Orice Jenkins

Orice Jenkins is a recording artist, genealogist, educator, and author, born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut. He began researching his family history upon discovering that Whitney Houston’s grandparents were from his grandmother’s hometown of Blakely, Georgia. Since then, he has traced his ancestry back to 1745 in Central Virginia, uncovering the stories of several formerly enslaved Americans.

Orice is a member of the Sons and Daughters of the U.S. Middle Passage and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. He has presented his findings at The College of William & Mary, Yale University, FamilySearch’s RootsTech Conference, and the International African American Museum’s Center for Family History. His research has been featured in The Washington Post, National Parks Magazine, PBS’ Finding Your Roots, and on the National Park Service website.

Orice is the author of The Early County Massacre: Goolsby vs. The State of Georgia, a book chronicling the family of Grandison Goolsby, a prominent farmer who was extrajudicially lynched in Early County, Georgia in 1915. Orice also publishes a blog called Chesta’s Children, and serves as the Executive Director of a youth music program in Greenfield, Massachusetts.