It was a horrible, horrible thing. DEGGANS: Yeah, that's true. This is FRESH AIR. That indicates that they do them regularly, which is a positive sign. GROSS: OK. The differences perhaps point to different social and cultural histories within the south.". CORNISH: And they said that they found the show's producers violated PBS standards by failing to shield the creative and editorial process from improper influence. And it turned out - my father used to say, you know, your mother's family is really distinguished, too? And she dies of a broken heart because her little girl passes for white and goes off - and never sees her again. GROSS: And I read you talking about this. A family history book can also be expensive, as weve covered, so its worth doing your research to find the best genealogist for your project. To be clear, I dont work for Finding Your Roots; Im just a professional genealogist who knows people who have worked on the show and I was present for the filming of an episode. And so he introduced me to the Yoruba people. In front of all these people and all these viewers. It would be rather seeing restored the names of their enslaved ancestors." Except in the next scene, I showed him their headstones. And it's for my father. After another successful round with African American Lives 2, with Chris Rock, Morgan Freeman, Maya Angelou and more, Gates Jr. was given an instruction by PBS. Writing samples might range from blog posts to published research in peer-reviewed journals. And she throws herself on the casket. Elizabeth Shotbolt , Phillip Fordham, Bridget Shelley , Anthony Hungerford. And TV was on kind of like the hearth in New England. It was just put on the historic GATES: Register in Maryland. Testing showed he had ancestors from sub-Saharan Africa, Ireland and England. Eric Deggans, what does that mean? Despite being known for playing the menacing Logan Roy in HBO's Succession, Gates Jr. explains how the formidable actor was reduced to tears by revelations about his family history. Henry Louis Gates Jr. doesn't seem too worried about "critical race theory" or "white fragility" or "woke warriors" or any of those ridiculous buzzwords . On the show, they usually find photographs by contacting the guests relatives or distant cousins. GROSS: And you got this information from the 1870 census. GROSS: (Laughter) So I want to change the subject a little bit. There he found that he shared 10 of the 11 DNA matches with offspring of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the fourth century warlord who created one of the dominant strains of Irish genealogy because he had so many offspring. I'm here to find my roots. Famed Harvard University Professor Henry Louis 'Skip' Gates Jr. got a major surprise when he started researching his own ancestry - in his . "It was so popular that PBS said, 'nah, you gotta cut white people in on this,'" Gates Jr. laughed. As we honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King today, we're going to listen to an interview Terry recorded with historian Henry Louis Gates. Published February 4, 2023 at 5:25 PM EST. Combining family tree records with DNA genealogy technology, he initially pitched the show as "Alex Haley in a test tube" (Haley was the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family). On July 16, 2009, Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home by local police officer Sgt. It may include images of records, text, a family tree chart, maps, and any number of other elements related to your family history (though some family history books contain very few images). Maria Hinojosas Great-Great-Grandfather Was a Railway CEO, Maria Hinojosa Discovers Her Ancestor Founded a City, John Lithgows Family Fled The Dominican Republic. Kids don't even know what they are anymore, but everybody here does. Who is Henry Louis Gates Jr. married to? Henry Louis Gates, Jr., (born September 16, 1950, Keyser, West Virginia, U.S.), American literary critic and scholar known for his pioneering theories of African and African American literature. People might remember the Beer Summit, when you were stopped in your own home trying to unjam a lock after a long trip. The Finding Your Roots host said discoveries about families like Cox's is a welcome lesson. And she burst into tears because she used to read me that book all the time. In a commentary in the New York Times, prominent historian, educator Henry Louis Gates cited the work of historian Carter Woodson, pioneer in 1926 of what has become Black History Month. He also wrote many non-fiction books on African American history, and won many awards in the process. And I couldn't imagine what, but two sets of those fourth great-grandparents are from my mother's line. And just the optics of a seeing a rich, white movie star pressure a black historian into suppressing information about this guy's slave-owning past and his family, that's really bad on all kinds of levels. in England and in the U.S. is the use of DNA. You have to get permission. . And by in traction, I mean on my back with my foot up with weights. The good news is that several of the genealogists who have worked on Finding Your Roots, as well as other shows like Who Do You Think You Are?, are available for hire. BEN AFFLECK: That's my grandmother, Liz. That's a long time when you're young. MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Over the course of his many years hosting history and genealogy shows on PBS, scholar and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. has guided dozens of people through emotional deep dives into their family histories, unearthed with the help of DNA and a team of expert . You can read more about genealogists specialties in my blog post on the subject. Finding Your Roots airs weekly on Tuesdays on PBS. Yeah. So my whole life is really an attempt to honor and please my parents and make them proud of me, you know. So I thought that I had a pretty good chance. Legend has it that it was Niall of the Nine Hostages who, on a raid in Wales, captured a young slave and brought him to Ireland. That's not the way it was. So you GATES: Because of this white man. His PBS series "Finding Your Roots" returns for its ninth season in January, and his latest documentary series . So reading this - that she's a mulatto; she'd been a slave - the first question that comes to my mind - and I don't know if it was the first question that came to yours - was, was she raped by the man who owned her? Historian and African American Studies professor Gates Jr. has hosted a number of genealogy shows in the past, but Finding Your Roots on PBS has proved his most popular yet. The headline read " DEATH OF 'AUNT JANE GATES ' ": Last night at 11 o'clock "Aunt Jane Gates," colored, a . As soon as the Civil War ended, they became common law husband and wife GATES: Which was illegal in Mississippi. Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an author, documentary filmmaker, essayist, and literary critic. Biology matters. Now think about that. There is also the question of What is exhaustive? when it comes to family tree research. We started to roll. Gates Jr., a self-confessed fan of Succession, was thrilled when Cox agreed to do the show, and shared a behind-the-scenes video of the segment on Twitter on Monday. GATES: But then they did another special test. I have the Ui Neil Haplotype. He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. I hope you never come back, you know? GROSS: Yeah. Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts the program, butas I understand ithe does not do the research into the guests' family histories himself. PBS has delayed scheduling the show's third season. And finally, PBS has a brand as a trusted provider of nonfiction entertainment, so they have to really safeguard that brand by making sure the stuff they present to viewers is accurate. And we're listening to Terry's interview with Henry Louis Gates. My mother used to read me - the greatest book ever written to me was "The Poky Little Puppy," right? He loved the news. His expertise and experience eventually led him to TV, where he started working as a . GATES: The Gateses all looked - my father looked white. So I'm out there. GROSS: But you had family that passed for white. And then when we go - when you were buried, she would stand up. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. If you don't tell your stories, other people will tell their story about you. And what's the real showstopper for me is the fact that my three sets of my fourth great grandparents lived 18 miles from where I was born. I'm here to ask, on behalf of our production staff, if you will be a guest in next season GATES: Of "Finding Your Roots." Thanks to an encounter with a family scrapbook at a young age, ancestry fascinates Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Emmy-winning filmmaker, author and Harvard University professor raised in the tiny town of Piedmont, West Virginia. Family history books can vary widely from one genealogist to the next, but they may resemble chapter- or coffee-table books with sections devoted to your ancestors. So you're saying I should have been an undertaker. Henry Louis Gates Jr. . For the most part, genealogists compile their findings on your family history into a research report. Strangely enough, he and the Cambridge, Mass., police officer who arrested him, Sgt. And deep down, I realized in retrospect that my desire to make films was probably born about that time. And I'm wondering if being laid up from an injury for a while affected your desire to - and your time to immerse yourself in books. If youre a celebrity or public figure, then probably yes! Finding the right genealogist for your projectmaking sure they are qualified, signing a contract, etccan be a confusing task, even if you have been researching your tree for awhile. GATES: For which she paid cash. And under the skin, we are almost identical genetically. And that night - and then daddy showed my brother and me, Dr. Paul Gates now, chief of dentistry at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital GATES: Well, it's the spirit of my mother. Off. I can do it. WAYNE, N.J. Henry Louis Gates Sr., 97, formerly a resident of Cumberland and Piedmont, W.Va., died peacefully on Christmas Eve, 2010, in Wayne, at home with his family gathered at his bedside. 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