Earlier this year, as she and her spouse piled into their Hyundai Tucson and prepared to travel the American South seeking answers about the ancestors she knew had been enslaved, Michelle Johnson found other questions suddenly on her mind.

Am I deluding myself, she wondered? Will I actually find anyone? Is this really that important?

“I just had to let go and say, let’s go for it and see what happens,” the retired Boston professor said.  “I had some trepidation. But look how it paid off.”

Johnson’s long journey through family keepsakes, official documents and ultimately the land where her ancestors once toiled illustrates both the complex challenges and rewards for Black ...