Her grandparents had bought a brownstone in Bedford-Stuyvesant in 1932, and she was raised there until the age of thirteen when the family moved to Union Street in the Crown Heights section of the borough.
At home, this manifested itself in her questions to her paternal grandparents about what it was like growing up in the 1890s American South, then making the move in 1930 to New York City during the Great Migration, a time period from 1916 to 1970 during which approximately 6 million African Americans migrated to urban Northeast location from the Southern United States.
Her father, George Rhodes, was a resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant whom graduated from Boys High School and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.
His military exploits in an air battle in Europe were celebrated on the front page of the Amsterdam News on August 26, 1944.
In July 2019, she attended the 400th Anniversary of the First Meeting of the General Assembly speaking in recognition of the "20 and odd" Africans brought to Virginia in 1619.
[10] Kelly traced the family on her mother's side to Revolutionary War patriot Stephen Henry Hamlin of Prince George County.
This aid delivered to the fight for freedom qualified the family to file for membership in the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR).
She was often referred to as "a walking goodwill ambassador" for the DAR in recognition of her constant speaking engagements,[15] teaching at genealogy workshops and willingness to help others construct their family histories.
Her efforts are unofficially thought to have led 100 women to successfully complete paperwork required to join the NSDAR.
[18] Kelly helped over one hundred women with genealogical research, identifying their descent from an American patriot who fought or rendered service in the Revolution, and qualifying them as members of the NSDAR.