Finally tonight, in honor of Juneteenth, tracing the roots of Black Americans in New Jersey.

The William Trent House Museum recently hosted an event helping local residents connect with their family heritage using DNA analysis and historical experts.

It's a process that's been difficult, if not impossible, due to slavery and a lack of records.

As Melissa Rose Cooper tells us.

For many Black participants, it's the first time they're getting a true understanding of the lives and journeys of their ancestors.

I want to know who I am.

You know, I don't want to just say I'm Black in America.

African-American.

Well, especially when you say African.

Like, what part of Africa do you know?

And we didn't know.

And because of that, it was important for me and my family to know where we are from, who our people were.

So Princess Hoglan took matters into her own hands.

Several years ago, she decided to retrace her ancestry, linking her family's roots back to the African countries olf Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

So that's where we were you part of different, the Yoruba and Tikar.

And please know that I'm still researching what that really means for me.

You know, the people that are there and the languages that they speak.

So we're excited about it.

Now Hoagland is inspiring others to retrace their ancestry, sharing her results at a recent Juneteenth event at the William Trent House in Trenton.

Now, we wanted to bring people together to learn about their African history and learn about African ancestry, but also about genealogy as well, which includes genetic testing as well as pedigree or family history.

Gerald Truehart can't wait to see what his ancestral tree looks like.

He and his family submitted their information to African Ancestry and are waiting for the DNA kits.

A percentage of African people here in America who are black don't know their African ancestry, don't know whether they're from Ghana, whether from Sierra Leone, whether they're from Morocco, whether they're from any other country in the continent of Africa.

It is important, I believe, that we understand our heritage and our ancestry where we're from to connect to our place here in America, United States of America.

But figuring out ancestral lineage can be especially difficult for African-American and families.

A lot of the information wasn't written down, and then some things actually were written down, but they were written down in the wills of the white families that owned them.

And so the enslavers would sometimes put the names of the person that they enslaved in in their will and then pass that person down to their daughter for a wedding gift or to their son so that they can continue to have free labor, essentially, is what it was all about.

And so we really found out that we are lucky if you had a first name of a person that was enslaved.

But thanks to advances in technology.

More information is now available.

And advocates encourage families to pursue their ancestral lineage.

Because we are the ones that built America if it wasn't for our free labor.

America would not be what it is today it is a powerhouse.

It is a it is everything that history tells us that we are not that.

But it had it not been for the free labor of the African-Americans, we would look vastly different And if you're looking to retrace your ancestral roots, advocates recommend trying to get as much information as possible from the oldest members of your family so you can have the best chance of getting successful results.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Melissa Rose Cooper.