 Historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s
Journey into “African-American Lives”
By James Pylant
Harvard scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., producer and host of the PBS series "Wonders of the African World" and "America Beyond the Color Line," returns to the television network with a new four-part series called "African-American Lives." The documentary delves into the roots of the famous, utilizing both DNA analysis and genealogical research to reconstruct individual family trees for Bishop T. D. Jakes, actress/comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, sociologist Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, music and television producer Quincy Jones, astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison, actor-comedian Chris Tucker, and television host Oprah Winfrey.
"Filling in the family trees of the participants provides not only a sense of heritage and identity for them, but also provides an example for all Americans of the empowerment derived from knowing one’s past," says Donna Williams, of Thirteen/WNET New York, which co-produces the series with Kunhardt Productions.
Dr. Henry Louis Gates is host and as well as executive producer of "African-American Lives." I recently spoke with Dr. Gates about his latest project and learned that his own ancestry is also presented in the series.
"What was the most surprising or compelling discovery in your family tree?" I asked.
"Finding out that two great-great-great-great-great-grandfathers fought in the Revolutionary War," Gates replied.
The amiable and sparkling conversationalist is a West Virginian, born in Keyser and raised in Piedmont. When I mentioned that my own ancestors lived in Hampshire County (then Virginia), Gates said, he too had roots in that county. He shared the unusual story of how his Bruce ancestors who were not only freed by their master — but he made them heirs to his estate. During this conversation Dr. Gates and I learned our ancestral pasts were intertwined. His family had been owned, then freed and given an inheritance by Abraham Van Meter, one of my relatives.
Yet another fascinating discovery in the historian’s family tree is a court case about the ordeal of an ancestor named Isaac Clifford, a free man who was kidnapped and accused of being a runaway slave. This story is featured in the series.
The Harvard educator (who previously taught at Yale, Cornell, and Duke) was named one of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Americans" (1997) and one of Ebony magazine's "100 Most Influential Black Americans" (2005). Dr. Gates is a prolific writer and co-edited Africana Encyclopedia.
Gates describes his latest PBS series as "one of the most exciting projects in which I’ve been engaged." The groundbreaking "African-American Lives" premiers Wednesdays, February 1st and 8th, 2006.
DVD: African-American Lives  | Book: African-American Lives
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