A woman with short hair and a black shirt

Johni Cerny

Founder

Johni Cerny founded Lineages, Inc. in 1983, and since 2005, she has been the lead genealogist for the television series that air on PBS, including “African American Lives” 1 & 2, “Faces of America” and seven seasons of the popular series “Finding Your Roots.”

In February 2020, Johni Cerny passed on, leaving an undeniable legacy of inclusive, in-depth, precise, and all-encompassing research for the ancestry of countless individuals. Her life was devoted to her work, and an innumerable number of people benefited as a result.

In July of 2020, Richard Price, a peer and co-worker with Johni for several years, acquired Lineages, Inc. and expanded the process of African-American research into the already renowned successful research he and his affiliates had undertaken for over 40 years.