PBS. They had a medical doctor who specializes in sharing this information. 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 . a book. Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts the program, butas I understand ithe does not do the research into the guests' family histories himself. Thank God. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. And our family - my cousin, Johnny Gates (ph), still owns that house to this day. Gates co-produces and hosts the genealogy show, "Finding Your Roots." James Crowley, who was responding to a 911 caller's report of men breaking and entering the residence. Every reveal [on Finding Your Roots] is another chapter in world history. Strangely enough, he and the Cambridge, Mass., police officer who arrested him, Sgt. Genealogy for Henry Louis Gates, Sr. (1913 - 2010) family tree on Geni, with over 240 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. And my father would just make up stories and tell my brother and me. He reflects on his own history and some of the more controversial aspects of DNA testing. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker . That's not the way it was. I was more of a bookworm. Of course not. So I just wrote an essay that was published by Yale University Press about race. GROSS: And it made me think about - because I was just reading this - it made me think about how a president can set the tone for the country on so many things, including, you know, racial issues, immigration. It doesn't exist. Be sure to watch Finding Your Roots on PBS on Tuesday nights! African-Americans all think that they're a descendant from a Native American. And then black people would tell each other - they would say, you know, be sure to watch "The Late Late Show" tonight because "Imitation Of Life," which is my favorite film - 1934, with Claudette Colbert. The fifth season of Gates' TV series "Finding Your Roots" is now running on PBS. And at this point, I'd run over to my mother and say, Mama, I'll never pass for white, Mama. But they came from someplace else. Finding Your Roots debuted on PBS on March 25, 2012, and has now been running for nine seasons. GATES: You know, I'm totally exposed. - like the Aunt Jemima figure. So lets look at some numbers! Henry Louis Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. GROSS: It's mind-boggling. And she burst into tears because she used to read me that book all the time. Gates wrote a friend of his who was a top executive at Sony to ask for advice after Affleck objected to the inclusion of all this slavery material, so those emails came out in April after hackers took a bunch of information from Sony and WikiLeaks published the material. GATES: Yeah, yeah. As a mediator between [] It's the damnedest thing I ever heard. The genealogist should walk you through the research process. Related Articles Around the Web. An error has occured while loading the map. The differences perhaps point to different social and cultural histories within the south.". More research time equals more discoveries, enabling the researchers to uncover those mind-blowing records fit for television. I love you. The minister would call on her. And I showed up from Yale, and he became my mentor. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. This is FRESH AIR. But when I started the series, it wasn't called "Finding Your Roots." 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, WNET is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It's beautiful. GATES: Oh, my father and I were the first father and son of any race and the first African-Americans fully sequenced. Except in the next scene, I showed him their headstones. The short answer is that genealogical research is charged by the hour, and research like that on Finding Your Roots takes a lot of hours. So where does that come from? It was a horrible, horrible thing. executive producer (40 episodes, 2012-2023) Dyllan McGee . He looked white. A research report walks you through the documents found, what those documents say and mean, and the conclusions that the genealogist has drawn about your family. As of 2014, he has written seventeen books and created thirteen . GROSS: Totally stunned. HENRY LOUIS GATES: Well, let's see what we found on your mom's side of the family. I regret we are out of time. But this week, Gates's wish came true. "duet by kimberely freeman" Henry Louis Gates Jr. African-American - I love to joke about this. When my daughters were born, I had them tested for sickle cell because - black people are not the only people in the world that have sickle cell. GATES: I go, yeah, I got a brother who's a dentist, you know? 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. In Georgia and Alabama the number is about 9 percent. He also wrote many non-fiction books on African American history, and won many awards in the process. He married Pauline Augusta Coleman. GATES: I did an episode with Oprah and Quincy Jones and Bishop T.D. They should also be a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG). A family history book is like the entire car. But maybe youre thinking, But Im not here for a research report. We wanted to see what more we could tell Ben Affleck about the roots of his family's interest in social justice. So, your real-life family history book might resemble a novel or coffee-table book, rather than a scrapbook like those on the program. To put it simply, Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a man who knows his history, and if knowledge is power, he is a powerful man indeed. GATES: And then when they did my admixture, I'm 50 percent sub-Saharan African and 50 percent European and virtually no Native American ancestry, which really pisses my family off. Gates is the host of the TV genealogy series "Finding Your Roots." 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. If youve found this blog post helpful, please consider buying me a coffee to say thanks. So I'm out there. We're listening to the interview Terry recorded with Harvard historian, author and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates before an audience at WHYY in Philadelphia last May. Watch the full episode at PBS.org/FindingYourRoots. His father worked in a paper mill and moonlighted as a janitor, while his mother cleaned houses, as described in his memoir Colored People (1994). DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. In 1970, he received a fellowship from Yale that would allow him to work and travel in Africa. But mutations exist. They had kids, and they're buried next to each other. When I was a boy, I was closer to my mother than my father. He reflects on his own history and some of the more controversial aspects of DNA testing. And it turned out - my father used to say, you know, your mother's family is really distinguished, too? After that, everything stopped. 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. 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. And the first thing they said was, you don't have any of the genes that's going to give you Alzheimer's. One thing they dont cover on Finding Your Roots is how much it would cost to get a similar experience in real life. 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 . GATES: No. His mother cleaned . Even the quality of the book design, paper, binding, etc., will vary substantially between a $5k and a $50k book. GATES: Yeah. And she invents this pancake mix, and they become fabulously wealthy. It was just put on the historic GATES: Register in Maryland. GATES: He wasn't even out the door, and I moved into his bedroom. Henry Louis Gates Jr. addressing a class at Harvard in 1996. . In the latest episode of Finding Your Roots, Cox discovers previously lost information about James McCann, his grandfather who died before he was born, and his military service for Great Britain in World War I. In some states - like, New York would let them vote sometimes, and then take it away. 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. And I was in the hospital for six weeks. . NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. When I became a teenager, my father and I bonded. So it was just the two of us and my mom, right? They were buried next to each other. GATES: But I have an announcement to make GATES: For you. That indicates that they do them regularly, which is a positive sign. GATES: Now, we don't do blood anymore, right? This sounds really obvious, but when youre comparing genealogists, make sure the genealogist offers family history books. *48.6% Sub-Saharan African. Published February 4, 2023 at 1:25 PM AKST. GROSS: And it was reported as if it was a break-in, and a police officer came and arrested you. What percent would be Native American? Popular ancestry show Finding Your Roots is deep into its ninth season but host Henry Louis Gates Jr. admits he's "surprised" the show has worked so well with white people included. "It was so popular that PBS said, 'nah, you gotta cut white people in on this,'" Gates Jr. laughed. His expertise and experience eventually led him to TV, where he started working as a . Henry Louis Gates Jr. was born on 16 September, 1950 in Keyser, West Virginia, United States, is an American professor. 1. CORNISH: Finally Eric, help me out here. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. 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 the geneticists have found the identity finally of Jane Gates's paramour, the man GATES: Yes. Famed Harvard University Professor Henry Louis 'Skip' Gates Jr. got a major surprise when he started researching his own ancestry - in his . When we left off, Gates was talking about his own DNA mix. One episode this season explores Gates' own DNA and family history. However, it is perfectly acceptable to ask to view some sample pages or images to give you an idea of what youre getting. 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. Related topic Henry Louis Gates Jr. Related topic. So (laughter) given the example that President Obama set in calming down that kind of argument in America over you and this officer, what do you hear now coming from our president? It's incredible. So you're saying I should have been an undertaker. We started to roll. And my mother used to write the eulogies, the obituaries for all the black people in the Potomac Valley, where I grew up. And I hope they are. CORNISH: That's NPR's TV critic, Eric Deggans. Henry Louis Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Mama - I'm sorry, Mama. I'm learning about things I didn't know anything about like Scotland, and the Black Watch, and the Royal Highlanders [a Scottish regiment].". Eric Deggans, what does that mean? If we apply those percentages to the last . Gates is one of many famous African-Americans with Irish heritage, including President Barack Obama and award-winning author Alice Walker. 44 Copy quote. The conclusions wouldnt exist without research, citations, and analysis, but those structural underpinnings arent emphasized the way that they are in a research report. Existence means change. And I make it every week over and over with "Finding Your Roots.". GROSS: So you assume it was not a consensual relationship, but she managed to own her own home five years after being freed from slavery. GATES: Well, the average African-American GATES: The average African-American is 24 percent European. They came in slave ships. GATES: Otherwise they wouldn't be in a database. BEN AFFLECK: That's my grandmother, Liz. And I think that we throw terms like that around too loosely. By Henry Louis Gates Jr. Dr. Gates is the director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard. He rediscovered the earliest African-American novels, long forgotten, and has published extensively on appreciating African-American literature as part of the Western canon. GATES: And because it was PBS, we negotiated a deal with this company Illumina which sequences everybody. Books can take a long time to produce, so make sure youre clear on the timeline and payment schedule. Henry Louis Gates says, Would you please turn the page?. One thing that your real-life book probably will not contain is photographs of your ancestors that youve never seen before. Now she was born in 1819; died in 1888. 4 min read. But it's just not those two genetic lines. They want to see how that pans out as they do the show. GATES: And my father lived to be 97 1/2 without any dementia. 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). Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts the program, butas I understand ithe does not do the research into the guests family histories himself. 2. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. 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. All Rights Reserved. References are not super common in this business due to privacy. CORNISH: Meanwhile, the program "Finding Your Roots," what's been the fallout for the show? He rediscovered the earliest African-American novels . And at the time, the airwaves were so segregated, they only put black films on "The Late Late Show." That's how much the science of genetics has changed in terms of the retail market since 2009. "My idea was that I would reveal where in Africa, on a guest mother's mother's line, they had hailed from. GROSS: I saw his picture in the obituary. And you don't have a Y DNA, so that's why you're a woman. You've been known to sing on the set of "Finding Your Roots.". Furthermore, he is credited for 14 documentaries, and some of the most noted ones are: let the church say, Amen, Africa's great civilization, and many more. So my whole life is really an attempt to honor and please my parents and make them proud of me, you know. But we have a disproportionately higher risk of sickle cell. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. GROSS: But you had family that passed for white. Now you can get a full sequence for less than $5,000 - some people say $1,000 or $2,000. The video will be available shortly. Well talk with Gates about the process of finding . And you realize it's Peola, grown up, coming back. This is FRESH AIR. We'll hear more after a short break. And they would be published in the newspaper. GATES: Very close to them, yeah, particularly to my mother. Off. And I would watch this beautiful, brilliant goddess. Terry will be one of the guests whose family history is explored next year in the sixth season of the show. It is the first known work of its kind and has great historical and literary significance. Weaving together stories of soldiers, settlers, immigrants and entrepreneurs, Gates travels from World War I battlefields to Civil War prison camps to America's most infamous . He was there in exile because he had been in prison and to be offering civil war for 27 months and was given a fellowship at the University of Cambridge. Next year in the obituary states - like, New York would let them vote sometimes, I! Those on the program `` Finding Your Roots is how much the science of genetics has changed in terms use. Thing that Your real-life family history books breaking and entering the residence Affleck about the Roots his... Tell Ben Affleck: that 's why you 're saying I should have been an undertaker TV, where started! 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