The field of genealogy and Americans' obsession with "finding our roots" is wrought with complicated relationships to gender, race, and colonization.
This library of resources helps genealogists who are committed to social justice learn more about the field's harmful practices, how to ethically celebrate our ancestors, and uncover truths that are often excluded from the mainstream.
If you live with privilege stemming from settler-colonial ancestors, read more in my reflection on race, gender, and class.
From the “Beginning”: Anglo-American Settler Colonialism in New England, Anna Doane, Genealogy, 2021
Beyond Romantic Advertisements: Ancestry.com, Genealogy, and White Supremacy, Adam H. Domby, African American Intellectual History Society, May 10, 2019
Reframing the History of American Genealogy: On the Paradigm of Democratization and the Capitalization of Longing, Adam Hjorthén, Genealogy, 2022.
Our Obsession with Ancestry has Some Twisted Roots, Maya Jasanoff, New Yorker, May 2, 2022
A Noble Pursuit?: Bourgeois America’s Uses of Lineage, Francesca Morgan, The American Bourgeoisie, January 2010
Ancestry.com’s Race Stories: Examining Whiteness on the Genealogy Web, Anna Robinson-Sweet, The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion, January 2021
Transgender ancestors, a guide by U. Swanson