, who was shot and killed before Antwone was born.
The Italian kisses his children but scarcely speaks to his wife, never embraces or kisses her in public. The Hungarian and Slavish people put their arms around one another and weep.
Question: Say you’ve been stuck in your car for hours during a blizzard and your accelerator keeps sticking and can’t be unstuck. You finally escape the snow by stopping in Reno where your car gets towed and getting it back cleans you out. Now, really, why wouldn’t you just cut the road trip short and go back home?
Answer: This is no hypothetical question—it’s a true account.
As a volunteer photographer for the Heart Gallery, Donna’s modus operandi is to capture Micah on film. The Heart Gallery does the rest—organizing shows in public places where the photos act as the initial connection between child and the possibility of a forever family.
Donna takes her responsibilities to heart.
Sometimes the information you want about a specific relative can’t be found in the usual sources—birth, marriage, and death registrations, church registers, censuses, military and pension files, and courthouse, land, and probate records that often describe relationships. So where do you turn?