Catoctin Furnace, Frederick County, Maryland   Catoctin Furnace operated in Maryland in the 18th and 19th centuries using both free and enslaved African American labor. Harney et al. analyzed DNA from 27 individuals from an African American cemetery that was excavated 40 years ago during highway construction (see the Perspective by Jackson). The authors found genetic evidence of biological family groups, modern-day African populations with whom they may have shared ancestry, and even possible distant relatives in the United States through identity-by-descent comparisons with consenting customers of 23andMe. This study demonstrates that when studied responsibly with input from stakeholders, long-buried DNA can be used to uncover obfuscated or forgotten histories of marginalized individuals.  Corinne Simonti wrote the above abstract of the study by Harney et al. which can be seen at  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade4995 .  "Despite the hardship evid...

Have you heard of the new book by journalist Libby Copeland: The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are . American Ancestors and the Boston Public Library had an interview and Q & A with her this week, full of stories and insight. I was struck by the advice from one of the "search angels" in her book, who says that she no longer tries to persuade people to DNA test. After hearing Judy Russell's webinar  DNA Rights and Wrongs: The Ethical Side of Testing , I think I would have to agree. To our cousins or others we would like to test, we owe a complete description of what testing entails, and we need to offer them fine-grained choices such as:  whether their profile will have their name or an anonymised nickname, what email will be associated with a kit, whether or not they will allow sharing of the test results, and to whom, whether or not they want to access the test results, if there are unexpected results, do they want to know those results? and so m...

Black Friday is coming soon, and one item many genealogy researchers will be looking for is DNA test kits to give as gifts for relatives. A common question is should I activate the kit before giving or sending it to my relative? The answer depends on: Which testing company? Will you be in charge of the kit, or your relative? The Basics Let's start with the basics.  Have you tested yourself? If so, choosing the same company for both of you will simplify matters. If not, test yourself too . Test results get their meaning from comparison with matches. If you are purchasing from FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage or LivingDNA, you can upload your results to those companies, and my advice is that everyone should do so whether or not you are buying kits for relatives. This is known as "fishing in all the ponds." I would add uploading to Gedmatch to the list above. Have you asked your relative if they want to test? Have you explained to them in as much detail...