Former First Lady Michelle Obama's Deep Roots in Georgetown Uncovered

Michelle Obama, the former First Lady, has ancestral roots in Georgetown, South Carolina. Although she grew up in Chicago, she often visited Georgetown to see her grandparents and relatives. Her grandparents moved to Chicago from Georgetown in the 1930s due to economic constraints. The family's connection to Georgetown's slavery era was not discussed during these visits.

During her husband's first presidential campaign, the details of Michelle Obama's heritage were discovered. The campaign hired Lowcountry Africana, a research group, to trace her genealogy. This group focuses on researching the heritage of African Americans in the historic rice-growing regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida. Their research found that Michelle Obama's great-great-grandfather, Jim Robinson of Friendfield Plantation, was born into slavery around 1850 and was freed as a teenager.

Historical records, including the 1880 census, provided information about Jim Robinson's life. The census showed that Robinson was a farmer and his wife, Louiser, was a housekeeper. They had three children and neither Robinson nor his wife could read or write. Other records showed that Robinson worked as a sharecropper in the rice fields at Friendfield Plantation after the Civil War.

Friendfield Plantation, where Robinson lived and worked, recovered better than most plantations in the region after the Civil War. The plantation resumed rice and other crop production, reaching moderate levels by the 1870s. However, production began to decline thereafter. The Robinson family, like many others, would have experienced this initial success and subsequent decline. Records indicate that the Robinson family lived at Friendfield until the early 20th century.

Today, Friendfield Plantation stands as a reminder of the lives of those who lived and worked there, including Michelle Obama's ancestors. Six cabins, which would have housed multiple families during the plantation's peak, still exist on the property. The plantation is privately owned and not open to the public, but it is a significant part of the former First Lady's family history.

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