Ancestry of
Ken Burns

Documentary Filmmaker

Robert Kyle Burns

View famous kin of Robert Kyle Burns

• • Grandfather of Ken Burns — 3rd Generation
  • Ahnentafel No:
  • 4 
  • Father:
  • William McLauren Burns 
  • Mother:
  • Sarah E. "Sallie" White   
  • Birth Date:
  • 26 Jul 1896 
  • Birth Location:
  • Hillsboro, Pocahontas, West Virginia 
  • Christening Date:
  •  
  • Christening Location:
  •  
  • Death Date:
  • 26 Jun 1982 
  • Death Location:
  • Bridgewater, Rockingham, Virginia 
  • Burial Date:
  •  
  • Burial Location:
  •  
  • Spouse Name:
  • Emily Lucille Moore
  • Marriage Date:
  • 21 Jun 1924 
  • Marriage Location:
  •  
  • Children:
  
  

  Robert Kyle Burns Jr. (Ahnentafel No:2 )

  William Moore Burns

  John McLauren Burns

  • Notes: 

  • Robert Kyle Burns was an American biologist who was noted for having changed the sex of alligators from male to female back in 1937 at the University of Rochester in New York. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1955.

    Robert Kyle Burns was often referred to as Junior to distinguish him from his uncle Robert Kyle Burns who was living with the family in 1900.

• Sources for Robert Kyle Burns

  • ¹ Federal Census, New York, Monroe County, 1930, Brighton, E.D. 28-201, Sheet 19B, Image 38 of 59.
  • ² Federal Census, NY, Monroe County, 1940, Brighton, E.D. 28-5, Sheet 19B, Image 39 of 81.
  • ³ Federal Census, VA, Staunton (Independent City), 1920, Staunton Ward 1, E.D. 134, Sheet 1A, Image 1 of 7.
  • ⁴ Federal Census, VA, Culpeper County, 1910, Catalpa, E.D. 15, Sheet 14A, Image 27 of 36.
  • ⁵ Federal Census, WV, Pocahontas County, 1900, Levels, Sheet 2B, Image 4 of 25.
  • ⁶ U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Draft registration for Robert Kyle Burns.
  • ⁷ U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, Draft registration for Robert Kyle Burns Jr..
  • ⁸ West Virginia Births, 1853-1930, Birth record for Robert Burns.
  • ⁹ Murray, James, Robert Kyle Burns 1896-1982: A Biographical Memoir, Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press (1995).
  • ¹⁰ Wikipedia, "Robert K. Burns", (accessed 09/15/2014).
  • ¹¹ Zurawik, David, "Waking the Dead", The Baltimore Sun, 23 SEP 2007.

Ken Burns photo by dbking (CC BY 2.0)