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John Leland, The New York Times Published: 28 Feb 2021 04:50 PM BdST Updated: 28 Feb 2021 04:50 PM BdST In 2008, Dennis Richmond Jr watched “Roots” with his father, and it changed his life. It was a Sunday, the Richmonds’ day for leafing through family photographs in their apartment in Yonkers, New York, looking at relatives going back about a century. “Roots,” Alex Haley’s semifictional account of his family’s journey from West Africa, posed a challenge: How far back could Richmond trace his own ancestors? ); } After watching the miniseries’ first DVD, he ran upstairs to ask his mother about the names of her relatives. That evening, Richmond, then a studious 13-year-old, turned on the family computer and found a 1930 US Census entry for his maternal great-grandmother. The listing included the name of her father, Brutus Bowens, born in 1889 in South Car ....
A Teenager Was Bullied. His Ancestors Saved Him. Dennis Richmond Jr. was a middle-schooler who took refuge in his family history, some of it very surprising. Dennis Richmond Jr. dove into his family history at an early age and was fascinated by the ancestors he discovered.Credit.Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times Feb. 26, 2021 In March 2008, Dennis Richmond Jr. watched “Roots” with his father, and it changed his life. It was a Sunday, the Richmonds’ day for leafing through family photographs in their apartment in Yonkers, N.Y., looking at relatives going back about a century. “Roots,” Alex Haley’s semifictional account of his family’s journey from West Africa, posed a challenge: How far back could young Dennis trace his own ancestors? ....