Meet our Members: Karen Lee

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Hi everyone!

It's time to get to know another one of our wonderful WikiTreers. This week's member is Karen Lee.

Karen became a Wiki Genealogist in March 2023. She is very active in our US Black Heritage Project.

When and how did you get interested in genealogy?

It was a very roundabout process for me, but basically it came down to working with the practices of Ancestral Medicine which is a spiritual practice connecting with the ancestors and healing family lineages.

How did you get into "Ancestral Medicine"?

I had a traumatic childhood, and found refuge in the woods, where I developed a natural connection to the plants, trees and animals that lived there, that was in essence a spiritual experience, learning life lessons from owls, ancient oak trees, and all sorts of animals. 

For instance, when I was about 5 or 6, an owl swooped down only inches from the top of my head, I could feel the wind of his flight rustle my hair. A lightness came into my heart that helped keep my inner light alive.

I discovered as an adult that other people who had this connection and shared a way of learning consider themselves animists, or shamanic practitioners. I continued to practice and learned about shamanic journeys, an ancient type of meditation in which one relaxes, and in a completely voluntary trance meet and interact with guides.

Eventually I connected with my deep paternal ancestors in this process and began that work of ancestral healing with their guidance.

Can you tell us more about your "ancestral healing" work?

They asked me to do certain daily prayers and practices, including making a walking pilgrimage in 2022 on the West Highland Way and the Cairngorms in Scotland.  My relationship with them was reciprocal, what I did lent them the energy to do the work of healing my paternal line.

However the work came to an end with the last of their descendants, my ancestors, who had remained on the European Continent. Leif told me that the North American descendants would require some attention.

(Interview continues in comments)

Comments

How did this work with ancestral medicine lead you into genealogy?

My brother died in late July 2022, and a few months later the wife of a paternal cousin I hadn’t seen since 1969 reached out to offer her condolences. She told me she was a genealogist, and had been working on her husband’s tree. I sent her copies of old photos I had, among them a man from Kentucky, who died in 1879.

Joi got back to me, and let me know, she didn’t like the photograph of George T Lee, because he owned “a lot of slaves.” This was news to me. When I was a child in the midst of the upheavals of the late sixties, I asked my father if our family had owned slaves. His answer was no. I don't know if his father lied to him, or my great-grandfather lied to my grandfather, but the information had been deleted.

This information completely rearranged my understanding of who I am and who my ancestors were. 

I wanted to recover whatever information could be found, both on my paternal ancestors, and the people they enslaved, so I started doing genealogical work that included looking for records that documented enslaved African Americans.

Within a week I found the recorded name of a mother, America and her son, James born in 1854, and  owned by my  2nd great-grandfather, Nelson T Lee, and a remarkable thing happened. I was able to find them in the 1870 census records and beyond. I even found a photograph of her.

Recently, I found what I believe is the record of Nelson's father George purchasing America and her mother Milly Huston in the 1830’s when she was 7 and her mother 35. 

It became clear what my ancestors wanted me to do to help heal their descendants and my American ancestors, which is to shine the light of truth on their lives. 

What motivates you to document their lives?

This omission of the truth of slavery in American ancestry I have found, is common, both among the descendants of enslavers, and the descendants of the enslaved.

The descendants of those who lived into emancipation have a very hard time finding out where their ancestors were before 1865. Even if they adopted the surname Lee, which they may not have done, and knew their ancestors were from Boyle County, KY, there were at that time a dozen of slave owning Lees in Boyle County — which records to look at?  

Given the scarcity of written records of named enslaved people, it could take the descendants of America and James, months or years of research, to find what I found in three days.

I am not responsible for what my ancestors did. It was wrong and it repels me. I see them as having damaged their own humanity in order to do what they did. There is a palpable paucity of emotional tone in the descendants of colonialist slave owners. This is a part of my inheritance I wish to unmake.

I am responsible for the here and now in how I respond to the actions of my ancestors. Life has not made me lucky with money, but I am lucky, as a disabled person with time. Without even knowing what I was doing, I stumbled into the work of genealogical reparations and the process of truth and reconciliation. 

Aside from my work in genealogy I’m involved with the organization Coming to the Table, which aims to do just that.

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What are some of your interests outside of genealogy?

I walk in the woods. I slow down. I’m going slow anyway because of my mobility issues. I stop a lot. I listen, I look, I open my senses and I become part of the web of life, entering a state of natural grace. I get very curious, and I notice things that most people would just pass on by.

This is a shamanic meditative practice and through it I’m learning how to become a “real human being.” When I go very deep into this state I commune with my Mesolithic ancestors, who continue to guide and heal me.

When I encounter something unusual in the woods I take photographic portraits and write prose and poetry about these experiences.

My aim with the photos is to provoke curiosity. And through curiosity, wonder, and through wonder, bring people closer to the web of life upon which we all depend and stop thinking of nature as “other” which is the most destructive form of racism — species-ism.

I also use the photos to contribute to iNaturalist, an online natural history survey. I have catalogued over 600 species in a local state park.

Do you have a favorite ancestor, genealogical discovery, or brick wall breakthrough story?

All three questions rolled into one. I was recently in the hospital for five days, unable to walk at all. Since there is a lot of anxious waiting and pain in a hospital stay like this, so for distraction I took my laptop with me and decided to delve into my maternal ancestry, which I thought would be less taxing mentally and emotionally. My mother’s father was born in Boston shortly after his parents arrived from Scotland. But we had no idea where in Scotland they were from.

As it turns out Alexander, my maternal great-grandfather was born in Dalziel, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The place name origin comes from a period in the 600’s when the Scots and Picts were at war.

The legend is that the Picts had hung a favorite relative of King Kenneth and left his body up within view of the Scottish camp. The King offered a ransom for someone to retrieve the corpse. None dared, until one man said, "dal zell", which, in the old Scots language, signifies, "I dare." The coat of arms for the town is a naked man, who “dares."

That “I dare,” says so much about me. In finding out where Alexander was born, I found out something about myself and my relationship to those ancestors.

Do you have a story about how you were helped through the genealogical work of others?

I owe much of my success with my work to an unsung hero, who is not on WikiTree. Mike Denis is a genealogist who over the past twenty years went through every available record referencing African Americans of Boyle County, KY.  His work is available as a downloadable pdfs on the Danville Boyle County African American Historical Society, Inc.

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What is your toughest brick wall currently?

In my research I found the names of 68 people who had been enslaved by the extended Lee families of Boyle and Lincoln Counties, Kentucky, and a few in Virginia from 1790 to 1865.

I was able to trace 15 people across the 1865 brick wall. There are about 13 that I think it may be possible to do so, but it’s going to take a bit of work for each one. Eventually I’ll make profiles for all 67 of the people, just in case someone else can shake their stories loose, but even if not, they deserve to be named, even if it is only scant information. I’m sure more records will come online and be indexed and more and more will be known.

What brought you to WikiTree and why did you start getting involved?

I started on Ancestry, but I was intensely frustrated by the lack of a respectful way to associate an enslaved person with their enslaver. On ancestry, I had to state the relationship first as “child of” or “spouse of” (gross) and then switch it to “unknown” (not true) but it would still show up on the tree as a family relationship (not true).

I found out about the US Black Heritage project on WikiTree, which has created a respectful system of being able to show these relationships, with making the relationship clear and making it possible for African American descendants to learn the life histories of their ancestors. The use of categories makes pages like “Slaves of Boyle County” and “Slaveholders of Boyle County” making it easier still for descendants to find the information they are looking for. I found my home with the project, and got trained on how to do the work.

What do you spend the most time doing on WikiTree?

I spend the most time down rabbit holes. Occasionally I find something good down there, and I try to come up for air now and then. I do it because I can’t help myself.

Which project are you most involved in?

I belong to the US Black Heritage Project, which aims to create the largest online public database of connected African-American families.

I love the collaborative nature, the team goals, the team leadership is awesome - Emma MacBeath, Denise Jarret, and Elaine Marzen keep the project moving forward and growing.

I love the fact that though I may only build a few hundred profiles this year, the team has already built 303,789 profiles in the past few years, and is well on its way to 400,000 by the end of this year. 

I can count on team members to help me out when I’m stumped, cheer me on when I get something challenging done.

I kind of stuck my neck out and became a state team leader for Kentucky. I’m hoping that the Kentucky team can grow and make progress on the quarter of a million people enslaved in Kentucky in 1860. 

How can others help the US Black Heritage Project?

The US Black Heritages welcomes volunteers. If you have interest in working on African American Genealogy, this is the team to join. If you are interested in Kentucky ancestry, I’d love to have you on the Kentucky team, but there are many other teams and sub-teams — for certain states, for notables, for cemeteries, connection work, enslaved ancestors, profile improvement.  Basically pick an area of work that you enjoy doing. It’s all helpful.

What inspires you to contribute so much of yourself to WikiTree's mission?

I’ve been a hard worker all my life and I love to get stuff done. Being less physically able these days, WikiTree is a great place for me to hang out and do useful work.

What is your favorite feature or function on WikiTree?

I have to say I love the one tree concept, and the use of sourced footnotes. It tends to weed out the junk genealogy which tends to proliferate on other platforms.

Wiki Sourcer makes my work so much easier and prettier. 

What feature or function would you most like to see added or improved?

There is so much on WikiTree, I wish there was a universal index. I try to bookmark anything I may want to come back to. The search engine is good, but doesn't work “intuitively” for me. Other people figure out clever searches and I simply save their searches as a bookmark and go back and adapt it to what I want and need. Otherwise I’m lost. 

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Great interview and world view!

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Congratulations Karen and thank you for sharing your genealogical, ancestral medicine, and nature-based connections. I also believe our genalogical work helps connect us to our history and I hope our work will make it easier for others to find their ancestral stories. There is something to be said for doing the hard work yourself but a helping hand can certainly make our busy lives easier and is most appreciated. Thank you for your contributions on the US Black Heritage Project team and for taking on the position of Kentucky team leader.

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Thanks

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Thanks Dreama,

Yes I love the team aspect of the US Black Heritage Project.

Karen

Answer 1

Congratulations Karen on being Member of the Week and thank you Eowyn for her interview!

Answer 2

Hey Karen, what a powerful journey you've been on! Thank you. Your interview is an inspiration. I am about to embark on a shamanic experience, so this is a lovely, synchronistic moment for me. 

We at USBH are fortunate to have you as our Kentucky leader. 

Comments

Gina,

Happy to chat about Shamanic practice. Email or Discord best places to find me.

Karen

Answer 3

Great interview, Karen. Thanks for introducing me to iNaturalist. Now I have something to do with these pictures I take.

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 iNaturalist is a whole n'other rabbit warren, or gopher colony or something like that. Lot of fun and learning. Also a collaborative platform, so much like WikiTree.

Answer 4

What an interesting interview, Karen. I really appreciate your participation in ancestral medicine practices and all the work that you are doing in relation to Wikitree, 18th cousin twice removed! Great ways that you involve yourself, get down rabbit holes and save the clever searches done buy others, too.

Answer 5

Your phrase "genealogical reparations" really resonates! And it is an important facet of the U.S. Black Heritage project!

Thanks!

Answer 6

Conratulations. Nice to see your hard work is appreciated

Answer 7

Wow, Karen, I just learned so much more about you! It has been great having you on the USBH team and watching activity in Kentucky start to pick up in a big way.

Answer 8

Awesome and congrats for all you do!

Answer 9

Congratulations on your member of the Week Karen and thank you for sharing your inspiring journey!