Amazing Ancestors

Opposite page, top to bottom: actor Michelle Rodriguez, musician Branford Marsalis, cantor Angela Buchdahl and singer Harry Connick Jr.

Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr. searches out unknown ancestors of well-known Americans.

Actors Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Downey Jr., comedians Margaret Cho and Wanda Sykes and musicians John Legend and Branford

Marsalis are among the celebrities whose ancestors provide the mysteries researched in Finding Your Roots, a new series from renowned cultural critic and Harvard scholar Henry

Louis Gates Jr.

The basic drive to discover who we are and where we come from is at the core of the 10-part Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr., the 12th series from Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Filmed on location across the United States, the series premieres on March 25. “Finding Your Roots will be a moving, uplifting, entertaining and enlightening experience for viewers,” says Gates. “Genealogy is more popular than ever, but it’s far more than a solitary pastime. It’s a fascinating endeavor that can drastically alter both history and the way we think of ourselves.” Continuing on the quest begun in his previous projects, African American Lives (2006), African American Lives 2 (2008) and Faces of America (2010), Gates finds new ways to, as he says, “get into the DNA of American culture.” In each hourlong episode, he takes one celebrity pair bound together by an intimate, sometimes hidden link, treks through layers of ancestral history, uncovers secrets and surprises of their family trees and shares life-altering discoveries. Guest pairings include: New Orleans jazz masters and close friends Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis, whose European immigrant ancestors made very different choices

in the slave-era South; spiritual leaders Angela Buchdahl, Yasir Qadhi and Rick Warren, whose ancestors’ paths to America were shaped by religious convictions; and education superstar Geoffrey Canada and media legend Barbara Walters, who both rediscover family histories long obscured by forgotten name changes. In other episodes, public servants Condoleezza Rice and Congressman John Lewis, featured in different hours, trace their contemporary-day strength to enslaved ancestors, and actor Robert Downey Jr. marvels at the vastness of his family tree dating back to the 13th century. Gates travels with his guests throughout the series, sharing the details of ancestral stories and helping process what they’ve learned. He accompanies musician John Legend to a rock concert, goes backstage on Broadway with Samuel L. Jackson, joins Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker as he reveals the root-seeking results to his parents, and trails CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta to a memorable family reunion. Also included are family histories of actor Kevin Bacon and his actress wife Kyra Sedgwick, comedian Margaret Cho, Lost actress Michelle Rodriguez, comedian and actress Wanda Sykes, Brown University president Ruth Simmons and stylish living personality Martha Stewart. Working closely with leading U.S. genealogists (including staff of the New England Genealogical Historical Society and Johni Cerny, co-author of The Source: Guidebook for American Genealogy) and ancestry experts from around the world, Gates and his production team comb through family stories to discover unknown histories and relatives the guests never knew existed. When paper trails end for each story, the team turns to top geneticists and DNA diagnosticians (such as the genetic testing service 23 & Me) to analyze each participant’s genetic code, tracing their bloodlines and occasionally debunking their long-held notions and beliefs. Reaching beyond celebrity stories, Gates also seeks out everyday individuals (on-air and online) who are wrestling with questions of identity. He visits with employees at his favorite barber shop and engages Harlem students who are curious about their genetics. The Finding Your Roots website (pbs.org/wnet/findingyour-roots) offers video from the series, a blog from Gates, material from the production team and the scientists who conducted research for the series, and a comprehensive list of resources that viewers can use to learn more about their own genealogy.

tune in: Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr. debuts Sunday, March 25 with two episodes broadcast back to back at 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. They repeat Tuesday, March 27 at 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. and Saturday, March 31 at 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. It continues in April on Sundays at 7:00 p.m., Tuesdays at 1:00 a.m. and Saturdays at 4:00 p.m.

Lorin Klaris

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