Education | The Last Conquistador
Adrian Grenier learns his maternal eleventh great-grandfather was one of the original Spanish colonists in New Mexico and a sergeant in Juan de Oñate’s army.
Education | Fighting for Freedom
An overview of how the Revolutionary War helped slaves attain their freedom.
Education | Wanda Sykes’s Free Black Ancestors in the 1850s
A look at the lives of Wanda Sykes’s ancestors in the 1850s and how a marriage certificate proves their free status.
Education | Wanda Sykes’s Free Ancestors
A look at how Wanda’s black ancestors became free in the 1600s.
Education | The Story of Peyton Polly
A look at how John Legend’s ancestor, Peyton Polly, attained his freedom.
John Legend's Musical Beginnings
In this video, John Legend discusses his musical beginnings and shows rare footage of Legend performing one of his earliest compositions.
Early Stand-Up Experience
Comedian Wanda Sykes recalls a poorly-received stand-up comedy routine early on in her career.
Suing for Freedom
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. talks with friend Margarett Cooper about her remarkable ancestry, and learns about her great, great, great grandmother, a female slave who sued her master for her own freedom.
Education | Leaving Poland
Martha Stewart learns the fate of her great grandparents and comes to understand why much of her family ended up in America
Education | A Hurried Escape
Margaret Cho learns the reasons for her father’s family’s hurried escape from northern Korea when he was ten years old.
Education | The Partition of India
The history of the India/Pakistan partition is told through the story of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s mother’s experience.
Spending Time in the Castro
Comedian and actress Margaret Cho talks about her experience living as a young adult in San Francisco's Castro District during the late 1970s.
Gupta Family Scrolls
Finding Your Roots uncovers scrolls that have recorded 8 generations of Sanjay Gupta's father's line.
Education | Growing up under Jim Crow in Grapeland, Texas
A look at life under Jim Crow in Grapeland, Texas during Ruth Simmons’ childhood.
Education | Growing up under Jim Crow in WV and TN
A look at life under Jim Crow in Piedmont, WV during Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s childhood and in Chattanooga, TN during Samuel L. Jackson’s childhood.
That Was What It Was
Actor Samuel L. Jackson discusses his experience growing up in segregated Chattanooga in the mid-20th century.
A Family of Sharecroppers
Brown University President Ruth Simmons grew up in a family of sharecroppers, a notorious system in which farmers pick cotton and live on someone else's land for a share of the profits. But they had to pay such high charges for rent, they often fell into a cycle of debt.
Children Keep Going
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice remembers the September 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church which killed four young black girls. Rice was 9 years old at the time of the bombing.
From Butterflies to Beetles
Maggie Gyllenhaal learns about the genesis of the Gyllenhaal name and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. corrects a long-standing story in Maggie Gyllenhaal's family about an ancestor who supposedly collected butterflies.
A Patriot Ancestor
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces Robert Downey, Jr. to his ancestors who were early colonists in Pennsylvania, including a patriot ancestor who participated in the Revolutionary War.
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