Gates learned of the Revolutionary War veteran in his lineage while filming
his PBS documentary, 'African American Lives.' (Staff file photo Justin
Ide/Harvard News Office)
Posted on 09/14/2006 4:38:49 PM PDT by Pharmboy
Gates learned of the Revolutionary War veteran in his lineage while filming
his PBS documentary, 'African American Lives.' (Staff file photo Justin
Ide/Harvard News Office)
Henry Louis Gates Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) on July 10 at the society’s 116th annual convention, held in Addison, Texas.
Gates learned of the Revolutionary War veteran in his lineage while filming his PBS documentary, “African American Lives,” a program that used innovations in DNA research and old-fashioned genealogical sleuthing to trace the ancestry of eight notable African Americans: entertainers Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Chris Tucker, and Whoopi Goldberg; astronaut Mae Jemison; neurosurgeon Ben Carson; educator Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot; and Bishop T.D. Jakes.
“You could have knocked me over with a feather,” Gates said of the revelation of the identity of his fifth great-grandfather. “It was my hope that African Americans, and children in particular, would be inspired by this series to embrace both science and history as paths to their learning about both their African roots and their American roots.”
Gates is also undertaking a joint project with SAR to identify other descendants of the approximately 5,000 African Americans who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
The effort is being funded by a grant from Joseph W. Dooley, the head of the lineage society’s membership committee, and by the Du Bois Institute. Jane Ailes of Research Consultants, a genealogical consulting firm in Virginia, will undertake a survey of the 80,000 pension applications of Revolutionary War veterans and compare these names to federal census records from 1790 to 1850, to ascertain the race of each applicant. Once the research is complete, the Du Bois Institute and SAR will advertise for descendants of these individuals and invite them to apply for membership in the society or in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
About the partnership between SAR and the Du Bois Institute, and the goal of increasing African-American membership in the two lineage societies, Dooley said, “Black men who love their country and their family seek to honor both by joining the SAR, just as their white fellow Americans have been doing for more than a century.”
The collaboration of the Du Bois Institute and SAR has the potential to alter, perhaps dramatically, the composition of the society, which currently counts fewer than 30 African Americans among its 26,000 members. Historians commonly estimate the number of African Americans and other nonwhites who served in the Revolutionary War as 5,000, but the actual number is unknown. In recent years both SAR and DAR have begun to open their rolls to African Americans who meet the strict membership guidelines, under which the military service of the ancestor has to be documented, as does the genealogical relationship of the applicant to that individual.
A PBS film crew also recorded Gates’ address at the SAR induction ceremony for the upcoming sequel of “African American Lives.” Several members of his family are also applying to or awaiting approval from the societies. During filming of “African American Lives,” Gates first discovered that his mother’s line descended from John Redman, a free mulatto who enlisted in a Virginia regiment in 1778. Coincidentally, Gates’ paternal grandmother was a Redman as well.
African American Patriot Sailor, USN, 1780
RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list
Freepmail me to get ON or OFF this list
Working on the paperwork bump.
Cool! My hubby's an SAR member on Mark Bird of Pennsylvania and one of his McSwain ancestors, and probably can quality on a couple of others.
Seems like all my ancestral males were born right before or during the Revolution to daddys who didn't serve because of age (young enough to beget, old enough not to fight!)...but I have enough multiple great uncles that I have thought about creating the Nieces and Nephews of the American Revolution!
But I'm still looking...I have suspicions about several ancestors. One day, I might be able to prove the paperwork!
I agree.
Black Americans have contributed a lot of positive things to this country.
DAR ping!
Bump!
Wow...I'm in process of joining. How'd ya know?
Also, a DAR bump
Should have added...If I bother with the paperwork. My aunt's been asking me if I want to join. (DAR)
Currently, we have two connections on mom's side and two on dad's. If anyone is able to do the checking, most American's can probably find a number of qualifying ancestors.
My kids were CARs.
(VROOOOOM!)
Neat story. I've always enjoyed the surprises digging back into my family history...well maybe not the one about some of the family who were loyal to King George during the American Revolution
The DAR criteria is that your ancestor served the country in military,civil or patriotic service for the time period between 1775-1783. Check out the DAR site, maybe an ancestor too young or too old to fight served in another way.
Great posting.
This has undoubtedly had a profound effect on Gates.
Excellent...very exciting to do the research. Best of luck!
I got into the SAR the easy way--a cousin had joined the DAR based on the same ancestor.
I'm glad someone in your family did the research! Excellent...
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.