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.
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.
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