Birmingham Public Library Explores Michelle Obama’s Inspiring Family History

Birmingham Bound presents author Rachel L. Swarns discussing her book American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama. The event will be held on Monday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the Richard Arrington, Jr. Auditorium at the Central Library located at 2100 Park Place. A remarkable history of First Lady Michelle Obama’s mixed ancestry, American Tapestry by Rachel L. Swarns is nothing less than a breathtaking and expansive portrait of America itself. In this extraordinary feat of genealogical research—in the tradition of The Hemingses of Monticello and Slaves in the Family—author Swarns, a respected Washington-based reporter for the The New York Times, tells the fascinating and hitherto untold story of Ms. Obama’s black, white, and multiracial ancestors; a history that the First Lady herself did not know. At once epic, provocative, and inspiring, American Tapestry is more than a true family saga; it is an illuminating mirror in which we may all see ourselves.

The Birmingham Public Library will be one of the first stops on Rachel Swarns’ national book tour, which includes signings at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center, Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C., and the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Rachel L. Swarns has been a reporter for The New York Times since 1995. She has written about domestic policy and national politics, reporting on immigration, the presidential campaigns of 2004 and 2008, and First Lady Michelle Obama and her role in the Obama White House. She has also worked overseas for The New York Times, reporting from Russia, Cuba, and southern Africa, where she served as the Johannesburg bureau chief. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two children.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

The Birmingham Bound lecture series highlights authors who researched their books in the Birmingham Public Library Archives.