Getty Images and Ancestry.com collaboration will digitize thousands of historical photographs and documents dating back to 1854, ensuring pivotal American stories survive for future generations

A major initiative to protect and digitize irreplaceable historical materials from Historically Black Colleges and Universities has gained momentum as Getty Images and Ancestry.com join forces in a landmark preservation effort. The collaboration aims to create comprehensive digital archives for ten selected HBCUs, rescuing visual artifacts, documents, and institutional records that might otherwise be lost to deterioration or obscurity.

The partnership represents a significant expansion of Getty’s HBCU Grants program and addresses a critical gap in American historical documentation. By digitizing these materials, the initiative will make centuries of Black educational history accessible to researchers, educators, and the public while ensuring these institutions maintain full ownership of their historical narratives.

Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, recognized as the first degree-granting HBCU, has become the initial participant in the program. The university will digitize approximately 700 photographs along with crucial institutional records dating back to its 1854 founding charter, creating a comprehensive digital archive that spans nearly 170 years of educational history.

Experts note the particular significance of these preservation efforts given that traditional historical documentation, including U.S. Census records, has often inadequately recorded Black American experiences. The initiative promises to fill critical gaps in the national historical record while providing valuable resources for genealogical research and academic scholarship.

From photography to comprehensive archives

The Getty HBCU Grants program launched in 2021 with an initial focus limited to photographic preservation. However, program leaders quickly recognized the need for a more comprehensive approach to safeguard the broader range of historical materials held by these institutions.

This expanded vision led to the partnership with Ancestry.com, which brings specialized expertise in digitizing and cataloging historical records. The collaboration now encompasses various artifacts beyond photographs, including administrative documents, student records, correspondence, and other materials that collectively tell the story of these pivotal American educational institutions.

Program administrators have emphasized the untapped potential of these collections for research, licensing, and educational storytelling. The digitization process will make previously inaccessible materials available to scholars and the public, creating new opportunities to understand and appreciate the contributions HBCUs have made to American society.

Lincoln University leads preservation effort

As the first institution participating in the expanded program, Lincoln University brings exceptional historical significance to the initiative. Founded in 1854, it holds the distinction of being the first degree-granting HBCU in the United States, with records spanning the post-Civil War era through the civil rights movement and into the present day.

The university has committed approximately 700 photographs to the initial digitization effort along with institutional records dating back to its founding charter. These materials document generations of students who pursued higher education despite significant social and legal barriers, providing crucial context for understanding African American educational history.

University administrators have framed the preservation work as documenting American history rather than solely Black history. The digitized materials will showcase the achievements of African Americans when provided educational opportunities, offering important counterpoints to incomplete historical narratives about Black educational attainment and professional accomplishment.

Student engagement through archival work

The initiative incorporates an educational component by involving current HBCU students in the preservation process. Participating students receive stipends sponsored by Denny’s to support their contributions to the archival work, providing both financial support and professional development opportunities.

Student participants gain valuable experience in archival techniques including sourcing, dating, and contextualizing historical materials. This hands-on training provides marketable skills while connecting current students with their institutions’ histories, creating intergenerational continuity in preserving these educational legacies.

For many students, the archival work may reveal connections to their own family histories, as multiple generations of families have often attended the same HBCUs. This personal dimension adds emotional resonance to the technical aspects of preservation work while highlighting the community-building function these institutions have served.

Preservation amid political challenges

The expansion of this preservation initiative comes during a period of intense debate about how American history should be taught and remembered. Recent political developments have included challenges to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs at various educational levels, raising concerns about historical erasure.

Some political figures have advocated for limiting educational content that examines complex or challenging aspects of American history, promoting instead what they term “patriotic education.” These proposals have raised alarms among historians concerned about potential censorship of important historical narratives.

Against this backdrop, the Getty and Ancestry.com partnership takes on additional significance as an effort to ensure that authentic, primary-source materials from HBCUs remain accessible regardless of political currents. By digitizing these records, the program creates a durable historical resource that can inform accurate understanding of American educational history beyond political fluctuations.

Ownership and institutional control

A key element of the program design ensures that participating HBCUs retain full copyright ownership of all digitized materials. This provision addresses historical concerns about exploitation of cultural materials and guarantees that institutions maintain control over how their histories are presented and utilized.

The ownership structure allows schools to make informed decisions about public access, licensing, and other uses of their historical materials. This approach recognizes the cultural and financial value these archives represent while respecting institutional autonomy in managing historical resources.

Program leaders have emphasized that this ownership model distinguishes the initiative from other digitization efforts that might separate historical materials from their institutional contexts. By keeping control with the originating institutions, the program aims to preserve not just the content but also the context and significance of these historical records.

Expansion to additional institutions

Following the pilot phase with Lincoln University, the program aims to incorporate nine additional HBCUs into the preservation effort. Program administrators are actively encouraging more institutions to apply for participation as the initiative scales up its operations.

The selection process will consider factors including the historical significance of available materials, their physical condition, and the institutional capacity to support the digitization process. Priority may be given to collections at particular risk of deterioration or those with exceptional historical importance.

Each participating institution will receive technical support, funding, and expertise to ensure their materials are properly preserved according to archival best practices. This support extends beyond the initial digitization process to include ongoing digital preservation and potential integration with existing institutional archives and special collections.

Long-term impact on historical research

Historians and archivists anticipate that this preservation initiative will significantly enhance research possibilities related to African American educational history and broader social developments. By making these materials digitally accessible, the program removes geographical barriers to research while ensuring fragile physical materials remain protected.

The digitized collections will offer resources for scholars studying various aspects of American history, including education policy, civil rights activism, professional development, and community formation. The materials also provide important primary sources for understanding how HBCUs functioned as centers of intellectual and cultural life throughout different historical periods.

For genealogists and family historians, particularly those researching African American family histories, these records may provide crucial documentation otherwise difficult to locate. Student records, photographs, and institutional documents often contain information about individuals who might be poorly documented in other historical sources, making these archives valuable for personal as well as academic research.

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The Hays Public Library celebrated the renovation of the Kansas Room with a Chamber in Hays ribbon cutting on Friday.

The Kansas Room is in the basement of the library. It holds circulating books on Kansas and from Kansas authors and reference materials on local history and genealogy.

The $170,000 project included moving the stacks to the west side of the basement to allow for more seating, programming and study space, Jeremy Gill, Kansas Room coordinator, said.

Brandon Hines, library director, said the Kansas Room is the final piece in a five-year renovation of the entire library. Much of the library had not been updated since the 1960s. The Kansas Room had last been updated in 2004.

Renovations on the first and second floors began in 2020.

Hines said the library staff wanted to create space in the basement where people could study or do research.

"We wanted to create a quiet reference-type space on the lower level because if you have been in the library on the main floor or especially the children's library on the second floor, it's not really the shushing library that you might have grown up with," Hines said. "There's a lot of activity."

Paul-Wertenberger Construction was the general contractor on the project.

Lead donors on the project included the estate of Ann Liston and the Robert E. and Patricia Schmidt Foundation. 

Major contributors who gave between $1,000 and $10,000 included Diana Pantle, Ken and Rose Marie Staab, Layton and Jerry Kaiser, Kyle and Stephanie Carlin, Friends of the Hays Library, Carol Vajnar, Sharon Dreher, Heartland Community Foundation, Teget Foundation, Cloud Storage, Kent and Ruth Deines, Jon and Cindy Lightle, the Hines family and Paul-Wertenberger Construction.

Gill said the Kansas Room is officially named the Dorothy B. Richards Kansas Room, which was named for the library director who created the collection as a shelf in the original Carnegie Library in Hays.

The collection grew to a room in the Carnegie Library's basement and was eventually moved to the present library.

"There haven't been a lot of Kansas Room librarians or coordinators over the years, and I really do appreciate the work and effort of all of those different people," Gill said.

The collection also contains rare books, books on the Great Plains, a local photo collection and local yearbooks.

"It's fun to see people go down memory lane with those kinds of things," he said. 

The library has a complete collection of Fort Hays State University yearbooks but is missing a few yearbooks from area high schools, or their copies have been well-worn from use, Gill said.

Residents can contact Gill at the library if they want to donate materials to the collection.

The Kansas Room has a bank of computers for research and an overhead scanner for digitizing images.

"I get emails and phone calls from all over the country and sometimes all over the world," Gill said. "It's a really special place."

After COVID, the Kansas Room initiated a coffee hour during which residents can talk to Gill and each other about local history.

That group meets at 10 a.m. Thursday mornings in the Kansas Room.

Hines said, "This place is just a collection of things without people like Jeremy. Jeremy is the one who connects people. He is the one who tells these stories about everything we have. Without people connecting with people, this would not be what it is."

"The Kansas Room is like a lot of other components of the library. It has its own little life. We have the children's area and the young adults' area. It has this life because of the people."

You can learn more about the Hays Public Library and the Kansas Room at hayslibrary.org. Follow the library on Facebook for information on upcoming events.

Press Release from the Black Heritage Library and Multicultural Center:

FINDLAY, OHIO — The Black Heritage Library and Multicultural Center is proud to announce the public launch of its Digital Archive, a growing online collection of over 100 historical and cultural artifacts now freely accessible at www.blackheritagecenter.org/digital-archive.

This new digital resource currently showcases over 120 unique artifacts—each accompanied by images and written descriptions—with hundreds more items to be added in the coming months. The archive represents the first phase of a long-term effort to increase access to the Center’s rich collections and enhance educational opportunities for students, teachers, and lifelong learners.

Spanning multiple categories, the archive represents a portion of the library’s vast collection of artifacts from around the world, ranging widely from hand-carved African ceremonial masks to indigenous musical instruments, artwork inspired by African proverbs, and significant items from African American history. Some especially noteworthy items include a jersey worn by legendary pitcher Satchel Paige and memorabilia from the Negro Leagues in baseball, and even a replica of the shipping crate Henry “Box” Brown used to escape slavery. The Center also houses an extensive collection related to the Tuskegee Airmen, with many pieces having been donated from the Smithsonian Institution.

The archive is free and available to the public and is designed to be especially useful to middle and high school teachers of civics, social studies, and American and world history. The resource provides educators with topically relevant material aligned with Ohio’s academic standards, helping students see themselves—and others—reflected in the historical record.

 “Our collection speaks to the breadth and depth of a global experience,” said Jerome Gray, Interim Executive Director of the Center. “We took great care to study the Ohio Common Core and select collections in our archive that clearly align with our state standards and requirements. By digitizing these materials and making our library and museum more widely available and accessible, we hope to introduce students in Ohio to people, events, and stories that might not have made it into their textbooks but that are nevertheless essential parts of our shared history.”

The project was made possible through support from Ohio Humanities, the Findlay Hancock County Community Foundation, and a small team of faculty, staff, and graduate students from the University of Findlay. Digitization began in 2022, with a soft launch in 2024, completing the first phase of the project. Future phases will focus on uploading the Center’s growing collection and expanding the use of the archive beyond the classroom.

To explore the archive, visit: https://www.blackheritagecenter.org/digital-archive

About the Black Heritage Library and Multicultural Center

Founded in 1982 and based in Findlay, Ohio, the Black Heritage Library and Multicultural Center is dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and cross-cultural understanding. Through its museum, educational programs, and extensive collection of global artifacts, the Center provides space for learning, reflection, and celebration of the many cultures that shape our shared world.

In 2018, investigators used DNA obtained from genealogy websites to identify Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.—better known as the Golden State Killer—who later pleaded guilty to 26 counts of murder and kidnapping. He is currently serving multiple life sentences.

The case marked a groundbreaking moment in forensic science. Detectives were able to identify DeAngelo Jr. by connecting him to DNA submitted to genealogy websites by distant relatives, helping bring long-awaited justice to victims and their families.

Supporters say genealogy aids police, critics warn it implicates relatives

While many supporters call the use of DNA profiles good police work, critics have raised data privacy and informed consent concerns about the Golden State Killer case and subsequent cases involving police departments that create fake profiles and conduct searches without a warrant, indirectly involving relatives of a suspect, whether they had anything to do with the crime or not.

“It’s perfectly legal for law enforcement to follow people around and wait for them to leave a discarded sample of their genetic information, for example, a cup, pizza crust, something like that,” Malia Fullerton, a professor of bioethics at the University of Washington, said. “The people who created these databases, and the vast majority of people who use them for genealogical purposes, were concerned about law enforcement coming in to make use of this information, not in order to expand a family tree, but to indirectly identify relatives.”

Fullerton said people upload their DNA to private genealogical companies to research family trees or trace their ancestry, not to assist in criminal investigations. Even when users consent to share their data, their relatives, including siblings who share close to 50% DNA, have often not agreed to do the same.

“Let’s say my brother is a genealogy buff and he decides he doesn’t care about his genetic privacy. He wants to find relatives in our far-flung family, and so he decides to upload his genomic information to one of these databases that law enforcement could access,” Fullerton said. “The fact that my brother uploaded his genetic information would allow me potentially to be indirectly identified. And I had no say.”

In the Golden State Killer case, investigators said they submitted crime scene DNA to FamilyTreeDNA, which created a profile. They then used fake accounts to search the database for matches. A close relative was found on MyHeritage, police said, helping them break open the cold case.

“I think on balance, it is a good thing,” Fullerton said. “However, it is right now kind of a Wild West. It’s not really very well regulated.”

Following the case, most major consumer DNA testing companies created additional barriers to law enforcement access. The U.S. Department of Justice also adopted restrictions on the use of genealogical databases for criminal investigations. But so far, only Maryland has passed legislation that provides legal guidelines for how law enforcement may use and store such sensitive data.

The lack of regulation raises concerns about potential misuse, including the risk of data breaches at police departments holding DNR-related information as part of their cases.

“If somebody hacks into my credit card or something, and, like, steals my identity, I can get a new credit card,” Fullerton said. “I cannot get a new genome. My genome is the genome that my parents gave me.”

The following article was written by (former) Sheriff C. Philip Byers:

Every year, thousands of murders in the United States remain unsolved. Today, there are over 300,000 cold cases on the books. But a revolutionary technology — forensic genetic genealogy — could change this grim reality.

Many people first heard of this technique in 2018, when investigators used it to find Joseph DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer. He eventually confessed to killing 13 people and raping about 50 women in California in the 1970s and 1980s.

Since then, the use of genetic genealogy in criminal investigations has steadily grown. This past year, it led police to arrest the man accused of raping and murdering Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who was found murdered near a running trail in Maryland in 2023.

The initial inquiry into Morin’s death revealed that the killer’s DNA matched an unsolved home invasion and assault in Los Angeles — but even with this match, investigators couldn’t identify the suspect. 

For decades, law enforcement relied on the Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS. Launched by the FBI in the 1990s, CODIS compares DNA samples collected from crime scenes to a database of profiles already in law enforcement’s possession.

DNA contains unique data points known as markers, which act like a genetic fingerprint. CODIS examines just 20 of these markers, and if no match is found in the database, the case often stalls.

As a result, violent crimes involving unknown suspects go unsolved.

The solution: forensic genetic genealogy.

Forensic genetic genealogy also relies on detective work and DNA samples, but it looks for matches using hundreds of thousands of markers instead of just 20. 

This process yields matches to individuals who share some DNA with the suspect. With enough matches, police can find the source of the DNA found at the crime scene.

But police departments often don’t have the capacity to conduct forensic genetic genealogy on their own. In Morin’s case, investigators turned the DNA evidence over to Othram, a company focused on solving contemporary and cold cases. Scientists there used genetic genealogy to develop new leads, culminating in the arrest of Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, who was just convicted on charges of murder and rape.

Genetic genealogy has now been used to solve thousands of cold cases. 

The fact that we have this technology now is reason for hope. We can bring closure to families by solving past crimes, and also stop new ones by identifying serial rapists and killers earlier in their trajectories.

But making greater use of forensic genetic genealogy infrastructure wouldn’t just bring more criminals to justice. Every case solved quickly means less time and money spent on dead-end leads or long-term investigations.

Currently, however, inadequate funding is preventing many investigators from making full use of genetic genealogy tools.

The solution has to be more federal support. The Department of Justice already makes grants to help reduce DNA backlogs. But more help is required. The next federal budget needs to have a specific focus on the game-changing application of genetic genealogy. At the same time, lawmakers need to re-evaluate how existing resources are being spent. In many cases, cutting-edge technologies can achieve the same or greater results for drastically less money.

We have the technology to solve crimes and protect the innocent. But we can’t do so without the political will to prioritize justice.

Sheriff C. Philip Byers is the former sheriff of Rutherford County, North Carolina. He worked in law enforcement for two decades. This piece originally ran in the DC Journal.

Case background

Detective Cordon Parks provided a recap of the investigation into Christine Gallegos’ murder.

Christine Gallegos was 18 when she was last seen alive at 10:30 p.m. on May 15, 1985. Christine Gallegos told her family that she was hitchhiking downtown to work at a bar. She was last seen alive on 40000 West in Kearns.

One hour after she was last seen, witnesses heard two gunshots in the area of 1384 Jefferson Street in Salt Lake City. Christine Gallegos was there for several hours before being found by a passerby at 3:50 a.m. on May 16.

Gallegos was found dead, severely beaten, stabbed, and shot twice in the head. Officers believe that the person who picked her up drove her to a remote area and killed her after she fought back.

The police had no suspects at the time. Forensic testing over the years of investigation also yielded no suspects, but biological evidence was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in 2010.

DNA evidence leads to the truth

In 2023, investigative genealogy was recommended by the Utah Cold Case Review Board and the State of Utah Crime Lab. According to Parks, SLCPD contacted a DNA lab in Texas — Othram — and sent them evidence.

Othram developed a profile of the suspect based on DNA and genealogy. Several months after the profile was developed, the lab called and said that they had developed a likely suspect.

Ricky Lee Stallworth was 27 at the time of Christine Gallegos’ murder. He was a U.S. Air Force airman at Hill Air Force Base in Layton, Utah.

“Law enforcement officials never stop trying to find answers and it doesn’t matter how old a case is, or whether it was hopeless in the past, there is technology here today that is able to get answers for families,” Kristen Mittelman, Chief Development Officer for Othram, is quoted in a release from the company. “Something like this is heartbreaking for a family to go through, but it’s important for them to know the truth.”

SLCPD spoke with three of his four ex-wives, spoke with a friend, and eventually made contact with a natural son of Stallworth. That son provided a voluntary DNA swab for the investigation, Parks said.

The Bureau of Forensic Services, alongside Othram, was able to determine that his DNA was a match to the biological information found on Gallegos’ body.

“We missed being able to talk to him and interview him by a matter of months,” Parks stated.

Police investigators determined that Stallworth murdered Christine Gallegos in 1985. Unfortunately, Stallworth died of natural causes in July 2023, only months before police found his name.

“Today, we can say with certainty that he was responsible for the death of Christine Gallegos,” Parks concluded.

Steve O’Camb, a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) investigator with the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS), shared the importance of the resolution of this case. SAKI investigators got involved in the case when the initiative came to Utah in 2015 and began testing old sexual assault kits from Utah criminal cases.

“In this case, we don’t have a suspect to put handcuffs on or anyone to charge, but we hope that our efforts have just given some measure of justice to the victim, her family, who is with us today, and their friends and people who loved her,” O’Camb stated.

O’Camb shared that the SAKI initiative assisted in solving the formerly cold case homicide of Gregory Dahl Nickell in Uintah County. Five cold cases have been solved by the initiative brought to Utah in 2015.

Leah Gallegos speaks at the SLCPD press conference on May 15, 2025 (Courtesy: The Salt Lake City Police Department).

Mother of Christine Gallegos

“I just know that I sure miss this girl every day,” Leah Gallegos, Christine’s mother, said. “I wonder about the kids she would have, and I watch other people with their daughters, their grandkids.”

Leah Gallegos has spent 40 years waiting for an answer from police. In a 2021 interview with ABC4, she expressed her frustration that it was taking so long for any progress. Today, she expressed gratitude.

“She was outgoing, she was sweet, she was in love with her fiancé, Troy,” Leah Gallegos stated. “They took so much away when they took her away.”

A new partnership between Getty Images and the genealogy website Ancestry aims to save the records and photographs of historically Black colleges and universities.

Lincoln University in Pennsylvania is digitizing its photos and documents with the help of Getty Images and Ancestry.

Cassandra Illidge

A group of Claflin University students were perusing old campus photos when one image caught a student’s eye—it was a picture of his grandmother from her college days. He knew they attended the same historically Black university in South Carolina, but he had never seen a picture of her in her younger years.

For Cassandra Illidge, vice president of global partnerships and executive director of the HBCU Grants Program at Getty Images, such moments both drive and affirm the company’s expanding work with HBCUs to preserve photos, documents and records in partnership with the genealogy website Ancestry.

Identifying his grandmother gave that student “a deeper connection with that institution, with the history and that legacy,” Illidge said, “and that’s what we’re hoping everyone will enjoy with this relationship and this partnership.”

Funded by Getty Images’ HBCU Grants Program, which started in 2021 with four institutions, the new partnership aims to digitize HBCU archival materials ranging from photos to student newspapers to course catalogs. Getty and Ancestry are working with 10 HBCUs—and counting—to create searchable digital archives for each institution, accessible to students and staff on Ancestry’s website. HBCUs maintain full copyright ownership of all their materials, and any money made from licensing the photos goes back into the digitization project. Meanwhile, students on each campus, who can receive stipends provided by the restaurant chain Denny’s, help to identify documents and photos to preserve and digitize them using scanners donated by Epson.

The companies are also preserving current documents and records for students and alumni of the future. 

“You’ll see campus queens from the1950s and campus queens from 2025,” Illidge said, referencing a time-honored HBCU tradition of crowning royal courts.

In October 1986, a 29-year-old nurse at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center in Polk County named Teresa Scalf was found brutally murdered in her home. There were no obvious suspects to the crime. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) collected forensic evidence, including blood found at the crime scene that did not belong to the victim.

Over the ensuing years, DNA was analyzed from the available forensic evidence but there were no matches detected in the national DNA database, i.e., the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Despite investigators’ extensive efforts and thousands of man-hours, the identity of Scalf’s murderer remained a mystery.

That is until 2022 when the Polk County Sheriff’s Office engaged Othram, a national leader in the burgeoning investigatory field of forensic genetic genealogy to see if advanced DNA testing could help develop new leads in the case.

Blood samples found at the crime scene were sent to Othram’s laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to develop a comprehensive DNA profile from the DNA of the unknown male suspect. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile to produce new investigative leads, which were provided to PCSO detectives.

Using these leads, PCSO detectives conducted interviews with distant relatives of the unknown suspect. These interviews allowed PCSO detectives to narrow their search to a now deceased man who lived directly behind Scalf at the time of her murder.

The suspect’s son cooperated with the investigation and provided a reference DNA sample that was compared with the male suspect DNA collected from the crime scene in 1986. Results of the comparison confirmed a parent-child relationship, thereby indicating that the blood found at the murder scene belonged to Donald Douglas.

Douglas was interviewed by detectives in 1986 during a routine canvass. But at that time, there was no evidence to link him to the murder. Forensic DNA typing was just beginning to be developed, and at the time of the murder, there was no laboratory offering DNA testing and the concept of a national DNA database had yet to be considered.

Over time, DNA typing became established, but connecting Douglas as a suspect was difficult. Douglas had no criminal history, and therefore, his DNA sample was never obtained by law enforcement. Thus, his profile was not entered into CODIS. Douglas was 33 years old at the time of Scalf’s murder. He died in 2008 from natural causes.

At a news conference earlier this year announcing the identity of the killer, Scalf’s 84-year-old mother remarked: “I lived to see this day. I think that’s why I lived so long.”

“We are extremely grateful for the assistance from Othram, who provided us with the missing element in this investigation, and ultimately enabled this case to finally be solved,” said PCSO Sheriff Grady Judd. “Once our detectives had that, they were able to climb through a family tree that led to the identity of Teresa Scalf’s killer.”

Forensic genetic genealogy is a revolutionary investigative method that marries forensic genetic analysis with genealogical research to help identify unknown individuals, often in cases that have gone cold for years. It merges two distinct fields — forensic genetic science, particularly DNA profiling, and genealogy, the study of family histories — allowing law enforcement to crack cases that were previously unsolvable.

Historically, the most common form of DNA testing used by forensic laboratories analyzed only a very small portion of human DNA, known as short tandem repeats (STRs).

In the late 1990s, the FBI chose 13 STRs as the core set for a DNA identification profile. These 13 STRs (now up to 20 STRs) are analyzed from DNA from crime samples and known reference samples and entered into CODIS. CODIS is the general term used to describe the FBI’s national DNA database program that supports local, state and national DNA indexes to develop investigative leads in an expeditious manner.

But this approach has its limitations. To be successful, the DNA profile from the donor of the crime scene evidence has to be in the FBI’s database, which most likely requires some previous encounter with law enforcement. That’s where forensic genetic genealogy comes into play.

By establishing a genetic association to people who voluntarily have donated their DNA to generate profiles comprised of a different type of markers known as SNPs (or single nucleotide polymorphisms) to public genetic genealogy databases, law enforcement investigators can build a family tree or trees that could lead to near or distant relatives of the unknown source of crime scene evidence or unidentified human remains.

While forensic genetic genealogy is an obvious and powerful application of this new forensic DNA technology, there are investigative applications as well.

A recently published peer-reviewed research paper that compared the use of traditional forensic anthropology — analysis of skulls and bones — and genetic ancestry analysis concluded that while forensic anthropology can provide valuable insights, its accuracy is limited due to the factors such as limited or partial data.

“In contrast, genomic analyses offer a more robust approach, leveraging hundreds to thousands of markers to provide nuanced ancestry estimations. The discrepancies observed highlight the importance of refining current practices and enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration between forensic anthropology and genomics,” the report concluded.

The point is that these advanced capabilities leverage far more genetic information than the standard systems. That means more investigative leads can be developed, which in turn means more cases can be solved via advanced forensic DNA methods, like Forensic Grade Genomic Sequencing, than has ever been possible in previous years.

Founded in 2018, Othram is now the nation’s leading provider of service and technology for forensic genetic genealogy labs. Othram’s mission is to develop technology that can bring certainty to law enforcement investigations such as those that involve unsolved murders, disappearances of missing persons and identification of human remains.

“Justice is not a luxury,” said Dr. Kristen Mittelman, Chief Development Officer at Othram. “It’s a basic human right.”

To date, Othram has been publicly credited with helping to solve nearly 400 cases, including murders, rapes and unidentified human remains. In Florida, the company has been credited with helping identify several dozen murder suspects and human remains in cities and counties including Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Pensacola, Hillsborough, St. Pete, Orlando, Winter Park, Flagler Beach, Collier County and Jupiter. (For a complete list of the locations and details of solved cases in Florida, go to www.DNAsolves.com.)

Still, these successes are just a drop in the bucket to what needs to be done. There are an estimated 250,000 unsolved homicides in the United States and as many as 75,000 unidentified human remains. Funding remains an issue. It costs about $10,000 to conduct a forensic genetic genealogy investigation. With budget constraints at most state and local law enforcement agencies, the additional cost can be a hurdle.

But recognizing the scope of the problem and the potential success of this investigative approach, the Legislature earlier this year passed, and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed, the first-of-its-kind legislation that created a nonrecurring pool of $500,000 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year to employ forensic labs like Othram to assist in solving cold cases. The Legislature is expected to revisit the funding needs again next year.

“I’d like to thank the Florida Legislature, and in particular, Sen. Jennifer Bradleyand Rep. Adam Anderson, for recognizing the potential of DNA testing in helping solve these cold cases,” Mittelman said. “Advanced DNA testing is currently being used sparingly but it’s the future method of choice and it can deliver impact at scale.”

 Author John and Myra Nichols always believed their roots ran deep in the Scottish Lowlands where their family history was tied to the life of seafaring fishermen. However, when they set out to confirm their ancestry, they uncovered a truth far richer: their family wasn't just catching fish but claimed by many historians as shaping the course of Western civilization.

Ready to share their story, they published, "The Rebirth of the Knights Templar, from Jerusalem to America: One Family's History." In the book, the couple chronicles their genealogical journey starting with Nichols's Y-DNA strand and his connection to royal linage back to 10 monarchs, including a Roman Senator, an Episcopal Bishop of Metz, a Roman Emperor, and Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland who sheltered the persecuted Knights Templar.

As their research deepened, they uncovered connections to Templar artifacts, including a Cross Charlemagne etched in stone near their home in the Ironwood Forest National Monument in Ariz. and a large stone cross on Oak Island, near Nova Scotia, C.A.

"What amazed us most was realizing that our ancestors helped shape history." Nichols said, "The Knights Templar stood against tyranny, bringing Christianity to Jerusalemand laying the foundation for the values that would eventually define America: free, justice, and faith."

Humbled to discover their legacy, the couple was inspired to tell America's real history and aims to protect Jerusalemduring a time of uncertainty.

"There's so much about our history we believe will make Americans feel proud," Nichols said. "By sharing our family's story, we hope to inspire others to protect sacred places like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, now under threat in the Middle East. Our ancestors' courage and conviction remind us to live purposely, stand for truth, and work toward a hopeful world."

"The Rebirth of the Knights Templar, from Jerusalem to America: One Family's History" 
By Author John and Myra Nichols
ISBN: 9781665750646 (softcover); 9781665750660 (hardcover); 9781665750653 (electronic) 
Available at Archway Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the author 
John Nichols, a veteran of the United States Army, worked 43 years for Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads. His hobby is Archeology, and he specializes in interpreting petroglyphs or rock carvings. Myra Nichols learned research by participating in a successful Congressional Investigation in the 1988 Yellowstone wildfires. Her master's in education helped her students achieve the highest reading scores for first and second graders in the district. They both wrote a highly successful book in 2016 called "Calalus Revisited.". To learn more, please visit https://www.archwaypublishing.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/855284-the-rebirth-of-the-knights-templar-from-jerusalem-to-america.