Henry Louis Gates

Explore the rise of Jim Crow and the undermining of Reconstruction’s legal and political legacy.

Experience the aftermath of the Civil War — a bewildering, exhilarating and terrifying time. African Americans who had played a crucial role in the war now grapple with the terms and implications of Reconstruction and their hard-won freedom.

Renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns for a new season of FINDING YOUR ROOTS. Using genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis, Gates guides twenty-one influential guests deep into the branches of their family trees, revealing surprising stories of love, hardship, and triumph that transcend borders and merge to form an American root system fortified by its diversity.

Henry Louis Gates traces the roots of actors Terry Crews and Tony Danza, two men who overcame adversity, revealing they aren’t the first in their families to beat the odds through sheer force of will. From impoverished Italian villages to slave plantations in rural Georgia, long-lost records reveal individuals who came from nothing and built a better life for their families.

Henry Louis Gates uncovers the long-hidden roots of Broadway stars Nathan Lane and Leslie Odom, Jr., introducing them to relatives whose names and birthplaces they’ve never heard before. With only a handful of clues to guide him, Gates leads his guests back to unexpected places in Ireland, Barbados, and Africa, uncovering the stories of ancestors who laid the groundwork for their success.

Henry Louis Gates explores the family trees of Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Anita Hill, introducing two women who’ve made profound sacrifices for social justice to the ancestors who made sacrifices for them. Using DNA and the historical record, Gates rediscovers lost heroes, telling stories of African Americans who fought for their rights against enormous odds.

Larry David discovers his German heritage by way of ancestors who settled in Mobile, Alabama in the mid-19th century — including one who became a slaveholding Confederate; Bernie Sanders gains greater understanding of his father’s dangerous childhood in Austrian Galicia during World War I. Both guests discover what happened to the family members who were still in Europe during the Holocaust.

Host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces viewers to the African continent through a series of expansive views and myth-busting revelations. His six-hour exploration of the African past begins at the origins of human existence. Through anthropological and scientific discoveries viewers learn that Africa is the genetic home of all currently living humanity.

The second hour of “Africa’s Great Civilizations” charts the emergence of two powerful forces of global change, Islam and Christianity. Viewers will learn how pervasively “the Cross and the Crescent” reshaped the landscape and people of Africa between the first and 12th centuries A.D. — and for centuries to come. Setting the stage, host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. takes viewers to the horn of Africa, the meeting place of the Red and Arabian...

The third hour in the series marks an era of great commercial and manufacturing growth throughout several regions on the continent. It begins with the revolutionary transformation of North and West Africa. On the shores of the Sahara Desert, farmers, traders, warriors and nomads turned this region into the crossroads of some of history’s most advanced, and wealthiest, civilizations. Intricate networks of long distance trade would link up productive...