Which Black Change Maker are you most closely connected to?

Question

This week's Example Profile of the Week is Booker T. Washington, founder and educator at the Tuskegee Institute and the National Negro Business League, in recognition of US Black History month.

Featured alongside him are other Black change makers:

• Harriet Tubman
• Barbara Jordan
• Althea Gibson
• Mary Terrell
• Blanche Kelso Bruce
• Chuck Berry
• Viola Desmond
• Bishop James Augustus Healy

Who are you most closely connected to? If you're one of the 21,671,000 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? Your Relationship Finder Quick Links page (see your profile pull-down menu under "Relationships") has quick links for several notable groups.

Let us know below!

P.S. Help us choose and improve profiles for next week's feature: Motown, focused on Mary Wilson, founding member of The Supremes, who passed away this week.

Answer 1

I am most closely connected to Blanche Bruce at 25 degrees.

Answer 2

I am most closely connected to Blanche Bruce and Booker T. Washington at 20 degrees.

• 20 degrees from Blanche Bruce
• 20 degrees from Booker T. Washington
• 25 degrees from Mary Terrell
• 26 degrees from Althea Gibson
• 26 degrees from Harriet Tubman
• 28 degrees from James Healy
• 30 degrees from Viola Desmond
• 35 degrees from Chuck Berry
• 35 degrees from Barbara Jordan

Answer 3

Booker T Washington is my closest at 13 degrees (Husband of 1st cousin of wife of 1st cousin 4x removed).

Chuck Berry is my furthest on the list at 35 degrees -

Answer 4

18 degrees from Blanche Bruce (10th cousins, 5x removed)
20 degrees from Booker T. Washington
21 degrees from Harriet Tubman (21st cousins, 3x removed)
22 degrees from Mary Terrell
24 degrees from Althea Gibson
24 degrees from James Healy
26 degrees from Barbara Jordan
28 degrees from Viola Desmond
38 degrees from Chuck Berry

Answer 5

I am 14 degrees from Booker T. Washington who was by far the closest connection on this list.  Connected by way of my great-grandfather's 2nd wife.

Answer 6

I'm 18 degrees from Blanche Kelso Bruce. Only two of those degrees are by marriage, all the rest by blood.

Answer 7

I am 17 degrees from Booker T Washington.

Answer 8

17 degrees from Mary Terrell. Here’s my list:

 35 degrees from Chuck Berry, 19 degrees from Blanche Bruce, 25 degrees from Viola Desmond, 25 degrees from Althea Gibson, 19 degrees from James Healy, 34 degrees from Barbara Jordan, 17 degrees from Mary Terrell, 25 degrees from Harriet Tubman, 22 degrees from Booker T. Washington and 19 degrees from Betty Norman.

Answer 9

I am:

20 degrees from Blanch Bruce and 13th cousins through MRCA John Boys 

21 degrees from Booker T. Washington and Mary Terrell

22 degrees from James Healey

23 degrees from Althea Gibson

26 degrees from Harriett Tubman and 25th cousins through MRCA Matilda (Senlis) Clare

27 degrees from Viola Desmond

35 degrees from Barbara Jordan

37 degrees from Chuck Berry

Answer 10

Harriet Tubman - 26 Degrees- no relation

Barbara Jordan - 33 Degrees- No relation

Althea Gibson - 25 Degrees- No relation

Mary Terrell - 21 Degrees - No relation

Blanche Bruce - 20 Degrees - 15th Cousins 4x Removed

Chuck Berry - 38 Degrees - no relation

Viola Desmond - 26 Degrees - No relation

Bishop James Healy - No relation

Booker T. Washington - 20 Degrees - No relation

Answer 11

Considering that my ancestry is northern U.S. and white (and most of these folks are presumed to be southern U.S. and black), I think I am remarkably close to Booker T. Washington (19 degrees), Mary Terrell (20 degrees), and Blanche Bruce (21 degrees). The next several, Harriet Tubman (23 degrees), James Augustine Healy (24 degrees), Viola Desmond (25 degrees), and Althea Gibson (26 degrees), are also impressively close. Only Barbara Jordan and Chuck Berry are more than 30 degrees away.

As usual, I am checking some of my connection paths for serious errors, but I have not yet found any (there have been some unsourced profiles, however).

Comments

I looked at my connection to Mary Terrell and it is through a New England cotton merchant. New Englanders were very active in trade and mills, so many of these surprise connections might be through people who moved a lot because of their business activities

Answer 12

I'm most closely related to Blanche Kelso Bruce at 21 degrees. The only ones really far out are Chuck Berry and Barbara Jordan, both at 38 degrees.

Answer 13

My closest is Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce, 14 degrees (my 4th cousin, 5xremoved).

Answer 14

My closest are Booker T Washington and Blanche Bruce at 30 degrees, and Betty Norman at 31  xxx

Answer 15

I always like to test the genealogical connection after first looking at the basic "degrees from" connection. Sometimes that really establishes closeness that may otherwise be a relationship by marriage, as opposed to "blood kin." I had an "on the face of it" tie at 18 degrees of separation for two on the list:

1. Blanche Bruce, which maps out to 13th cousins, 5x removed (noting 454 common ancestors within 30 generations!)
2. Booker T Washington, which maps to no blood relationship, but Olive America (Davidson) Washington, his second wife's Aunt's husband, Howard Bane was a 3rd cousin, 7x removed. Howard Bane's profile could use some TLC, as it was created from a GEDCOM import and has not been properly reviewed since the import. I'll put that on my to-do list.

Answer 16

Wow, such a small world. Senator Blanche Bruce and I are 13C1R through John Boys in my mother's maternal line. But we are also connected by 19 degrees through 2 marriages that tie him to my maternal paternal line.

*Booker T Washington 19° Paternal
*Mary Terrell 22° Paternal
*James Healy 23° Paternal
*Harriet Ross Tubman 25° Paternal
*Viola Desmond 25° Paternal
*Althea Gibson 25° Maternal

*Barbara Jordon 34° Maternal
*Chuck Berry 37° Maternal

Answer 17

34 degrees from Chuck Berry

21 degrees from Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce, 13th cousins once removed, MRCA John Boys, Boys--92

25 degrees from Viola Desmond

25 degrees from Alethea Gibson

24 degrees from Bishop Augustus James Healy

36 degrees from Barbara Jordan

20 degrees from Mary Terrell

27 degrees from Harriett Tubman

22 degrees from Booker T. Washington

Answer 18

It appears that I am most closely connected to Blanche Bruce, at 24 degrees.

One thing that I don’t understand is why the connection tool only ever shows me connections through my uncle’s second wife. They never show me any that go through any one else.

Answer 19

32 degrees from Chuck Berry.

13 degrees from Blanche Bruce. 16th cousin twice removed. MRCA Ralph Neville (abt 1364 - 1423)

26 degrees from Viola Desmond.

21 degrees from Althea Gibson.

25 degrees from James Healy.

31 degrees from Barbara Jordan.

23 degrees from Mary Terrell.

21 degrees from Harriet Tubman.

14 degrees from Booker T. Washington.

Answer 20

Blanche K Bruce- 19th Cousin 2x's removed -23 degrees

Booker T Washington- 24 degrees

Harriet Tubman- 25 degrees

Barbara Jordan- 29 degrees

Althea Gibson - 28 degrees

Mary Terrell - 19 degrees

Chuck Berry- 39 degrees

Viola Desmond - 21 degrees

Bishop James A Healy- 25 degrees