Kimberly Henderson, a digital curator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, found her great-great-great-great grandmother, Emaline Davis McCracken, through genealogical research. Emaline, a farm laborer in South Carolina, was first listed by name in the 1870 census. This was after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil War, and the 14th Amendment that altered her status from property to person. Tracing her father’s family back to the 1800s was challenging for Henderson due to the scarcity of records of African Americans during slavery.
Henderson started working at the Schomburg Center, a part of the New York Public Library system, 150 years after the U.S. Census recorded her paternal ancestors. Her work is influenced by her ancestor Emaline. Her interest in family history began at UNC Charlotte, where she studied studio art and minored in women’s and gender studies and psychology. After graduating, she worked at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation before moving to New York in 2015.