A familiar question, one that is usually asked when you’re in trouble. However, this time, it takes a different meaning. Seven celebrities embark on a quest to answer the question, “Who do you think you are?” in a new television series on NBC. Of course, Ancestry.com on of the largest Genealogy Websites is helping out.

The celebrities featured in the new show include:

• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Susan Sarandon
• Spike Lee
• Mathew Broderick
• Brooke Shields
• Emmitt Smith
• Lisa Kudrow

The premise for the show might appear boring if the celebs were merely sitting at a computer looking at family tree info; you’ll have to watch below to see if that’s the case:

From NBC (after the ad):

From Hulu:

The show starts Friday Evening, March 5th and continues each Friday.

Resources through Ancestry.com help make the series possible. Ancestry.com offers a Free Trial to new signups.

First, you’ll need to upload or enter some of your family history information into the Ancestry Family Tree Program (on the web). After entering or uploading information for a few relatives (you’ll need locations in what you enter), you’ll be able to see information for a relative on a map.

This is not only helpful for understanding the areas where your ancestors may have lived, but you’ll also be able to see if a certain event took place near a cemetery, school, church, etc. where you might be able to search and find new records.

To get started with your family tree: Start Your Family Tree

To get started with Ancestry’s other features: Free Trial – Ancestry.com World Deluxe Membership

There is much we can understand about what our ancestors may have felt and situations they may have been involved in if we research the history of the time. Oh boy, sounds like loads of work, but actually it’s very easy and fun. You really only need to go to one place, and citing your references couldn’t be easier if you’re going to type a short (or long) history about one of your ancestors.

1. Get the dates. Obtain the dates and place names related to the ancestor you are researching. These may be birth, death, marriage, or any other dates you may have.
2. Look up interesting events. Now it’s time to research, but it’s going to be much easier than you think. Take the year for the date you have, for example, a marriage date (let’s say January 10, 1850 in Illinois, USA) and go to http://wikipedia.org and type the year 1850 into the search text box. You should now see information on significant events that occurred in the year 1850. Take these events, and write about what you think your ancestor may have thought about certain events. Do this for each year, or select the decade option to view events over a period of time. Looking at the events will provide you with insight into the time of your ancestor’s life.
3. Write about the events. Don’t write things like “he felt sad to learn…” as you look at the events because you don’t know for sure, but you can raise questions, provide insight, and make suggestions. For example you could write something like, “How did <ancestor name> feel when he heard the news that the President of his country had died and Vice President Millard Fillmore had taken over as president?¹ It’s possible that <ancestor name> was interested in politics and what the new president’s position would be on issues such as slavery, but he may have been more concerned about local issues living so far away from the hub of politics.” Now that’s just a quick little example, but you get the idea. Notice the little “1″ reference marker. I like to place footnotes at the bottom of the page to cite the reference, and with Wikipedia, it couldn’t be easier. When you use a page to get information, click the “Cite this Article” link on the Wikipedia article and the website provides references in your standard styles already created for you. Just copy and paste the citation into your footnote.
4. Finish your story. It’s absolutely fascinating to go through the period of an ancestor’s life, one that you knew nothing about except dates and places, and find so many interesting events that occurred during his or her lifetime. Compile your story and facts you’ve collected by year or decade, and make sure to include your citations for the references you used. Last but not least, add your name as author of the document and date when you compiled it.

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^1. 1850. (2007, October 1). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:04, October 2, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1850&oldid=161551056

A spot on CNN viewable here http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2004/05/29/sieberg.out.of.africa.cnn highlights a business that helps African Americans trace their ancestry roots through DNA genealogy testing.

So what does DNA testing have to do with genealogy? Let’s find out.

What is DNA?

First of all, DNA is genetic code inside our bodies. Our DNA helps determine what our features look like, hair color, eye color, and even tendency to develop certain medical conditions.

How can DNA be helpful in Family History research?

Your DNA is passed down from your parents, and they got their DNA from their parents and so on. Scientists today can trace commonalities in samples taken when they compare a sample you provide to samples provided all over the world. People that whose ancestry hails from Scotland will have different DNA traits than those that come from the Congo. Where this research really comes in handy is if you’re not sure where your ancestry comes from.

Who Performs DNA testing?

The Family Tree DNA project has one of the largest databases of DNA information. Their site is listed below.

• http://www.familytreedna.com

Ancestry.com also has partnered with a company to provide DNA research information

• http://dna.ancestry.com