Genealogy Junkies Unite

I got hooked on the show Who Do You Think You Are last winter after Ashley tweeted that she loved it. And now it's back for a second season! It airs on Friday evenings so I usually watch it online over the weekend. Here's the trailer for tonight's episode:

This is the somewhat over the top official description of the show:

"NBC's acclaimed alternative series "Who Do You Think You Are?" follows some of today's most beloved and iconic celebrities as they embark on personal journeys of self-discovery to trace their family trees. From the trenches of the Civil War to the shores of the Caribbean, and from the valleys of Virginia to the island nations of Australia and Ireland, each episode will reveal surprising, inspiring and sometimes tragic stories that are often linked to events in American and international history."

The best part is stories they uncover about the families featured in the series. In last week's episode, Vanessa Williams learned one of her ancestors joined the Union Army during the Civil War, lived through the war, and then helped emancipate slaves. The historian even found a tintype photograph of him in his Army file. Watch it here. It reminds me a lot of the old PBS series African American Lives that used genealogy and DNA studies to delve into the ancestry of famous African Americans. Fascinating stuff.