In this episode, Lynne Huggins Smith shares a story about her 4th great grandfather, Caesar Springfield. Although Lynne knew she was a seventh generation New Yorker, she discovered that Caesar and his wife Mary, in fact were from New Jersey. And although she knew of her great grandmother Edith, and Edith’s mother Sarah, Lynne was inspired to dig deeper into her family research.

Lynne grew up in Nanuet, New York where her family moved from the Bronx. She has been  doing family research since the sixties and is a former officer and current membership chair of  the New York City chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. Her family lived in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Neevis and Suriname. Lynne is currently researching the ancestors of all four grandparents from those places and beyond. She has a Master’s degree in  anthropology from the University of Michigan and completed coursework for the PhD in  American history from Emory University. Lynne spent her career as a financial planning and investment professional, retiring in 2015. She lives in New York state with her husband of over forty years. She has three children and four grandchildren. 

Original Music by Sean Bempong.