Funding News! Halsted Trust supports new DNA testing and genetic genealogy resource at The Mixed Museum
The Halsted Trust is to part-fund a free new resource from The Mixed Museum that will demystify key concepts in DNA testing and genetic genealogy for the general public. Created in partnership with the museum’s Scientist in Residence Dr Sophie Kay, the online toolkit – which is also supported by ‘Places of Science’ funds from the Royal Society – will draw on insights from our ‘brown babies’ group to produce explanatory videos by Dr Kay.
The Mixed Museum and our Scientist in Residence Dr Sophie Kay are delighted to announce new funding from the Halsted Trust, an independent charitable trust dedicated to advancing family history, genealogy and public education.
A £2,000 grant from the trust will support an educational project to produce short videos which demystify and explain key concepts in DNA and genetic genealogy for the general public, and will work alongside existing ‘Places of Science’ project funds from the Royal Society. The resulting ‘video shorts’ will form part of a free, publicly accessible resource, showing how to interpret and use DNA test results effectively and accurately.
At the heart of the project is the museum’s ongoing collaboration with a group of ‘brown babies’ – a term coined by the African American press in the 1940s to describe the children born to Black GIs and white British women, during the mid-20th century period when US soldiers were stationed in various UK locations.
As a result of anti-miscegenation laws in parts of the USA at the time, which prohibited interracial marriage, most of the children grew up separated from their Black GI fathers, many in institutional care. Now in later life, they and their families are using direct-to-consumer DNA testing to trace their African American fathers or grandfathers and connect with family.
“Every family has a story, but history has not given everyone the same opportunity to know it”
The Mixed Museum has been working directly with members of this community, including their descendants and relatives, since 2023, when funding from the Museums Association’s Mindsets + Missions programme provided space for the community to connect and share their stories, as well as learn more about the science behind DNA testing.
The new collaborative project funded by the Halsted Trust and the Royal Society will see The Mixed Museum, Dr Kay and the ‘brown babies’ network draw on the group’s insights into how they have navigated their own parent- or grandparent-tracing journeys, and what they wish they had understood when they first embarked on DNA testing. These insights will inspire and direct the content of the resulting instructional videos.
Dr Chamion Caballero, Director and co-founder of the Mixed Museum, said: “Every family has a story, but history has not given everyone the same opportunity to know it. For members of the ‘brown babies’ community, DNA testing has opened up remarkable possibilities to reconnect families. But making sense of the results can be daunting.
“This support from the Halsted Trust will enable us to build on our work with the ‘brown babies’ community, bringing together lived experience and scientific expertise to help more people navigate the opportunities and limitations of DNA testing in their family search journey.”
The toolkit is expected to reach a global audience of mixed families and beyond
Dr Sophie Kay, the Museum’s Scientist in Residence, said: “With its history of supporting genealogical education and the growth of our family history community, it’s fantastic that the Halsted Trust is funding our project. The rise of direct-to-consumer DNA testing has made it possible for so many to explore questions of identity, family and heritage and it’s important that we can provide accessible, informative resources to support anyone taking this step.”
Filmed in London and Cambridge, the videos will be hosted on a pilot DNA Journeys Toolkit module on The Mixed Museum’s website and shared across social media and YouTube channels in early 2027. They are expected to reach a global audience of families of mixed racial heritage, for whom DNA testing supports family reconnection and identity exploration, as well as many other people and communities interested in how DNA testing might help them.
Hester Coley said: “As the DNA Research Director for the Halsted Trust, I am delighted that the Trust will be co-sponsoring the ‘Brown Babies’ project. The Trust itself is committed to leveraging DNA for its own research and we welcome the opportunity to support the making of these videos, which will serve as an invaluable resource for potential DNA testers. I will be very interested to see the project’s results.”
The Halsted Trust is an independent charitable trust dedicated to advancing family history, genealogy and public education. Find out more about their work at the Halsted Trust website.
Learn more
Read about our Reclaiming history through science project, which began our ongoing DNA ancestry tracing work with a group of ‘brown babies’ and their family members
Visit our digital exhibition, The ‘Brown Babies’ of World War Two, which is based on Professor Lucy Bland’s research
Watch members of our ‘brown babies’ group tell their stories on our YouTube channel