Donise Smith Lei

Delving into My Bitterroots Donise Smith Lei

Have you ever looked at your genealogy and family history and wished someone would create one of those lavish celebrity-based genealogy shows about your family? Donise Smith Lei, resisting the norm that only the well-documented rich and famous can know about their family, set out to find a way to discover the story of her enslaved ancestor. She tackled obstacles of a meager amount of documentation, and the unsavory topic of slavery in a unique way. Then, using techniques she honed as a teacher, she created new ways to resurrect her ancestor's life using data from her family tree and DNA matches. She also explains how she used DNA evidence to verify her relationship to her enslaved ancestor to compensate for the lack of records. Not only did she unearth a ton of information on African American history that everyone should know, but she designed a set fo specific materials to help others to get started and to keep track of their findings.