Ben Costantino, is a cooking blogger and genealogy enthusiast originally from Richmond, Rhode Island. With a degree in Design Communications at the University of Minnesota—supplemented with classes in African-American Studies—he’s been active in genealogy since 2014. While information for his European ancestors proved to be relatively easy, he found that extra effort and attention was required for his African-American roots.

As his research approached the early 1800s, Black Rhode Islanders began to disappear from many towns' records due to the effects of slavery. In order to research earlier than 1810, it was essential to dig through records of slave owners with a fine-toothed comb to reveal the whereabouts of this portion of his lineage.

His ability to trace his African-American roots so far back is partly due to the generosity of other enthusiasts and historians. Having been shown manumission records for three of his ancestors from the Newport Historical Society and Jamestown Historical Society, he was motivated to search for more, felt compelled to document his findings and publish this information for other people who might be interested. Ben now spends his free time in Queens, New York digitizing these records to give a voice to this piece of undocumented history.