In her poignant essay, “When a Family Member Dies, and You’re the Outside Child,” writer and children’s rights activist Dr. Stacey...

By 1920, Big Ma is listed as a widow on census records. I spent weeks searching for a death record for her husband, Cebron Benton. Gone...

Harriet Gore is listed as the mother of Big Ma on her death certificate (witnessed by her daughter Almeta Campbell Ray Mason Bunting)....

Carroll is Big Mama's maiden name. J.C. Carroll or John Carroll is listed as her father in multiple records. I started with Ancestry.com...