Prince Rogers Nelson, better known as Prince, has the music world intrigued with the series of singles he's been releasing. I thought I'd take a peek into his pre-Minnesota, pre-purple, ancestral past. Here are a few of the discoveries I found scattered in the branches of his family tree:

Martha's grandfather, Frank Kostyra, owned a tavern in Jersey City. On the 4th of July 1929, two boys stuck a piece of dynamite in the foundation of the tavern, causing an explosion. It's somewhat remarkable that the building is still a tavern today.

It's been said that on St. Patrick's Day we're all a wee bit Irish, but here are a few celebrities who truly are, though they probably wouldn't be the first you'd guess.

Several years ago, I conducted extensive genealogical research into the heritage of Michelle Obama. A few of my discoveries -- particularly those per...

Among the half million African Americans who moved to Chicago during the Great Migration were a number of Michelle's relatives, and they hailed from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and the southern part of Illinois.