PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas learned something new about himself Tuesday. He got the results of a genealogy search from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Thomas had no idea what he was going to find in his family tree when he asked Katy Barnes, the society’s director of genealogical services, to take a look. But he wasn’t expecting such a perfect reflection of his core values — his spirituality, his passion for education, and his Democratic politics.
She spent two weeks researching Thomas’ background and discovered, among other things, that he comes by his political ambitions honestly — via his great-grandfather Julius Pralow.
“Newspaper clippings show that Julius was a delegate to the Georgetown (South Carolina) City Democratic Convention in 1959 where they were preparing for a primary election of three City Council seats,” said Barnes.
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“Here is the article that mentions him specifically as one of the delegates of one of the five Democratic clubs in Georgetown, so it seems like maybe it’s in your blood.”
Thomas said simply, “Wow.”
Barnes also found that another of Thomas’ great-grandparents founded a church in Mobile, Alabama that is still operating, and a great-great-grandfather was a trustee of Allen University, a predominantly Black college in Columbia, South Carolina.
There were sad discoveries too: A great-grandmother who died by suicide and great-great-grandparents born into slavery.
Thomas seemed overwhelmed.
“I just want to take minute to digest, have a deeper conversation with my parents,” he said.
But Thomas said he highly encouraged others to follow their own journey into family history.
“When you recognize where you come from, your genealogy, and the sacrifices that people have already made for you to be where you are,” he said, “you just have a deeper appreciation for the moment that you’re in.”