NYT on Mrs. Obama's genealogy
This is American history. This is the history that gets left in the dusty and dingy rooms of courthouses all around the country. I learned more--or at least I learned to ask more-- about this country because I've seen the U.S. Census schedules, deeds, wills, order books, chancery orders and a sundry of other records. I learned more--and still have much much more to learn--than I did in text books or sitting in classrooms. I learned the unofficial history of this country through its people and the records that their lives and deaths created.
