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Vanessa Williams Unlocks Her Ancestry With A Rare Civil War Photo | Who Do You Think You Are?

30 August 2026

Actress Vanessa L Williams, who faced racial prejudice when she became the first black woman to be crowned Miss America, goes on the trail of two of her ancestors who fought courageously to extend the rights and freedoms of black people in the USA. Her ancestor David Carll was one of the first to enlist after the ban on black soldiers serving on the Union side of the Civil War was lifted and, at the National Archives in Washington, DC, Vanessa uncovers an unbelievably rare tintype photograph of him. Going further back, Vanessa uncovers another ancestor,… Video by YouTube channel.

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