Marian Shields Robinson Marian Shields Robinson Marian Lois Robinson (née Shields; born July 30, 1937) is the mother of Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States, and mother-in-law of Barack Obama, former President. Marian Shields was born in Chicago in 1937, the fourth of seven children—five girls, followed by two boys—born to Purnell Nathaniel Shields, a house painter, and his wife Rebecca Jumper, a licensed practical nurse. Two of her sisters and her brother Steve still live in Chicago on the South Side, as she did. Both parents had multi-racial ancestry, but slavery times were not discussed much when she was
Alfred D. Robinson and Marion James Robinson Alfred D. Robinson and Marion James Robinson Alfred D. Robinson (1866-1942) and his wife Marion James Robinson (1873-1919) were wealthy residents of San Diego, California known for their impact on gardening and the cultivation of flowers, particularly begonias. Their extensive home garden was used to propagate and develop more than 100 new varieties of ornamental flowers and was later opened to the public as Rosecroft Begonia Gardens. Rosecroft was the name of their estate in the Point Loma neighborhood of San Diego. The residence, built for them in 1912, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Marion