Deborah Berry

"I'm still kind of overwhelmed by just the whole story. Even looking through the census records I felt some kind of sadness that I could only go so far. Even when I tried to go back further, all I could find was records that said 'free colored' or 'slaves.' There were no names attached to those people, so we weren't even counted."

"I don't know what I expected, but I don't know if I was prepared [for the result]. It showed that I'm actually related to a woman I've been writing about."

"Part of it was not so much to be able to prove everything. Because we don't know that we can prove ... it was to go back to the motherland to see if she could trace where she believes her ancestors came from. Walk the walk that they walked. Go to the places where they might have had to be held."

"It turned out to be very emotional."

"We all have a story, and especially as African Americans, we've contributed much to the making of America. In some way — whether your great grandmother was enslaved in South Carolina, whether your grandfather was a sharecropper — all of them have played a role in what America is today."

"So, if you have time, and you have the passion, then take the time to go find out more about your family."