"My wife, Marial Iglesias Utset, is a Cuban citizen and a historian of slavery and the slave trade to Cuba," he explained. After more than 500 years of skewed, racist, Euro-centric interpretations of African history and culture, Wonders of the African World with Henry Loius Gates Jr. was to be a bold step towards reclaiming the oft-overlooked and minimized splendor of African civilization. I know, those are some of my favorite reveals on the show, too. And if you're Ashkenazi Jewish, you might have a higher risk for those kind of things or Tay-Sachs. If my areas of expertise do not align with your needs, check out my guide for finding a professional genealogist. A family history book is like the entire car. Henry Louis Gates is married to a white woman. African American Studies scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. was born in Keyser, West Virginia on September 16, 1950, the son of Henry Louis Gates Sr. and Pauline Augusta Coleman. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic and institution builder, Professor Gates has authored 17 books and created 14 documentary films . GROSS: And then your slightly more contemporary ancestors not having any rights in the country, you know, or very few rights - not being able to vote, having to live in segregation. Listen 9:01. He was a free negro, as we would have said then. People might remember the Beer Summit, when you were stopped in your own home trying to unjam a lock after a long trip. The companion book to Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s PBS series, And Still I Risea timeline and chronicle of the past fifty years of black history in the U.S. in more than 350 photos. 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. CORNISH: So as we said, this show features celebrities learning about their family history, and the controversy actually emerged from the Sony email hack, right? This is called an admixture test. Many other genealogists have not worked on Finding Your Roots, but are massively talented and can help you learn more about your family history, similar to the way guests do on the show. In a real book from a genealogist, context like that provided by Mr. Gates on the show would be written down, so that you could read the book yourself without needing an interpreter to explain things. Nobody knows about their heritage, and that's been the biggest surprise.". And the geneticists have found the identity finally of Jane Gates's paramour, the man GATES: Yes. Henry Louis Gates Jr. reveals that he and John Lithgow are DNA cousins. I told them that I did not want to know if I had any of the sort of - I don't know - the slam-dunk genes for Alzheimer's disease. RELATED VIDEOS. DEGGANS: Well, Professor Gates has a reputation as one of the country's leading historians, so the question of his ethical standards is kind of important. The map below shows the places where the ancestors of the famous person lived. And we knew the name of his great-great-grandmother and the name of this white man. Research reports are great! Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. GROSS: And I read you talking about this. The supposedly fearless leader battled the English, the Scots, the French and even the Romans, and struck fear into the heart of his enemies. And we filmed the whole thing. I don't think that's true for very many people in this room or any - or many people who are watching this show. If youd like to get an idea about what its like working with a particular genealogist, read their testimonials or reviews. As of 2014, he has written seventeen books and created thirteen . GROSS: But you had family that passed for white. He serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. So maybe you can help me. Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts the program, butas I understand ithe does not do the research into the guests' family histories himself. GATES: But then they did another special test. Gates first enrolled in college at Potomac State College in 1968, before transferring to Yale University in 1969. This warlord was responsible for the very common Irish surname "O'Neill" -- which means "descendant son of Niall." . A report is a little more nitty gritty than a book, sort of like how understanding the mechanics of an engine will help you understand what makes a car run. 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. GATES: And, you know, what's even more amazing, it's - one, it was my mother's third great grandfather - my fourth great grandfather. And then when we go - when you were buried, she would stand up. All Rights Reserved. My father loved sports, and I didn't care about sports that much. Isn't that a cool thing? But it's just not those two genetic lines. For $50,000, they sequenced my father, me and then 12 of the guests who were in "Faces Of America" - not a full genome but a dense genotyping. For tips, you can check out my three-part series of blog posts about How to Find a Professional Genealogist. But one story not told to most Irish elementary schoolchildren was of Niall's prolificacy. Like I said earlier, family history books can vary widely from one genealogist to the next. I'm learning about things I didn't know anything about like Scotland, and the Black Watch, and the Royal Highlanders [a Scottish regiment].". That's how much the science of genetics has changed in terms of the retail market since 2009. supervising producer (32 episodes, 2014-2023) . The Finding Your Roots host said discoveries about families like Cox's is a welcome lesson. It was a horrible, horrible thing. Even the Native Americans came from someplace else about 16,000 years ago. Some genealogists also offer hardbound or digital family history books, which are probably what youre after, if youre reading this blog post. Accuracy and availability may vary. There are a couple of ways that your real-life book might differ from those the show, which Ive outlined below, but on the whole, books are pretty fabulous. Memories, Mean, People. So I'm telling this story over and over of my - of rediscovering my own lost roots. July 28, 2009 -- Henry Louis Gates Jr., the black professor at the center of the racial story involving his arrest outside his Harvard University-owned house, has spoken proudly of his Irish roots . He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He co-wrote Lincoln on Race and Slavery, with Donald Yacovone (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009). "Finding Your Roots" is essentially a pop genealogy show, right? HENRY LOUIS GATES: Well, let's see what we found on your mom's side of the family. GATES: Maybe for Christmas, OK, that's fine (laughter). An error has occured while loading the map. African American Lives welcomed guests like Quincy Jones, Chris Tucker, Mae C. Jemison, Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. My momma called me Skippy from the time I was born. The show proved so successful, it was continued in various guises before eventually developing into Finding Your Roots. That the emotional apex would not be around them discovering where in Africa their mother's mother's line came from. Remember all the talk about post-racialism that GATES: We thought when Obama - we had turned a corner, and we could, you know, beat our - the plowshares into pruning hooks - right? If you are planning to get a family history book in the near future, now is the time to start emailing those distant cousins and rummaging around in your basement looking for pictures. And it turned out - my father used to say, you know, your mother's family is really distinguished, too? This came as no surprise to me because the first time I saw the guy giving an interview on television he said the word "Black" five times before . Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. So PBS started an internal investigation to figure out what happened, and then on Wednesday they issued their findings. 2. You might have prostate cancer that runs in your family. Two men at the center of the controversy are linked by their Irish heritage. . The tale, as I later discovered, is a tangled one. Presented and written by Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., this series journeys deep into the ancestry of a group of remarkable individuals and provides new understanding of personal identity and American history. GATES: I said, thank God. This sounds really obvious, but when youre comparing genealogists, make sure the genealogist offers family history books. I was more of a bookworm. You can learn more about how to spot these and other criteria in Part 2 of my free guide to finding a professional genealogist, linked below. What percent would be Native American? And the reason I wanted to be a writer is that my mother wrote so beautifully and read so beautifully. Finding Your Roots debuted on PBS on March 25, 2012, and has now been running for nine seasons. Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS.In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is compiled with information researched by professional genealogists that allows them to view their ancestral histories, learn about familial connections and discover . Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr S01 - Ep02 Mayor Cory Booker - Rep. John Lewis. The blog walks you through how to evaluate a genealogists resume, potential red flags, and tips for where to find qualified professionals online. edit data. On Finding Your Roots, researchers may spend upwards of 100 hours or more on a single guests tree and DNA analysis combined (or so Ive heard). His mother cleaned . He is an American professor, historian, filmmaker, and literary critic. Henry Louis Gates is an American literary critic, historian, professor, filmmaker, and public intellectual. For the most part, genealogists compile their findings on your family history into a research report. And consequently, you are now a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. Last year, Gates uncovered a manuscript of a novel purportedly written in the 1850s by an African American woman who had been a slave. In a PBS series on African-American ancestry that he hosted in 2008, Gates discovered his Irish roots when he found he was descended from an Irish immigrant and a slave girl. And I don't know if that ruined your sports career forever, but it affected your leg forever. Discover Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. If youve enjoyed this blog post, you can hire me to create your family history book or research report. And she throws herself on the casket. The controversy centered on an episode about the family history of star Ben Affleck. Henry Louis Gates Jr. told CBS News that marking Juneteenth as a federal holiday was a long time coming.#cbsnews #juneteenth CBS News Streaming Network is th. It was better to be free than be a slave, but you were free but not free. I go, goodbye. Henry Louis Gates, PBS, . As soon as the Civil War ended, they became common law husband and wife GATES: Which was illegal in Mississippi. This is FRESH AIR. Variety has an exclusive first look at Gates' appearance; scroll down for [] When it came to the bedroom, it seems that Niall of the Nine Hostages was even more fearless and energetic than he was on the battlefield. This is FRESH AIR. So what I did - my father and I agreed, for science, that we'd put our genomes in the public domain so that any scholar or student can study our genome. CLIP. 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