I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—one of my favorite and most longest-standing writing gigs has been as sole author of the Today’s Daughters section in American Spirit, the award-winning magazine of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Since 2005, I have written bimonthly profiles of individual members of the DAR whose stories deserve to be told. They’re tireless volunteers, firsts in their professional fields, and always the nicest, most gracious women. As a whole, this group of ladies (there’s more than 100 of them now) has been nothing short of extraordinary. And my latest interview subject is no exception.
Nicka Sewell-Smith is a genealogist who is on a mission to dispel the myth that African-Americans can’t trace their family histories. And that is becoming truer every day, as new archives and document collections come online that help uncover fascinating details and facts about Black Americans’ ancestors.
Nicka caught the genealogy bug (I have learned all genealogists have a story of when this happened!) when she was working in medical credentialing for a major West Coast health system. Confirming doctors’ credentials, it turns out, is a lot like doing genealogy research, which made so much sense when she said it but was something I had never considered before.