American tapestry
Subtitle: the story of the black, white, and multiracial ancestors of Michelle Obama
By: Rachel L. Swarns
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Amistad
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 391
ISBN-13: 9780061999864; 9780061999871
Subjects: Families; Family; Racially mixed people; African American families; African Americans; Biography
Description: A remarkable history of First Lady Michelle Obama's mixed ancestry as well as a portrait of America itself in an epic and inspiring family saga.

Michelle Obama's family saga is a remarkable, quintessentially American story -- a journey from slavery to the White House in five generations. Yet, until now, little has been reported on the First Lady's roots. Prodigiously researched, American Tapestry traces the complex and fascinating tale of Michelle Obama's ancestors, a history that the First Lady did not even know herself. Rachel L. Swarns, a correspondent for the New York Times, brings into focus the First Lady's black, white, and multiracial forebears, and reveals for the first time the identity of Mrs. Obama's white great-great-great-grandfather -- a man who remained hidden in her lineage for more than a century. -- Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-367) and index.
Table of contents: title: The mystery of Michelle Obama's roots -- -- Part I.; title: Migration:; title: Phoebe, the wanderer ;; title: St. Louis ;; title: Siren song of the North ;; title: A family grows in Chicago ;; title: Exploding dreams ;; title: A child of the Jazz Age ;; title: A man of promise ;; title: Stumbling backward ;; title: Love in hard times ;; title: Struggling and striving ;; title: The search for the truth : Cleveland -- -- Part II.; title: The demise of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow:; title: A man on the rise ;; title: Left behind ;; title: Neither Black nor white ;; title: The reckoning ;; title: Birmingham, the magic city ;; title: Two brothers, two destinies ;; title: The one-armed patriarch ;; title: Twilight ;; title: The search for the truth : Atlanta -- -- Part III.; title: Slavery and emancipation:; title: A slave girl named Melvinia ;; title: Journey to Georgia ;; title: South Carolina gold ;; title: A child is born ;; title: Born free ;; title: Exodus ;; title: The Civil War ;; title: Uneasy freedom --; title: Epilogue: Melvinia's secret.