Hi Everybody: Be sure to watch the TV show "60 Minutes II" Wednesday night (tomorrow). There will be a segment on the Hairston family of Virginia and North Carolina. I just finished reading the book ("The Hairstons") written about this family and it was very interesting. The author (Henry Wiencek) spent many years researching the family tree of this family - both black and white - and the book tells of his research and findings. This book will be great reading for anyone interested in tracing any family who may have both white slave owner and black slave descendants. It gives a great deal of perspective and insight into how the different family members view the period of time when their ancestors were either owners or slaves - perspectives that I hadn't considered but now realize that I need to know as I begin contacting and researching the black descendants in my Allred family. The white author's "trial and error" method of contacting the black descendants of this family is very detailed and honest - very educational. Anyone wanting more info on this book, please let me know. Linda Allred Cooper