Henry Louis Gates, Jr., announced yesterday that Johni Cerny, the chief genealogist for Finding Your Roots, has passed away.
Fans of the PBS show will recognize Ms. Cerny, who appeared in each episode, doing research with old documents or on a microfilm reader.
Posted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. —
It’s with great sadness to share that Johni Cerny, our chief genealogist for Finding Your Roots, has passed away. We’ve worked with Johni, one of the pioneering and most highly respected genealogists in the field, since we created the PBS series, African American Lives, in 2005, in which she traced the ancestry of such well-known African Americans as Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones.
Since then, she has researched the genealogy of almost 200 celebrities, including Meryl Streep, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Tina Turner, Congressman John Lewis, Senator John McCain, Senator Bernie Sanders, Larry David, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, P Diddy, and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, among many others. Johni’s passion, dedication, originality and mastery of the tools of her craft have been at the heart of countless revelations for the guests in our PBS series over the last fifteen years.
Her passion for genealogy began at age 19 when she sought out the story of her own roots, eventually discovering the identity of her grandmother and father.
Her lifelong love of the work inspired all of us who make Finding Your Roots, and she was always grateful to the viewers who make it possible for us to tell these stories. This calling, and all of the joy she brought to it, radiated throughout our show and was a key to the fulfillment of its promise to discover personal histories that liberate us from mistruths about our differences and foster a more human connection amongst us.
Thank you, Johni, for believing in our dream from the very beginning, and for doing so very much to make that dream a reality. We will miss you and we love you.
Ms. Cerny began her professional genealogy career in 1979. She founded Lineages, Inc. in 1983, left the firm in 2005 and returned as the company’s president and CEO in 2011. Between 2005 and 2012, she was the lead genealogist for several television series that have aired on PBS, including African American Lives, Faces of America, and Finding Your Roots.
She specialized in American, African American, English, Scottish, German, Slovakian, Swiss and Italian research.
Ms. Cerny grew-up in her native Kansas City, Missouri and Los Angeles. She graduated from Brigham Young University with majors in genealogy and social work. Unable to make a living as a genealogist before Roots exploded on paper and television, she served on active duty in the United States Army from 1972 to 1979 and inactive duty from 1979 to 1983. Reaching the rank of captain, she spent her last tour in Germany as the first female commander of a forward support unit. She returned to Utah in 1979 to live her dream by launching Lineages, Inc.
Last year, Ms. Cerny, hosted a 30-minute live chat on Facebook, which is still available to watch.
Finding Your Roots is now urgently looking for a full-time genealogist to join their team. They are looking for someone with an eye to what makes a compelling story, immaculate research abilities, experience conducting a broad range of genealogical research, and someone who is extremely detail-oriented. The ideal candidate is someone who is able to manage time-sensitive priorities while maintaining the highest standard of quality in their research.
