Library director was consultant for PBS documentary about a Milledgeville family

Dr. Shaundra Walker, director of Ina Dillard Russell Library at Georgia College & State University, is featured in a new NOVA documentary as a consultant and expert in family tree lineage.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) film, called “Lee and Liza’s Family Tree,” is about the Hurt Family in Milledgeville.

The Union Recorder featured an article about the production recently, as well.

Bryon Hurt, who made the documentary, became aware of Walker’s work “Documenting African American Milledgeville,” which is part of the library’s Common Heritage Project. He interviewed Walker about traditional methods of genealogy—using historical items like census records and death certificates.

A second consultant from Howard University spoke about genetics and using DNA samples to recover links lost because of slavery.

The show aired recently and can be found temporarily at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/lee-and-lizas-family-tree/.