Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing:: Adventures in Discovering News-Making Connections, Unexpected Ancestors, and Long-Hidden Secrets, and Solving Historical Puzzles
About this ebook
Part forensic scientist, part master sleuth, Megan Smolenyak has a unique way of digging up our historical roots. She discovered Barack Obama’s Irish ancestry—and his relation to Brad Pitt. She revealed the true story of Ellis Island’s first immigrant, Annie Moore. And she shed light on a startling link between politicians Al Sharpton and Strom Thurmond.
In Hey America, Your Roots Are Showing, the “Indiana Jones of genealogy” reveals how she cracked these and other news-making cases. Along the way, she shares her own story of becoming genealogy’s celebrity face. She even explains why her name is squared (Buzzy Jackson, author of Shaking the Family Tree).
Whether she's scouring websites to uncover the surprising connections between famous figures or using cutting-edge DNA tests to locate family members of fallen soldiers dating back to the Civil War, Smolenyak's historical sleuthing is as provocative, richly layered, and exciting as America itself.
“Megan is a genealogist's dream, a forensic investigator who can also tell a great story.” —Sam Roberts, The New York Times
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About the author
Megan Smolenyak is an incurable genealogist who loves solving mysteries, making unexpected discoveries, and pushing the boundaries of conventional genealogy. A popular writer, speaker, and TV guest, she does all she can to get the g-word out there and inspire others in their quest for roots. She has appeared on Good Morning America, the Today show, CNN, NPR, and the BBC, and consulted on shows ranging from Who Do You Think You Are? to Top Chef. Megan is the author of six books (including Who Do You Think You Are? The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History, companion guide to the NBC series), a Huffington Post contributor, and a former chief family historian and spokesperson for Ancestry.com. She lives in southern New Jersey with her husband and lots of research tools.
