Hi everyone!
It's time to get to know another one of our wonderful WikiTreers. This week's member is Loretta Buckner.
Loretta became a Wiki Genealogist in May 2020. She is active in our Appalachia Project and is leader of the North Carolina Team under the US Black Heritage project.
When and how did you get interested in genealogy?
While I could blame an overactive childhood imagination, (sparked by visits to graveyards and other historical artifacts,) I think it's mostly my grandmother's fault, this obsession... well, her father - he was the one to trace my maternal side back to the Mayflower.
One of the earliest thrills for me was when in college, I discovered that we're descendants of Michael Wigglesworth, who was featured in my Early American Lit class ("The Day of Doom" - not my favorite form of literature, to be sure, but cool, nevertheless. Great fun, those Puritans!)
Around 20 years or so ago I began to work on my sketchy paternal side on Ancestry, but life and single-parenting preempted that effort.
Then came COVID...
One of the interesting outcomes has been that both sides of my family - even from separate parts of the country (at the time my parents met), came over on the same boat 400 years ago!
What are some of your interests outside of genealogy?
My "trinity" used to be sailing, yoga and gardening - but that's a longer story for another day - suffice to say, some post-pandemic traumas have limited my physical interests of late. My new goal is to finish building my tiny house on wheels to travel to many of the cemeteries and plantations I've spent so much time researching. Submit your name now for a chance to ride along! 
What is your genealogical research focus?
Ok, so... initially my focus was on filling in the missing half of our tree, but I quickly realized how much smaller the world became when looking through the lens of history. Think of a wad of yarn, versus a neatly wound ball....
Now my primary focus is to contribute as much as I can to filling in the gaps for others, cleaning and repairing and spackling the interweave along the way. One massive snarl to unravel is that caused by the early colonists to North America, those who accepted the ownership of people as a means of commerce and production. (Thus: plantations, land grants, planters, enslaved and their enslavers. A worthy and Oz-like endeavor, oh, my!)
Are you are interested in certain surnames or locations?
Mainly North Carolina, Piedmont region, where I still have family, although I am equally as fond of Virginia, and my own roots definitely burrow there as well as having "sprouted" - I grew up there, mostly. I hope one day to do more work further back in time and place, as records become more accessible online, as I'm very curious about pre-colonial ancestry as well.
(interview continues in comments)
