Peace of Mind Organizing

My latest diversion: Who Do You Think You Are?

27 May 2011

I love genealogy research. I think it’s fascinating and am trying to create more time to pursue it. (I dug into a few years back but haven’t taken much time with it in recent years.)

When I heard about Who Do You Think You Are? the NBC version of a popular British TV series in which celebrities explore their ancestral roots, I knew I had to check it out.

In each episode, a celebrity is given assistance by professional genealogists and historians and travels to various locales to learn more about his or her ancestors. (That seems like a dream come true to me.)

Season Two finished last month, but full episodes are available for viewing on NBC’s website. The first one I happened to watch was Ashley Judd’s episode. Amazingly enough, one of the ancestors she discovered and explored is also one of mine. (It was William Brewster, who came over on the Mayflower…I imagine he has many descendants in the U.S.) Here’s a little clip from that episode:

Getting to learn more about my own ancestor really brought the show to life for me. I’m hooked. I’ve rented DVDs of Season One through Netflix and it’s spurring on my interest in genealogy.

If you’re interested in family history research, you might want to check it out. In addition to Ashley Judd, Season Two celebrities included:

• Gwyneth Paltrow
• Steve Buscemi
• Lionel Ritchie
• Kim Cattrall
• Rosie O’Donnell
• Tim McGraw
• Vanessa Williams

Season One shows included:

• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Emmitt Smith
• Lisa Kudrow (one of the show’s producers)
• Matthew Broderick
• Brooke Shields

Now that the regular season of television is over, it’s nice to have a fun diversion that is helping reignite one of my passions!

Tagged with: genealogy, who do you think you are

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