Her father suffered from multiple sclerosis, which had a profound effect on her. She and her 21-month-older brother, Craig, skipped the second grade. They used to vacation in a rustic cabin in White Cloud, Michigan. The Robinsons attended services at nearby South Shore United Methodist Church. She played piano, learning from her great-aunt, who was a piano teacher. She and her family enjoyed playing games such as Monopoly, reading, and frequently saw extended family on both sides. Her elementary school was down the street. She was raised in what she describes as a "conventional" home, with "the mother at home, the father works, you have dinner around the table". Robinson's childhood home was on the upper floor of 7436 South Euclid Avenue in Chicago's South Shore community area, which her parents rented from her great-aunt, who had the first floor. He is a paternal first cousin once-removed. Funnye converted to Judaism after college. Funnye is the son of her grandfather Robinson's sister and her husband, and he is about 12 years older than Michelle. Among her contemporary extended family is Rabbi Capers Funnye born in Georgetown, South Carolina. Her distant ancestry includes Irish, English, and Native American roots. Her extended family has said that people did not talk about the era of slavery when they were growing up. Īll four of Robinson's grandparents had multiracial ancestors, reflecting the complex history of the U.S. Other of their children's lines migrated to Cleveland, Ohio, in the 20th century. They were great-great-grandparents of Michelle Robinson, whose grandparents had moved to Chicago. Dolphus Shields, with his wife Alice, moved to Birmingham, Alabama, after the Civil War. Īs was often the case, Melvinia did not talk to relatives about Dolphus's father. They may have had a continuing relationship, as she had two more mixed-race children and lived near Shields after emancipation, taking his surname (she later changed her surname). Based on DNA and other evidence, in 2012 researchers said his father was likely 20-year-old Charles Marion Shields, son of Melvinia's master. Shields, was biracial and born into slavery around 1860. Īmong her maternal ancestors was her great-great-great-grandmother, Melvinia Dosey Shields, born into slavery in South Carolina but sold to Henry Walls Shields, who had a 200-acre farm in Clayton County, Georgia, near Atlanta. He and his wife LaVaughn (née Johnson) returned to the Lowcountry from Chicago after retirement. Her grandfather Fraser Robinson, Jr., built his own house in South Carolina. Some of Obama's paternal family still reside in the Georgetown area. He became a freedman at age 15 after the war. Her paternal great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, was born into slavery in 1850 on Friendfield Plantation, near Georgetown, South Carolina. On her father's side, she is descended from the Gullah people of South Carolina's Lowcountry region. The Robinson and Shields families trace their roots to pre- Civil War African Americans in the American South. Her mother was a full-time homemaker until Michelle entered high school. July 30, 1937), a secretary at Spiegel's catalog store. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois, to Fraser Robinson III (1935–1991), a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain, and Marian Shields Robinson (b. See also: Family of Barack Obama § Michelle Obama's extended family Early life and ancestry In 2020, she topped Gallup's poll of the most admired woman in America for the third year running. Obama was the first African-American woman to serve as first lady.Īfter her husband's presidency, Obama's influence has remained high. She supported American designers and was considered a fashion icon. As first lady, Obama served as a role model for women and worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. She has subsequently delivered acclaimed speeches at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 conventions. Obama campaigned for her husband's presidential bid throughout 20, delivering a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Michelle married Barack in 1992, and together they have two daughters. She subsequently worked in nonprofits and as the associate dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago as well as the vice president for Community and External Affairs of the University of Chicago Medical Center. In her early legal career, she worked at the law firm Sidley Austin where she met Barack Obama. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to former president Barack Obama.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |