Visit the grave of slave kin? Yes, she can

Links (3)

Slavery Unites Michelle Obama, Anderson Cooper [Gossip Roundup]
Published 10/14/2008 by Ryan Tate at Gawker
... Anderson Cooper's great-great-grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, held as a slave Michelle Obama's great-great-grandfather. Cooper's cousin has invited Obama to visit her ancestor's grave, which is on a family plantation near some relatives Obama recently visited. [R&M] ...

Michelle Robinson Obama's great-great-grandfather ... [Making History]
Published 10/14/2008 by Dodai at Jezebel
... [image] Michelle Robinson Obama's great-great-grandfather was Jim Robinson, who was born a slave in 1850 at Friendfield in Georgetown, SC. Today, Whitney Tower, whose great-great-grandfather was ferry and railroad baron Cornelius Vanderbilt, and whose family owns Friendfield says: "After Lincoln freed the slaves, Jim Robinson stayed on and worked there. We believe he was buried there in 1888, in the African-American cemetery. Ms. Obama is welcome to visit anytime." This article points out that while Barack Obama does not have slave roots, Michelle would be the first First ...

Cooper, Obama Share Ugly Past
Published 10/14/2008 at Mollygood
What a tangled web our bloody, shameful, slave-ridden American history has woven. A genealogical study has found that silvern newsman Anderson Cooper's great-great-grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, once owned Michelle Obama's great-great-grandfather, Jim Robinson, on Friendfield(!!!!!!!!!), a 3,000-acre plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina. Whitney Tower, a cousin of Cooper's who still lives in Georgetown, has invited Obama to visit ...