Which Participant in the Harlem Renaissance Are You Most Closely Connected To?

Question

This week's Example Profile of the Week is Harlem Renaissance artist Romare Bearden, born on this day in 1911. Featured alongside him are these other notables from Harlem Renaissance era:

• Jean Toomer
• Cab Calloway
• Marian Anderson
• Countee Cullen
• Arna Bontemps
• Josephine Baker
• Duke Ellington
• Langston Hughes

Who are you most closely connected to? If you're one of the 20,260,000 of us who are connected to each other on our big tree you can check with the Connection Finder.

You can also check for shared ancestors with the Relationship Finder. Are you a cousin to any of them?

Let us know below!

Comments

21 degrees each from Langston Hughes and Cab Calloway.  Usually when an African-American is featured, I'm 30+ or 40+ degrees away (I was also that far away for Graham Chapman, despite primarily Anglo origins), so this is impressive.

Answer 1

What a fun question!  Thank you for sharing these beautiful profiles!  I had a lot of fun with the connection finder. 

Best, Janet

• Jean Toomer - 20 degrees
• Cab Calloway - 16
• Marian Anderson - 20
• Countee Cullen -24
• Arna Bontemps - 23
• Josephine Baker -38
• Duke Ellington -30
• Langston Hughes -19
• Romare Bearden -22

Comments

So cool!

• 27 degrees from Romare Bearden
• 32 degrees from Duke Ellington
• 38 degrees from Josephine Baker
• 23 degrees from Langston Hughes
• 22 degrees from Countée Cullen
• 22 degrees from Marian Anderson
• 21 degrees from Cabell Calloway
• 22 degrees from Jean Toomer
• 21 degrees from Arna Bontemps
• 24 degrees from Beverly Benfer

Answer 2

Hi-De-Ho...Hi-De-Hi! Cab Calloway and I are 22 Degrees and 14th cousins twice removed with shared ancestor John Epes. I've loved Cab Calloway since I was a kid and my grandmother would sing along to Minnie the Moocher!

and...Dream NOT Deferred! Langston Hughes and I are 21 Degrees and 17th cousins twice removed through shared ancestor Edmund FitzAlan.

Answer 3

Cab Calloway and I are 11th cousins once removed.  Langston Hughes and I are 11th cousins 3 times removed.

Comments

I have similar. Cab Calloway and I are 12th cousins, once removed and of course, Langston Hughes and I are 12th cousins, three times removed.

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Peggy, you had genealogical relationships to the same two individuals I did. So I had the "relationship finder" run to see if I had a genealogical relationship to you and found that we are 20th cousins.

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Peggy (Haskell) Moss and Lucy (Selvaggio) Selvaggio-Diaz are 8th cousins once removed.

Answer 4

Closest "connection" is to Jean Toomer--17 degrees. I located a preview of a biography of him (The Lives of Jean Toomer) in Google books and read a bit of it. From what I read, he had a fascinating ancestry and upbringing.

I had two genealogical "relationships"--to Langston Hughes (19th cousins 4x removed) and to Cab Calloway (21st cousins 2x removed.)

Answer 5

I am 

• 24 degrees from Marian Anderson (Rucker^mffff, Rucker^b,son(2), Jarrell^w, Jarrell^b, Farley^w, Farley^b,son, Burt^w, Burt^b, Bricker^wKissell^mf, Kissell^sisBuch^son(5))

• 24 degrees from Cabell Calloway (Calloway^ff, Callaway^sis, Hubard^h, Hubard^b, Taylor^wLeiper^m, Leiper^b,son(2), Marley^w, Marley^b, Ent^wMartz^mfYerian^mLeiby^m, Leiby^b,son,dQuigley^son,dBuch^son(2))

• 24 degrees from Langston Hughes (Langston^mfQuarles^f, Quarles^b, Trigg^wffClarke^m, Clarke^bClark^sonClarke^sonClark^son, Strader^wfStauffer^mKiesel^m, Kiesel^bKissell^son,dBuch^son(5))

• 24 degrees from Jean Toomer (Pinchback^mff, Pinchback^sis, Holeman^hHolman^f, Holeman^b, Wilcoxson^w, Busey^b, Busey^b,son(2), Fellers^wDunkle^mfDunkel^fLeiby^m, Leiby^b,son,dQuigley^son,dBuch^son(2))

• 27 degrees from Countée Cullen (Du Bois^wffffff, DuBois^b, Viele^wfBouts^m, Bont^sisVandermark^son(4), Rumage^wffKiesel^m, Kissell^bdBuch^son(5))

• 30 degrees from Romare Bearden (Bearden^fb, Miller^w, Alston^son, Logan^w, Hunt^mffff, Avent^w,sis, Fox^d, Johnson^d, Maynard^son, Mullins^w, Newsome^m, Hollars^b/Holler^f/Heller^b, Bollander^w, Leiby^m,b,son(2),d, Quigley^son,d, Buch^son(2))

• 31 degrees from Arna Bontemps (Bontemps^f, Lisberg^w, Lisberg^sis, Baham^hfff, Baham^b,son,d, Foil^hfSalmon^mWheeler^m, Wheeler^sisPennington^d, Ellison^h, Ellison^sisPaul^dBallard^d, Burt^h, Burt^b, Bricker^wKissell^mf, Kissell^sisBuch^son(5))

• 34 degrees from Duke Ellington (Ellington^son, Early^w, Private^hLett^ffff, Lett^bdManuel^dWalker^d, Lee^hfffCox^m, Hall^hWhite^m, White^bdFoster^d, Farley^h, Farley^b, Burt^w, Burt^b, Bricker^wKissell^mf, Kissell^sisBuch^son(5))

• 42 degrees from Josephine Baker (Bouillon^h, Bouillon^bPrivate^d, Private^hMarseul^ffffEstard de Bascardon^m, Estard de Bascardon^bdRoullet de La Bouillerie^dQuatrebarbes^dRoullet de La Bouillerie^son(2), Carvallo^w, Le Peletier de Rosanbo^hGanay^mfRidgway^mf, Ridgway^sis, Rush^hf, Rush^bd, Comer^hf, Gaumer^b, Egner^w, Egner^b, Romig^wf, Romig^b, Kiesel^w, Kissell^bdBuch^son(5))

Answer 6

Cousins to Langston Hughes and Cab Calloway..  I always enjoy these connections and relationship finders.

Answer 7

Countée Cullen 18 degrees.

Marian Anderson 21 degrees.

Cabell Calloway 22 degrees 13th cousins once removed descendants of Robert Tailboys Tailboys-39 2 common ancestors.

Langston Hughes 23 degrees 15th cousins twice removed descendants of William Mallory Mallory-8 248 common ancestors.

Jean Toomer 23 degrees.

Arna Bontemps 24 degrees.

Romare Bearden 27 degrees.

Duke Ellington 32 degrees.

Josephine Baker 40 degrees.

Beverly Benfer 21 degrees.

Answer 8

11th cousin once removed with Cab Calloway!

Answer 9

I'm closest to Marian Anderson right now. Just gonna park this here and see what I can do.

19 degrees from Romare Bearden

29 degrees from Duke Ellington

38 degrees from Josephine Baker

19 degrees from Langston Hughes

23 degrees from Countée Cullen

17 degrees from Marian Anderson

18 degrees from Cabell Calloway

18 degrees from Jean Toomer

24 degrees from Arna Bontemps

Answer 10

Langston Hughes  11th cousin 3xR  and 13th cousin 5xR to my wife.......Cab Calloway  15th cousin 1xR  and 14th cousin 3xR to my wife.

Answer 11

I only ran the genealogical finder:

1. Cab and Fann are 8th cousins, once removed.

2. The only other relationship was Langston: 11th cousins, 4x removed.

I might have a relationship to Countée, but his Porter father and grandfather either don't have profiles or couldn't be matched. From my read of his profile, it looks like both his father and grandfather have enough data to create their profiles.

Thanks for featuring the Harlem Renaissance!

Answer 12

BTW: Langston and Cab are 13th cousins, 5x removed (uncertain), and 16 degrees of separation between them, which explains why so many of us find a genealogical relationship to them together, when one exists, but also more than 300 ancestors in common within 30 generations.

Answer 13

Cab Calloway is my 19th cousin once removed.

Langston Hughes is my 19th cousin three times removed.

Answer 14

8th Cousin 2x removed of Cab Calloway.

12th cousin 4x removed of Langston Hughes.

Both previously unknown connections. Thanks for the Q, Abby.

Answer 15

18 degrees from Langston Hughes, and 19 degrees from Cab Calloway and Marian Anderson.

Answer 16

Cousins!

Cabell "Cab" Calloway III and Patty are 10th cousins – 15 degrees

James Mercer (Langston) Hughes and Patty are 10th cousins four times removed – 18 degrees

Answer 17

My closest connection is to Langston Hughes, who is my 11th cousin 3 times removed. We are connected through John Norton, born 1458, Yorkshire, England. Langston's ancestor Roger Mallory, born in 1637 England immigrated to Virginia. Roger is in the Magna Carta Project listed as a gateway ancestor. I didn't know who Langston was before this exercise.

Answer 18

31 degrees from Romare Bearden
27 degrees from Jean Toomer
33 degrees from Cab Callaway
26 degrees from Marian Anderson
30 degrees from Countee Cullen
32 degrees from Arna Bontemps
43 degrees from Josephine Baker
36 degrees from Duke Ellington
27 degrees from Langston Hughes

Answer 19

Closest is Langston Hughes who is a 16th cousin 5x removed.