Season 1
10 episodes
54 min. per episode
Where to watch
Renowned scholar uncovers hidden family histories, revealing shocking truths that transform identities and connections across generations.
Episodes
Actor and musician Harry Connick, Jr. and legendary jazz musician Branford Marsalis share their love of jazz and New Orleans itself, but they both also have European immigrant ancestors who blazed unconventional trails in America.
Two African-American politicians from different generations and opposite backgrounds, legendary civil rights leader John Lewis, and Democratic senator Cory Booker, learn about black and white slavery era ancestors they never knew about.
Prof. Gates unearths missing links in the family histories of legendary broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, and equally notable activist and educator Geoffrey Canada, as they try to learn the original last names of their fathers.
What do husband and wife Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have in common? Other than being famous Hollywood actors in their own right, they both also come from old abolitionist families. But that's just the beginning.
Family roots of Baptist evangelical Christian megachurch founder, pastor Rick Warren, Angela Buchdahl, the first Asian-American Rabbi, and American Muslim scholar Yasir Qadhi unearth a story about the spiritual foundations of America.
Before the popularity of AncestryDNA, journalist and cultural critic Henry Louis Gates, Jr. divulges the family trees of various celebrities, many times with stunning revelations.