NBC launched a new type of reality show Friday night that plays on the old adage, “You don’t know who you are until you know where you came from.” Who Do You Think You Are? is the new show that will follow celebrities on a journey trough their ancestry to discover who they really are. The show fascinated me, probably because I was a history major in college.
This week’s show followed Sarah Jessica Parker in her attempts to learn more about her past. She assumed that her family was simple immigrants and never had anything to do with history. What she learned astonished her.
She started with the mom and found out the names of some of her mother’s grandparents. She found out that her 4th great grandfather went to California for the gold rush 1849. He was killed there in 1850 while mining gold. She continued on this trail to discover she had ancestors in the New England states.
In Boston, Sarah discovers that the first mention of her ancestors was in 1635, when they first immigrated to America from England.
They were then tracked to Salem, Massachusetts. Here, one of her ancestors was accused of witchcraft and murder. Luckily for her, the accusation was on November 8th . The witch trial court was disbanded on October 28th. Sarah’s ancestor was one of the three women accused during the last round of accusations of the Salem Witch Trials.
Sarah then returned home and told her mother about her amazing discoveries and now has a genuine link to American history. I was glued to the TV throughout the entire show. This show is awesome for those who are interested in history and genealogy. Unfortunately, however, with it airing on Friday nights it probably won’t be around for very long.
Comments
No comments.
Add your comment