I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS," A JOURNEY THROUGH THE FAMILY TREES OF SOME OF OUR COUNTRY'S MOST FASCINATING FIGURES.

IN THIS PROGRAM, WE'LL EXPLORE A QUESTION THAT WE'VE ALL WONDERED ABOUT -- "WHAT'S IN A NAME?"

MY TWO GUESTS, TELEVISION PIONEER BARBARA WALTERS AND EDUCATION REFORMER GEOFFREY CANADA SHARE ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING IN COMMON -- NEITHER HAD A CLUE ABOUT THEIR FAMILY'S ORIGINAL NAMES.

YOU HAVE JUST MET YOUR GRANDPARENTS.

UNBELIEVABLE.

Walters: WAS I A PRINCESS OR A SERF?

WE'RE GOING TO FIND OUT.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

WHILE THIS IS A STORY ABOUT LOST NAMES, IT'S ALSO A TALE OF TWO FATHERS AND THE MYSTERIES SURROUNDING WHERE THESE PATERNAL LINES ORIGINATED.

THERE'S YOUR ORIGINAL SLAVE ANCESTOR.

WOW.

TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, WE HAD TO DIG THROUGH SLAVE RECORDS IN THE SOUTH AND EXCAVATE OBSCURE ARCHIVES IN EASTERN EUROPE AND, WHEN THE PAPER TRAIL RAN OUT, WE TURNED TO CUTTING-EDGE DNA ANALYSIS TO LOOK FOR CLUES IN GEOFFREY AND BARBARA'S GENOMES THAT COULD TELL US ABOUT YOUR DEEPEST ROOTS.

WE COMPILED OUR DISCOVERIES INTO A BOOK OF LIFE FOR EACH GUEST -- THIS IS JUST AMAZING.

A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR RESEARCH.

TODAY, THEIR CAREERS COULDN'T BE MORE DIFFERENT, BUT THE JOURNEYS GEOFFREY AND BARBARA MUST TAKE TO RECLAIM THEIR ROOTS ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR.

FOR EACH, WE MUST UNEARTH THEIR ANCESTORS' LONG-LOST NAMES.

Walters: SO IT'S TWO GUESTS A WEEK FOR 10 WEEKS ON PBS?

WHEN I CONTACTED BARBARA WALTERS, TO ASK IF WE COULD RESEARCH HER FAMILY HISTORY, SHE HAD A ONE-WORD ANSWER FOR ME -- "NO!"

SOMEONE HAD DONE HER FAMILY TREE ALREADY.

SHE KNEW IT ALL.

WHAT MORE COULD WE POSSIBLY OFFER?

YOU REPRESENT AN UNUSUAL CHALLENGE FOR US.

I NEVER HAD A GUEST CHALLENGE ME TO FIND NEW THINGS -- BECAUSE I THOUGHT I KNEW EVERYTHING, YOU KNOW?

I DID THIS BECAUSE I ADMIRE AND LIKE YOU SO, BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS A WASTE OF TIME.

BEFORE WE STARTED OUR RESEARCH, BARBARA GRACIOUSLY GAVE US THE THICK FAMILY HISTORY THAT PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGISTS HAD ALREADY COMPILED FOR HER.

BUT, AS WE EXAMINED THE DOCUMENTS, WE NOTICED INCONSISTENCIES.

IT SEEMED LIKE THE RESEARCHERS MIGHT NOT HAVE DISCOVERED THE WHOLE STORY, SO WE DECIDED TO DO HER ENTIRE FAMILY TREE ALL OVER AGAIN, WITH THE HOPE OF DISCOVERING HER FAMILY'S PLACE OF ORIGIN AND THEIR ORIGINAL NAMES.

AFTER ALL, BARBARA IS RIGHTLY FAMOUS FOR GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES.

WE WANTED TO DO THE SAME FOR HER.

THE ROOTS OF BARBARA'S SUCCESS START WITH A GLAMOROUS CHILDHOOD IN 1940s MANHATTAN.

Walters: WE LIVED IN PENTHOUSES.

I CAN GO AROUND NEW YORK AND "WE LIVED IN THAT PENTHOUSE AND THAT PENTHOUSE."

THE DAUGHTER OF NIGHTCLUB OWNER LOU WALTERS, BARBARA SPENT MUCH OF HER TIME OUT OF SCHOOL BACKSTAGE AT NEW YORK'S MOST DAZZLING CABARETS.

Walters: I WOULD SIT IN THE LIGHTING BOOTH WHEN I WAS, LIKE, EIGHT YEARS OLD, WATCH THE SHOWS.

I CAN DO MILTON BERLE'S ACT FOR YOU.

ONE GLASS OF WINE.

I'LL DO IT FOR YOU.

I CAN DO SOPHIE TUCKER.

LOU WALTERS WAS A LEGEND, A MAN OF VISION WITH EXTRAVAGANT DREAMS.

Walters: MY FATHER WAS AN IMPRESARIO.

MY FATHER WAS LIKE ZIEGFELD.

HE DID BEAUTIFUL SHOWS.

GREAT COSTUMES.

HE ALWAYS SPENT TOO MUCH MONEY.

EVERYTHING HAD TO BE PERFECT.

AND IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS.

NEAR THE ABC STUDIO, BARBARA WANTED TO SHOW ME A VERY SPECIAL PLACE -- A STREET TUCKED AWAY IN TIMES SQUARE, NAMED IN HONOR OF HER FATHER.

JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, MAYOR BLOOMBERG MADE THIS STREET, THIS LITTLE, TINY STREET, CALLED "LOU WALTERS WAY."

WOW, THAT'S AMAZING.

I'M SURE, WHEN PEOPLE COME, THEY THINK, "WHAT?"

OH, THE SIGN IS RIGHT THERE.

I SEE IT.

UNDER THE CONSTRUCTION.

SO IF YOU COME TO NEW YORK AND YOU SEE LOU WALTERS WAY, JUST KNOW THAT THIS WAS WHERE THE MOST FAMOUS NIGHTCLUB IN AMERICA WAS, THAT MY FATHER FOUNDED IT, AND IT'S VERY MUCH A PART OF MY LIFE.

THERE WAS ALWAYS A CAN-CAN.

THEY HAD THEIR OWN SONG, WHICH I WILL NOW DO FOR YOU, WHICH WILL RUIN YOUR WHOLE SHOW.

ARE YOU READY?

OKAY, THEY ALL CAME OUT AND THEY SANG.

♪ SO...

THIS...IS ♪ ♪ GAY PARIS ♪ ♪ COME ON ALONG WITH ME ♪ ♪ WE'RE STEPPING OUT TO SEE ♪ ♪ THE LATIN QUARTER ♪ YOU KNOW HOW MANY YEARS AGO THAT IS?

AND I CAN DO EVERY VERSE.

THAT'S GREAT!

HE USED CLASSICAL MUSIC.

THAT WAS UNHEARD OF!

IN NIGHTCLUBS.

HE WAS A GENIUS.

I DON'T THAT HE WAS A GENIUS, BUT HE WAS CREATIVE AND, WHEN I LOOK BACK NOW, QUITE MARVELOUS.

DID I APPRECIATE IT?

NO.

BARBARA TOLD ME THAT, DESPITE HOW GLAMOROUS ALL THIS MAY HAVE LOOKED TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD, SHE WAS OFTEN LONELY AS A CHILD.

Walters: PEOPLE WOULD SAY, "ISN'T IT WONDERFUL THAT YOUR FATHER OWNS A NIGHTCLUB?"

I DIDN'T.

I WANTED TO BE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.

I WAS THE LITTLE GIRL WITH HER FACE PRESSED AGAINST THE GLASS.

I WANTED A NORMAL LIFE, I WANTED A FATHER WHO DIDN'T COME HOME AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING.

BARBARA'S FATHER WAS LARGER-THAN-LIFE, BUT, IN MANY WAYS, HE WAS ALSO AN ENIGMA AND THE TRUE STORY OF WHERE HE CAME FROM, AND THEREFORE WH ERE SHE COMES FROM, REMAINED A MYSTERY TO HER.

AH, SHE CAN'T PRONOUNCE IT.

EDUCATION SUPERSTAR GEOFFREY CANADA IS FEATURED IN THE HIT DOCUMENTARY "WAITING FOR SUPERMAN" AND HE IS REVOLUTIONIZING THE FILM'S SUBJECT -- PUBLIC SCHOOL REFORM.

Cooper: REVERSING THE BLACK/WHITE ACHIEVEMENT GAP AND THEN CLOSING IT, THAT'S -- THAT'S HUGE.

GEOFFREY CONSTRUCTED THE HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE, A CRADLE-TO-COLLEGE PIPELINE THAT IS DRAMATICALLY TRANSFORMING THE LIVES OF SEVERELY DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN OF COLOR, CHILDREN THE SYSTEM HAD LONG GIVEN UP ON.

YOUR HAND WAS UP SO FAST.

DESPITE ALL OF HIS SUCCESS, HOWEVER, GEOFFREY HAS NEVER FELT COMPLETE, HIS LIFE HAUNTED BY ONE, SINGLE QUESTION -- WHERE DID HIS FATHER AND HIS FATHER'S PEOPLE COME FROM?

HIS FATHER ABANDONED HIS FAMILY WHEN GEOFFREY WAS ONLY FOUR YEARS OLD.

RAISED BY HIS MOTHER, GEOFFREY KNOWS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT HIS FATHER'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY.

HE GREW UP IN THE 1960s IN THE SOUTH BRONX, LESS THAN 10 MILES NORTH OF BARBARA WALTERS'S HOME, BUT IT MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD.

Canada: THE MOST I CAN SAY, I'M FROM THE SOUTH BRONX, RIGHT?

"WHERE DO YOU BELONG?"

IT'S LIKE THAT'S AS FAR AS I'VE BEEN ABLE AND, SHORT OF THAT, I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BELONGING TO THIS COUNTRY AND I HAVE WONDERED WHERE AM I FROM?

KNOWING WHERE YOU'RE FROM BEGINS WITH YOUR OWN PARENTS, BUT GEOFFREY WAS COMPLETELY CUT OFF FROM HIS DEEPER ROOTS ON HIS FATHER'S SIDE WHEN HIS FATHER WALKED OUT ON THE FAMILY.

Canada: I REMEMBER HIM LEAVING AND I BEGAN TO CRY AND THE CRYING WAS NOT BECAUSE I HAD SUCH A WARM AND FUZZY RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, BECAUSE OUR MOTHER WAS THE MAIN -- THE CRYING WAS BECAUSE I WAS LIKE, "WELL, WHO'S GOING TO PROTECT US?

"HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE IT IN THIS PLACE, "IF THE ONLY GUY WHO COULD FIGHT IS OUT AND HE'S NOT COMING BACK?"

AND MY MOTHER EXPLAINED, SAID, "WE'RE GOING TO BE OKAY."

AND I WILL TELL YOU, I NEVER BELIEVED IT.

WERE YOU AFRAID?

I WAS TERRIFIED.

I WAS JUST TERRIFIED.

IT WAS AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE KIDS WOULD JUST FIGHT YOU, FOR NO REASON, WHATSOEVER.

AND, YOU KNOW, I WAS A KID WHO LIKED TO GET ALONG WITH EVERYBODY AND THIS IDEA THAT, AT ANY GIVEN TIME, YOU WERE LEFT TO THE MERCIES OF OTHER 12-, 11-, 13-YEAR-OLDS WAS, TO ME, JUST INHUMANE AND I WOULD SIT THERE AND I WOULD REALLY BE HAVING THOUGHTS LIKE, YOU KNOW, "I DON'T THINK THIS IS," YOU KNOW, "IN LINE WITH THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES," THAT YOU COULD DO -- IT WAS SUCH A DIFFERENT WORLD.

IT WAS EVERY CHILD FOR THEMSELVES.

A LOT OF MEMORIES IN THIS AREA HERE.

GEOFFREY TOOK HIS SON JERRY TO HIS CHILDHOOD NEIGHBORHOOD, TO WALK THE MEAN STREETS THAT HE HAD TO NAVIGATE AS A CHILD.

THIS WHOLE AREA, MOST OF MY FRIENDS EITHER ENDED UP WITH LONG PERIODS OF TIME IN JAIL OR, IF THEY STAYED ON THE STREETS, MOST OF THEM, ENDED UP DEAD.

GEOFFREY SAW ONLY ONE WAY TO PROTECT HIMSELF -- HE HAD TO GET OUT OF THE SOUTH BRONX.

SO, AT THE AGE OF 15, HE MOVED IN WITH THE ONLY RELATIVES HE KNEW OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK CITY -- HIS MOTHER'S PARENTS, LEONARD AND LYDIA WILLIAMS, WHO LIVED ON LONG ISLAND.

THIS IS MY GRANDFATHER WITH MY GRANDMOTHER.

THAT'S A HARD-LOOKING BROTHER, THERE.

[ LAUGHS ] HE LOOKS ALMOST FIERCE.

I AM NOT GONNA MESS WITH YOU.

AND MY GRANDMOTHER, I ALWAYS THOUGHT, WAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN.

THEY MADE QUITE A STRIKING COUPLE.

AND SHE NEVER TALKED TO ME IN A CHILDREN'S WAY.

SHE WOULD TALK TO ME ABOUT VERY SERIOUS THINGS.

I USED TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH HER ABOUT IF THERE WAS A GOD, RIGHT?

WHICH I THOUGHT WAS IFFY.

WHY DID THE GOOD PEOPLE HAVE TO SUFFER?

AND SHE DIDN'T SMACK YOU IN THE MOUTH?AND SHE DIDN'T SMACK ME AND SHE KNEW THAT, SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE, SHE WAS SAVING MY SOUL.

GEOFFREY'S YEARS WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS, IN A NURTURING HOME AND HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOL, MADE HIM REALIZE THAT THE VULNERABILITIES HE HAD EXPERIENCED GROWING UP WERE NOT INEVITABLE -- THE SYSTE M COULD BE CHANGED AND HE COULD PLAY A ROLE IN CHANGING IT.

SO, AFTER GRADUATING FROM BOWDOIN COLLEGE AND THEN EARNING A MASTER'S DEGREE IN EDUCATION AT HARVARD, GEOFFREY RETURNED TO NEW YORK AND FOUNDED THE HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE.

Canada: WE GET THE KIDS IN KINDERGARTEN, THEY WILL STAY WITH US THROUGH ELEMENTARY, THROUGH MIDDLE, INTO HIGH SCHOOL, AND THEN THE MISSION IS TO GET THESE KIDS INTO COLLEGE AND HELP THEM GET THROUGH COLLEGE.

HOW MANY KIDS, TOTAL?

WE HAVE, RIGHT NOW, THIS YEAR, WE WORK WITH ABOUT 10,000 KIDS.

GEOFFREY HAS BECOME A FATHER FIGURE FOR A GENERATION OF CHILDREN IN HARLEM, BUT HE'S NEVER STOPPED LOOKING FOR HIS OWN FATHER.

IT'S CLEAR THAT YOU NEVER GAVE UP TRYING TO BRIDGE THAT GAP.

I WAS CONVINCED MY FATHER REALLY LOVED US AND HE JUST DIDN'T GET TO SEE US, SO HE KIND OF FORGOT HOW WONDERFUL WE WERE AS KIDS, RIGHT?

AND IF WE COULD JUST GO -- AND MY BROTHER DAN AND I WENT TO HARLEM TO FIND HIM.

HE WAS A SUPER IN A BUILDING.

HE HAD A DRINKING PROBLEM AND WAS ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, AN ALCOHOLIC, AND WE SHOWED UP AND I REMEMBER I WALKED IN AND HE SAID, "HI."

AND I WAS LIKE "HI!

HOW ARE YOU DOING?"

AND I WAS TALKING AND HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, "ARE YOU JOHN?"

AND HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW MY NAME.

AND WHEN I SAID, "NO, I'M GEOFF" -- NOTHING.

I THOUGHT HE WOULD SAY, "OH, GEOFF!

OH, YEAH, I REMEMBER!"

NOTHING.

IT WAS JUST LIKE "OH, YOU'RE GEOFF."

AND IT WAS NOT MUCH, LIKE "ALL RIGHT, GUYS, SIT DOWN" AND IT WAS JUST NOTHING.

UNDERSTANDABLY, GEOFFREY HAS NEVER OVERCOME THIS SENSE OF LOSS.

LIKE GEOFFREY, BARBARA'S LIFE WAS ALSO PROFOUNDLY SHAPED BY HER FATHER, BUT IN A MARKEDLY DIFFERENT WAY.

LOU WALTERS WAS AN ENTERTAINMENT VISIONARY, BUT HIS GENIUS DIDN'T ALWAYS EXTEND TO THE BOTTOM LINE.

IN THE 1950s, HIS ELEGANT AND EXPENSIVE TASTES COULD NO LONGER COMPETE WITH THE NEWEST ENTERTAINMENT CRAZE -- TELEVISION.

UNFILLED SEATS AND RISING COSTS DROVE HIS CLUB INTO BANKRUPTCY.

LOU WALTERS WAS 63 YEARS OLD, BROKE, HIS CAREER?

SEEMINGLY DEAD.

Walters: WHEN HE LOST IT ALL, HE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.

SO HE HAD YEARS OF BEING IMPORTANT AND FAMOUS AND RICH AND SO ON, AND THEN HE HAD THIS VERY, VERY SAD NUMBER OF YEARS, MY FATHER AND MOTHER, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT SHOULD'VE BEEN GOLDEN.

THEY HAD A TERRIBLY DIFFICULT TIME.

THE FAMILY TURNED TO ITS STALWART, 29-YEAR-OLD BARBARA, FOR EMOTIONAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT.

IRONICALLY, HOWEVER, JUST AS TELEVISION HELPED END ONE WALTERS'S CAREER, IT PROVED TO BE THE VEHICLE FOR LAUNCHING ANOTHER WALTERS'S CAREER.

IN 1961, BARBARA LANDED A JOB ON THE "TODAY" SHOW.

WITH AN IMPISH WIT AND A QUICK INTELLIGENCE, SHE SOON CAUGHT THE PUBLIC'S ATTENTION, BUT THE RISING STAR'S CAREER CRASHED SQUARELY INTO THE GLASS CEILING OF THE NETWORK NEWSROOM.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST HURDLES YOU FACED, DO YOU THINK, IN RETROSPECT?

PROFESSIONALLY?

BECAUSE OF YOUR GENDER.

I THINK, IN MY YEARS ON THE "TODAY" SHOW, ESPECIALLY WITH A MAN NAMED FRANK McGEE.

THIS WAS THE MAN WHO WENT ALL THE WAY UP TO THE PRESIDENT OF NBC AND SAID, "SHE CAN'T DO THE HARD-NEWS INTERVIEWS" AND THE COMPROMISE WAS THAT I COULD COME IN AFTER HAD ASKED THREE QUESTIONS.

SO IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT.

YOU KNOW, I WASN'T BURNING MY BRA, AS A FEMINIST, I WASN'T RAISING A FLAG.

I WORKED BECAUSE I HAD TO AND I WORKED BECAUSE I WAS AMBITIOUS AND I HAD DRIVE.

WHO KNOWS WHERE THAT COMES FROM?

ENORMOUS TALENT, FIERCE AMBITION, AND A LOT OF HARD WORK HAVE PUSHED BARBARA AND GEOFFREY TO THE TOP OF THEIR PROFESSIONS, BUT THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS CAN ALSO BE TRACED BACK TO GENERATIONS OF ANCESTORS, PEOPLE WHO STROVE FOR A BETTER LIFE, PEOPLE ABOUT WHOM THEY KNOW ALMOST NOTHING.

IN GEOFFREY'S CASE, HE SPENT MUCH OF HIS ADULT LIFE TRYING TO PIECE HIS FATHER'S LOST ROOTS BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.

Canada: I HAVE BEEN ON A SEARCH, FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS, TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT MY FATHER'S SIDE.

HE WOULD EVEN SEARCH FOR PEOPLE IN THE PHONE BOOK WHO HAPPENED TO SHARE HIS LAST NAME.

RECENTLY, A STRANGER NAMED CANADA TRACKED HIM DOWN AND GEOFFREY BEGAN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF THEY MIGHT BE RELATED.

Canada: WHEN I GOT THE CALL THAT SAID THE CANADA FAMILY REUNION IN CHARLES TOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, I DECIDED TO COME, TO SEE IF MAYBE I COULD FIND THE REST OF MY FAMILY.

HE KNEW IT WAS A LONG SHOT, SINCE ALL HE HAD IN COMMON WITH THIS FAMILY WAS THEIR UNUSUAL LAST NAME.

BUT HE AND HIS BROTHER DAN WERE SO EAGER TO CONNECT WITH THEIR LARGER FAMILY THAT THEY EMBRACED THESE STRANGERS LIKE LONG-LOST COUSINS.

Canada: I HAVE FIVE GRANDKIDS AND I THINK ONE OF THE REAL GIFTS YOU CAN GIVE YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR GRANDCHILDREN IS A SENSE OF YOUR OWN IDENTITY, WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU BELONG, HOW YOU GOT HERE, THAT I THINK EVERYBODY HUNGERS FOR.

OH!

TELL ME ABOUT THAT.

FROM THERE, CAME FROM JAMAICA.

GET OUT.

I GOT A LOT OF INFORMATION.

OH, YOU GOT THE REAL INFORMATION!

SEE, THAT'S WHY WE TRYING TO FIGURE IT ALL OUT, RIGHT?

THAT'S WHY I'M HERE!

I'M TRYING TO FIGURE WHERE DID WE REALLY COME FROM?!

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER BEEN AROUND A BUNCH OF CANADAS.

IN THE END, THOUGH, GEOFFREY COULDN'T FIND ANY EVIDENCE THAT CONNECTED HIM TO THIS CANADA FAMILY.

HIS SEARCH WOULD HAVE TO CONTINUE.

LIKE GEOFFREY, BARBARA IS CUT OFF FROM PARTS OF HER PAST.

SHE COMES FROM A FAMILY OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS WHO DRIFTED AWAY FROM THEIR RELIGION AND CULTURE AS THEY BECAME MORE AND MORE AMERICAN.

DID YOUR PARENTS SPEAK YIDDISH, FOR EXAMPLE?

MY GRANDMOTHER SPOKE YIDDISH AND I KNOW A FEW WORDS.

I HAD NO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AT ALL.

MY FATHER WAS PROBABLY AN ATHEIST, THOUGH HE DIDN'T PUT, YOU KNOW, NAMES ON IT THEN.

FRIDAY NIGHT, HE WOULD COME HOME.

THAT WAS THE ONE NIGHT HE CAME HOME EARLY AND DIDN'T GO TO THE NIGHTCLUB, TO THE LATIN QUARTER, AND MY MOTHER WOULD LIGHT CANDLES AND THAT WAS ABOUT IT.

WE NEVER SAID A PRAYER.

WE NEVER CELEBRATED THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS.

WE DIDN'T THEN, I DON'T NOW.

BEING JEWISH HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MY CAREER, SO IT DID NOT PLAY A PART IN MY LIFE.

SO IF SOMEONE SAYS "ARE YOU JEWISH?"...

I WOULD SAY "YES."

AND THAT MEANS NOT A RELIGIOUS TERM, THEN.

I'M CULTURALLY JEWISH.

AM I JEWISH?

YES.

DOES IT GOVERN MY LIFE, IN ANY WAY?

NO.

MAYBE NOT, BUT BARBARA'S JEWISH ROOTS BACK IN EUROPE HAVE POSED A MYSTERY AT THE VERY HEART OF HER FAMILY'S JOURNEY.

RELIGION PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN THEIR DECISION TO MOVE TO AMERICA, IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND TO LEAVE PARTS OF THEIR PAST BEHIND.

STARTING IN THE 1880s, JEWISH PEOPLE FILLED BOAT AFTER BOAT, CROSSING THE ATLANTIC.

THEY WERE FLEEING THE VIOLENT ANTI-SEMITISM THAT WAS SWEEPING THROUGH EASTERN EUROPE.

IN 1909, BARBARA'S FATHER, LOU WALTERS, JOINED HIS PARENTS IN THIS EXODUS, FOLLOWING A WELL-WORN PATH TO NEW YORK'S LOWER EAST SIDE, HOME OF HALF A MILLION JEWISH PEOPLE.

SOMEWHERE DURING THEIR CROSSING, LIKE MANY JEWISH IMMIGRANTS, THE FAMILY CHANGED THEIR NAME.

BARBARA ALWAYS KNEW THAT HER GRANDFATHER'S NAME WAS ABRAHAM WALTERS AND THAT HE EMIGRATED FROM POLAND, BUT THE GENEALOGY REPORT SHE'D RECEIVED YEARS EARLIER CONTAINED ALMOST NO INFORMATION ABOUT HIS FAMILY BACK IN THEIR HOMELAND BECAUSE THE RESEARCHERS HADN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND THEIR ORIGINAL SURNAME.

THIS WAS THE MYSTERY WE SET OUT TO SOLVE.

MOST OF MY WORK IS DONE ON THE COMPUTER.

WE TURNED TO BOSTON-BASED RESEARCHER JIM YARIN.

JIM'S A PARALEGAL BY DAY, BUT HE SPENDS HIS NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS SEARCHING FOR LOST JEWISH ROOTS AND HE DOES NOT ACCEPT DEFEAT EASILY.

Yarin: GENEALOGY IS A HOBBY, BORDERING ON OBSESSION.

IT'S VERY MUCH LIKE A PUZZLE.

THERE'S SO MANY DIFFERENT PIECES AND IT REQUIRES YOU TO PUT THEM TOGETHER TO FIND THAT ELUSIVE ANCESTOR.

"JEWS ON THE FRONTIER," "WHO'S WHO IN JEWISH HISTORY."

LIKE, THE AMERICAN FRONTIER?

YEAH.

THAT'S A SHORT BOOK.

YOU'D BE SURPRISED, YOU KNOW?

MERCHANTS OUT THERE.

YOU KNOW, JEWISH PEOPLE REALLY TRAVELED A LOT MORE THAN WE THINK.

JIM TOLD US THAT, FOR JEWISH IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS, LIKE THE WALTERS, NAME CHANGES OFTEN WREAK GENEALOGICAL HAVOC.

BUT HE THOUGHT OF ONE MORE PLACE TO LOOK FOR CLUES INTO ABRAHAM WALTERS'S FAMILY HISTORY.

IT WAS A LONG SHOT, BUT, IF HE WAS RIGHT, THE ANSWER MIGHT BE RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES.

WHY ARE YOU DRAGGING ME ACROSS THIS BRIDGE TO NEW JERSEY?

WELL, BEAUTIFUL NEW JERSEY HOLDS, MAYBE, THE SECRET FOR GETTING THIS LINE BACK ANOTHER GENERATION OR TWO, AND THAT'S A CEMETERY WHERE BARBARA'S GRANDPARENTS ARE BURIED.

OH, HERE IT IS.

HERE IT IS.

JIM'S THEORY IS THAT THIS CEMETERY MIGHT CONTAIN A LINK BACK TO THEIR ORIGINS IN EUROPE.

IT'S THE ONE PLACE NO ONE ELSE HAD LOOKED.

OH, YEAH, WALTERS.

THAT WAS EASY.

SO LET'S GO AROUND THE OTHER SIDE AND SEE.

SO THIS IS BARBARA WALTERS'S GRANDPARENTS.

MY GOODNESS.

HERE WE GO.

OH, EXCELLENT.

EXCELLENT.

ALL RIGHT, WHAT DO WE SEE?

ABRAHAM WALTERS.

YES, AND IT HAS EVERYTHING WE WERE HOPING TO FIND.

IT DOES?

TRADITIONAL JEWISH TOMBSTONES ARE UNIQUE.

THEY NOT ONLY CONTAIN THE HEBREW NAME OF THE DECEASED, BUT ALSO THE HEBREW NAME OF THAT PERSON'S FATHER -- TWO GENERATIONS, CHISELED IN STONE.

Yarin: IT'S GOOD BECAUSE ABRAHAM'S FATHER'S NAME IS SOMEWHAT UNIQUE AND MAY GREATLY HELP IN FINDING ADDITIONAL RECORDS.

JIM, YOU'RE KILLING ME, HERE.

SO THE ABBREVIATION WITH THE TWO LITTLE LINES OVER IT MEANS "SON OF THE RESPECTED ZVI GETZEL."

THIS IS ZVI GETZEL.

YES, AND THAT'S HIS FATHER'S NAME.

BARBARA'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER IS ZVI GETZEL.

YES.

THIS COMBINATION OF NAMES AND "ABRAHAM ISAAC," WHO IS THE SON OF A ZVI GETZEL, GAVE US HOPE THAT WE COULD FINALLY TRACE BARBARA'S ANCESTORS BACK TO THEIR HOMELAND -- POLAND.

IN THE STATE ARCHIVES IN LODZ, POLAND, A RESEARCHER LOOKED FOR ANY DOCUMENT FROM THE LATE 19th CENTURY THAT LISTED A MAN NAMED ZVI GETZEL WHO HAD A SON NAMED ABRAHAM ISAAC -- THE SAME COMBINATION OF NAMES THAT WE HAD SEEN ON THAT TOMBSTONE IN NEW JERSEY.

IF WE FOUND A FATHER AND SON WITH THIS COMBINATION OF NAMES, THEY WOULD MOST LIKELY BE BARBARA'S GRANDFATHER AND HER GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

AFTER PORING THROUGH THE RECORDS, WE FOUND A MATCH -- A BIRTH CERTIFICATE DATED APRIL 14, 1866 FOR A BOY NAMED ABRAHAM ISAAC WHOSE FATHER'S NAME WAS GETZEL.

AND IT CONTAINED ANOTHER SURPRISE -- ZVI AND GETZEL, IT TURNED OUT, WERE B OTH FIRST NAMES!

THEY HA D ANOTHER LAST NAME, AND IT WAS A NAME NONE OF US, INCLUDING BARBARA, HAD EVER HEARD BEFORE.

"GETZEL WAREMWASSER, A POACHMAN, "36 YEARS OLD, SHOWED US A MALE CHILD TO WHOM WAS GIVEN THE NAME ABRAHAM ISAAC."

ABRAM ITZAK WAREMWASSER.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THIS NAME, WAREMWASSER?

NEVER.

WELL, THAT IS YOUR FAMILY'S ORIGINAL NAME.

HOW INTERESTING.

I'M JUST AMAZED.

WE HAD FOUND IT.

THIS PROBLEM, UNRAVELING A TRAIL OF NAME CHANGES, IS A CHALLENGE THAT DESCENDANTS OF BOTH EUROPEAN JEWS AND ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS MUST FACE.

NEITHER GROUP, FOR A VERY LONG PERIOD, HAD ANY LEGAL SURNAMES AND BOTH GROUPS, ONCE THEY GOT THEM, OFTEN CHANGED THEIR NAMES TO REINVENT THEMSELVES AS THEY MIGRATED.

GEOFFREY CANADA FACES EVEN GREATER HURDLES.

REMEMBER -- GEOFFREY WAS CUT OFF FROM HIS FATHER'S FAMILY WHEN HIS DAD ABANDONED HIM, HIS MOTHER, AND BROTHERS.

HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THE NAME OF HIS PATERNAL GRANDFATHER.

OUR WHOLE RESEARCH PROCESS WAS CONTINGENT ON FINDING YOUR FATHER'S FATHER.

IF WE FOUND HIM, WE HAD A LEG UP.

IF NOT, TOAST.

FORTUNATELY, OUR SEARCH YIELDED SOME EARLY RESULTS.

WE FOUND A SOCIAL SECURITY APPLICATION FOR GEOFFREY'S FATHER, MACK, WHICH TOLD US THAT HIS DAD'S NAME WAS HENRY CANADA.

AND THEN WE TRACKED DOWN HENRY'S DEATH CERTIFICATE, WHICH LISTED HIS PARENTS' NAMES.

THREE GENERATIONS INSCRIBED IN TWO DOCUMENTS.

Canada: NAME OF FATHER WAS PETER CANADA.

THE MAIDEN NAME OF MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WAS SARAH SMOTHERS.

YOU'VE JUST MET YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS.

WOW!

PETER CANADA IS YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

I FIGURED IF SOMEONE HAD KNOWN SOMETHING, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE HEARD SOMETHING, AND SO I ASSUMED WE COULD NEVER FIND PETER, BECAUSE THE RECORDS MUST HAVE BEEN GONE FROM THERE.

PETER CANADA WAS BORN A CENTURY BEFORE GEOFFREY, WHEN 90% OF ALL AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE HELD IN BONDAGE.

WE WANTED TO LEARN ABOUT PETER'S LIFE AS A SLAVE.

TO DO THAT, WE HAD TO TRACE HIM BACK TO HIS BIRTHPLACE.

AT THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY IN BOSTON, RESEARCHER RHONDA McCLURE BEGAN LOOKING FOR CLUES, BUT SHE RAN INTO A MAJOR PROBLEM.

WHILE SHE FOUND PETER'S SON HENRY LISTED IN CITY DIRECTORIES THROUGHOUT THE 1940s, NEITHER OF THEM WERE LISTED IN ANY PUBLIC RECORDS BEFORE 1930.

BOTH PETER AND HENRY SEEMED TO DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY FROM THE PAPER TRAIL.

BUT RHONDA HAD AN IDEA ABOUT HOW TO FIND THEM.

McClure: WHEN WE HAVE A PROBLEM WHERE SOMEBODY DOESN'T JUST SHOW UP WITH THEIR FIRST AND LAST NAME, WE'LL DROP A NAME.

AS IN BARBARA'S CASE, WE WANTED TO SEE IF WE WERE SEARCHING FOR GEOFFREY'S ANCESTORS USING THE WRONG SURNAME.

SO RHONDA SEARCHED THE RECORDS IN ALL THE STATES WHERE THE CANADA FAMILY HAD LIVED, LOOKING FOR A 67-YEAR-OLD BLACK MAN NAMED PETER WHO WAS LIVING WITH PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES MATCHED HIS WIFE SARAH AND THEIR DAUGHTER ELIZABETH.

AND SHE FOUND AN ENTRY THAT SEEMED TO MATCH PETER, BUT THERE WAS A TWIST.

McClure: HE ACTUALLY WAS LISTED AS PETER KENNEDY, SPELLED WITH A K. AND NAMES THAT WE RECOGNIZED -- SARAH AND ELIZABETH -- AND ALLOWED US TO SEE THIS IS DEFINITELY THEM.

WITH THIS NEW NAME, WE PICKED UP THE PAPER TRAIL AGAIN.

AT LEAST FOR A WHILE.

BUT THEN IN 1880, PETER SEEMED TO DISAPPEAR.

WE COULDN'T FIND GEOFFREY'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER LISTED EITHER AS A CANADA OR AS A KENNEDY.

McClure: NOTHING WAS COMING UP, LIKE HERE WE GO AGAIN, IT'S 1930 ALL OVER AGAIN.

WE'RE NEVER GOING TO GET THIS GUY.

WE'RE GOING TO TRY AND GO BACK TO THE CANADA NAME, BUT WE'RE GOING TO DO THE SOUNDEX.

THE SOUNDEX SYSTEM, WHICH TAKES PHONICS AS OPPOSED TO EXACT SPELLING.

KIND OF LUMPS THEM ALL TOGETHER.

IT GIVES YOU A LITTLE FLUIDITY IN IDENTIFYING FAMILIES.

RHONDA LOOKED FOR A MAN NAMED PETER IN HIS EARLY 20s, WHOSE NAME SOUNDED LIKE CANADA, WHO WAS LIVING WITH THE MEN WE KNEW TO BE HIS BROTHERS, CHARLES AND THOMAS.

ONCE AGAIN, SHE FOUND HIM.

AND ONCE AGAIN, WITH A DIFFERENT NAME.

WE'D ALREADY SEEN IT WITH THE CANADA TO KENNEDY.

NOW WE WERE SEEING A DIFFERENT VARIATION OF CANADA, AND IT LOOKS LIKE THE ORIGINAL NAME WAS CANNADAY.

Gates: CANNADAY.

CANNADAY.

YOU'VE JUST DISCOVERED YOUR FAMILY'S ORIGINAL NAME.

AND IT WAS CANNADAY?

CANNADAY.

ISN'T THAT INTERESTING!

LONG LOST NAMES.

THEY'RE THE LINK TO THE LIVES OF DISTANT RELATIVES, THE KEYS TO PIECING TOGETHER A PARTICULAR BRANCH OF A FAMILY TREE.

FOR BARBARA WALTERS, THE ORIGINAL NAME OF HER FATHER'S FAMILY BACK IN POLAND, WAREMWASSER, ALLOWED US FINALLY TO TRACE THE FAMILY'S JOURNEY TO AMERICA, A JOURNEY MOTIVATED BY THE MOST BASIC DRIVE, THAT OF SURVIVAL.

[ GUNFIRE ] 19th-CENTURY POLAND WAS A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE TO BE A JEW.

POVERTY WAS COMMON.

AND ANTI-SEMITISM INCREASINGLY ERUPTED INTO VIOLENT POGROMS.

BY THE 1890s, JEWISH FAMILIES ACROSS EASTERN EUROPE WERE ABANDONING THEIR HOMELANDS TO SAVE THEMSELVES.

AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THE WAREMWASSERS DID.

THEIR FIRST STOP -- LONDON, ENGLAND.

BUT THERE THE TRAIL GOES COLD.

NO WAREMWASSERS TO BE FOUND.

COULD IT BE ANOTHER NAME CHANGE?

WE KNEW THAT IT WAS COMMON FOR JEWISH IMMIGRANTS TO CHANGE THEIR NAMES, TO ADAPT TO LIFE IN A NEW COUNTRY.

BUT WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT NAME THE WAREMWASSERS HAD ADOPTED ONCE THEY ARRIVED IN ENGLAND.

SOMETIMES THE KEY CLUE TO DISCOVERING A FAMILY'S NEW NAME IS TO GO BACK AND FIND THE MEANING OF THEIR OLD NAME.

I SAT DOWN WITH TWO PROMINENT SCHOLARS OF JEWISH HISTORY, ANTONY POLONSKY AND JONATHAN SARNA, TO SEE IF THEY HAD ANY IDEAS ABOUT HOW BARBARA'S ANCESTORS CAME TO BE CALLED WAREMWASSERS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF STORIES ABOUT HOW JEWS WERE GIVEN NAMES IN EASTERN EUROPE, AND OFTEN, THE LOCAL OFFICIALS ASKED FOR MORE MONEY IF YOU WANTED TO BE CALLED... SCHO EN NAMES, BEAUTY NAMES, WERE MORE EXPENSIVE, AND IF YOU DIDN'T GIVE THEM MONEY, SO YOU WERE STINGY, OR KARGER, AND THEY WOULD IMPOSE SUCH A NAME ON YOU.

LIKE WIESELTIER MEANS WIESEL.

IT'S NOT REALLY AN ANIMAL YOU WOULD WANT TO NAME YOURSELF AFTER.

NO.

I WONDERED WHETHER THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN AMONG THE FIRST TO HAVE WARM WATER IN THE HOUSE.

THAT'S POSSIBLE.

THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MY HYPOTHESIS.

SO "WAREMWASSER" MEANT "WARM WATER" IN ENGLISH.

COULD THIS BE THE NAME THAT THEY HAD USED IN LONDON?

OUR BRITISH RESEARCHERS LOOKED FOR BARBARA'S ANCESTORS WITH THIS NAME "WARMWATER."

REMARKABLY, THEY FOUND THEM.

Gates: THIS IS THE RAREST DOCUMENT AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.

MY FATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE.

THIS IS YOUR FATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE, AND YOUR FATHER WAS NOT BORN AS LOUIS ABRAHAM OR LOUIS WALTERS.

HE WAS BORN UNDER THE LEGAL NAME OF LOUIS WARMWATER IN WHITECHAPEL, LONDON, IN THE YEAR 1894.

WELL, THIS IS JUST AMAZING.

THAT'S WHY NOBODY COULD FIND HIM, BECAUSE WE HAD TO FIND YOUR FAMILY'S ORIGINAL NAME.

WITH THE NAME WARMWATER, THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF "WAREMWASSER," WE COULD PICK UP THE TRAIL AGAIN.

AND IT LED TO YET ANOTHER SURPRISE.

IN THE LATE 1890s, HER ANCESTORS SET SAIL FOR THE UNITED STATES.

BUT THEIR FINAL DESTINATION WASN'T NEW YORK CITY, AS BARBARA HAD ALWAYS BELIEVED.

THIS IS A LIST OF IMMIGRANTS GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO.

Walters: FROM?

Gates: ENGLAND.

I NEVER HEARD THIS -- WHY ON EARTH WOULD THEY HAVE GONE TO SAN FRANCISCO?

TODAY, WE DON'T THINK OF SAN FRANCISCO AS A MAJOR DESTINATION FOR JEWISH IMMIGRANTS.

BUT IN THE LATE 1800s, SAN FRANCISCO WAS HOME TO THE SECOND LARGEST JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES.

STORIES OF THE GOLD RUSH AND OVERNIGHT FORTUNES LURED WAVES OF ALL SORTS OF AMBITIOUS NEWCOMERS LOOKING TO HIT IT BIG.

Man: IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS ABUNDANT OPPORTUNITY, AND, INDEED, YOU ONLY NEED TO LOOK AT THE SYNAGOGUES IN SAN FRANCISCO, WHICH HAVE THE SAME TWO NAMES AS THE ONES IN NEW YORK -- SHEARITH ISRAEL AND EMANUEL -- TO SEE THAT THEY IMAGINE THAT THEY ARE GOING TO BUILD A NEW YORK WEST.

RECORDS SHOW THAT ABRAHAM WARMWATER FOUND WORK IN SAN FRANCISCO AS A TAILOR.

BUT WITHIN JUST A FEW YEARS, HE PACKED UP AND LEFT THE CITY.

ONCE AGAIN, HE AVOIDED THE OBVIOUS PULL OF NEW YORK, MOVING ALL THE WAY BACK TO LONDON.

THEY SPENT ALL THIS MONEY GETTING FROM POLAND TO LONDON, LONDON TO NEW YORK, NEW YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO, AND THEN THEY LEAVE -- WHY?

IT'S LESS UNUSUAL THAN WE IMAGINE.

IN THIS PERIOD, 15% TO 20% OF THE JEWS WHO IMMIGRATE TO THE UNITED STATES RETURN.

THEY FIND THAT AMERICA'S STREETS ARE NOT PAVED WITH GOLD, THAT IT'S TOUGHER THAN THEY IMAGINED.

SOME OF THEM FIND THAT RELIGIOUS LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES IS NOT WHAT THEY HOPED IT WOULD BE.

IT'S HARDER TO BE A RELIGIOUS JEW.

ALMOST A DECADE LATER, IN 1909, THE WARMWATERS WERE FINALLY DRAWN BACK TO THIS COUNTRY BY THE AMERICAN DREAM.

THIS TIME, THEIR FINAL DESTINATION WAS NEW YORK AND THEY CHANGED THEIR NAME ONE LAST TIME.

IN 1910, THEY CHANGED THEIR NAME TO WALTERS.

WE DON'T KNOW WHY.

I BET THEY SAT AROUND AND HAD ARGUMENTS, "WHAT'S MORE WASPY?"

DISTINGUISHED OR SOMETHING.

WHAT SOUNDS MORE AMERICAN?

SO THEY MAKE IT FROM WARMWATER TO WALTERS.

AND "WARMWATER" WAS JUST A LITERAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF WAREMWASSER.

[Sighs] SO, I'M BARBARA WAREMWASSER.

BARBARA WARMWATER -- I LIKE "BARBARA WARMWATER."

THERE YOU GO.

I SOUND LIKE AN INDIAN, DON'T I?

MAYBE YOU AND I ARE RELATED.

WE COULD BE -- WEST INDIAN.

THANKS TO THE HARD WORK OF OUR GENEALOGISTS, BARBARA NOW KNOWS THE KEY DETAILS ABOUT HER FAMILY'S JOURNEY TO AMERICA.

FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS LIKE GEOFFREY CANADA, IT'S VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACE THEIR ROOTS BACK ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO AFRICA.

12.5 MILLION MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN WERE RIPPED FROM THEIR HOMELANDS IN AFRICA AND PACKED ONTO SHIPS LIKE CARGO, BOUND FOR THE NEW WORLD.

15% WOULD DIE EN ROUTE.

THOSE WHO SURVIVED WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR NAMES AND TREATED LIKE CHATTEL PROPERTY.

THESE LONG-FORGOTTEN, ANONYMOUS ANCESTORS -- HIS SLAVE ANCESTORS -- ARE THE VERY PEOPLE GEOFFREY CANADA LONGS TO FIND.

IT'S PART OF A HUNGER I HAVE THAT I THINK MANY AFRICAN-AMERICANS HAVE TO FILL IN THE BLANKS OF LIFE, TO KNOW THAT YOU WERE MORE THAN JUST A SLAVE.

YOU WERE MORE THAN SOMEBODY WHO ACCIDENTALLY ENDED UP SOMEWHERE.

AND FOR LOTS OF FOLKS LIKE MYSELF, THAT'S MISSING.

ONCE AGAIN, OUR DISCOVERY OF AN ORIGINAL FAMILY NAME WAS THE MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH WE NEEDED TO RESTORE BRANCHES OF A PERSON'S FAMILY TREE.

USING THE NAME "CANNADAY," WE WERE ABLE TO FIND GEOFFREY'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER THOMAS LISTED IN THE 1880 CENSUS.

HE WAS BORN IN VIRGINIA IN THE 1830s.

SINCE HIS NAME DIDN'T APPEAR IN ANY OF THE FEDERAL CENSUSES BEFORE 1870, HE MUST HAVE BEEN A SLAVE.

WE TOOK OUR SEARCH TO FRANKLIN COUNTY, A REMOTE CORNER OF VIRGINIA, WHERE THOMAS CANNADAY HAD LIVED AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.

AND WE TURNED TO GENEALOGIST ALTA CANNADAY, WHO IS A DESCENDANT OF THE CANNADAY FAMILY HERSELF.

ALTA TOLD US THAT THE MAJORITY OF SLAVES WHO TOOK THE NAME CANNADAY WERE OWNED BY ONE WHITE CANNADAY FAMILY WHO LIVED IN THIS AREA OF VIRGINIA.

IF GEOFFREY'S GREAT-GREAT- GRANDFATHER THOMAS HAD BEEN OWNED BY ONE OF THE WHITE CANNADAYS, THEN HIS NAME MIGHT BE RECORDED IN ONE OF THEIR WILLS.

THIS WAS A LONG SHOT, BUT FINDING SUCH A DOCUMENT IS GENEALOGICAL GOLD FOR ANY BLACK FAMILY.

Alta: THIS IS CHARLES CANNADAY'S WILL.

USUALLY, WITHIN THE WILL, THEY WILL LIST THE PROPERTIES.

THEY'LL LIST THE FURNITURE, THE PIGS, THE COWS, AND THEN THEY'LL LIST THE SLAVES.

A DOZEN SLAVES.

HERE'S THOMAS.

THIS IS GEOFF'S ANCESTOR.

THOMAS IS 3 YEARS OLD.

AND HE IS VALUED AT $250.

Geoffrey: BEN VALUED AT $850.

CHARLOTTE VALUED AT $600.

STEPHEN VALUED AT $700.

SUSIE VALUED AT $500.

AND THOMAS VALUED AT $250.

WHO'S THOMAS?

THOMAS IS MY GREAT- GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

THAT'S JUST AMAZING.

THAT'S JUST AMAZING.

THAT THEY ACTUALLY HAVE FOUND HIM.

AND WHAT HE WAS WORTH!

I'M A LITTLE WORRIED THAT HE WAS WORTH SO MUCH LESS THAN EVERYBODY ELSE.

LOOK HOW OLD HE WAS.

HE WAS ONLY A BABY.

JUST AMAZING.

I WANT TO MEET THOMAS.

AND I'D REALLY LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HIS LIFE WAS LIKE.

I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT.

THOMAS WAS A SLAVE ON THIS 500-ACRE FARM, WHERE HE WORKED THE LAND OF HIS OWNER, CHARLES CANNADAY.

Woman: IN HERE IS WHERE I KEEP THE CANNADAY RECORDS THAT I HAVE DONE FOR ABOUT 15, 20 YEARS.

JUST A FEW MILES FROM THIS LAND, CANNADAY DESCENDANT OLLA WAGNER SPENDS HER FREE TIME OBSESSIVELY PIECING TOGETHER HER FAMILY'S HISTORY.

Wagner: ALL OF THESE ARE CANNADAYS, FROM AARON ON DOWN.

THE CANNADAYS ARE STILL ONE OF THE LARGEST FAMILIES IN FRANKLIN COUNTY TODAY.

AND OLLA HAS BEEN RESEARCHING THEM FOR OVER 30 YEARS.

Wagner: I'VE GOT 3,200 ALREADY ON MY COMPUTER, OF ANCESTORS.

I'M PROUD OF MY FAMILY.

OLLA ADDED A FASCINATING WRINKLE TO THE MYSTERY OF GEOFFREY'S ORIGINS -- THE POSSIBILITY THAT CHARLES CANNADAY WAS NOT ONLY THOMAS' OWNER, BUT ALSO HIS BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

Olla: OUR CANNADAY FAMILY HAD PLENTY OF SLAVES.

AND THEY WERE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE, THE SLAVES WAS WORTH THE MOST MONEY, SO THEY HAD MORE SLAVES WITHOUT HAVING TO BUY THEM.

IN OTHER WORDS, OLLA HAD HEARD THAT THE WHITE CANNADAYS FREQUENTLY ADDED TO THEIR LABOR FORCE BY IMPREGNATING THEIR SLAVES.

THE WHITE CANNADAYS, CHARLES CANNADAY'S FAMILY, WERE KNOWN IN THAT REGION FOR "GROWING SLAVES," MEANING FATHERING, IMPREGNATING THEIR FEMALE SLAVES.

SO NATURALLY WE WONDERED IF MAYBE THOMAS WAS DESCENDED FROM CHARLES.

HOW COULD WE FIND OUT IF GEOFFREY'S GREAT-GREAT- GRANDFATHER THOMAS WAS THE SON OF HIS OWNER CHARLES?

JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN AN UNSOLVABLE MYSTERY.

BUT NOW WE CAN TURN TO DNA TO TRY AND FIND THE ANSWER.

I SAT DOWN WITH GENETICIST JOANNA MOUNTAIN OF THE COMPANY 23andME TO SEE WHAT CLUES WE COULD DISCOVER IN GEOFFREY'S GENOME.

EVERY AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILY I KNOW HAS LEGENDS ABOUT BEING DESCENDED FROM THE WHITE SLAVE OWNER, THE SLAVE MASTER.

HOW CAN WE, FINALLY, PROVE OR DISPROVE THESE RUMORS?

WELL, THE AMAZING THING ABOUT DNA IS IT JUST GIVES YOU VERY CLEAR EVIDENCE OF THE CONTINENTS WHERE YOUR ANCESTORS CAME FROM.

SO WE CAN LOOK AND SAY, "AHA..." HUMAN BEINGS HAVE 23 CHROMOSOMES.

AND IN MEN, ONE OF THEM, THE Y CHROMOSOME, IS PASSED DOWN UNCHANGED FROM FATHER TO SON.

Mountain: A HAPLOGROUP IS A SET OF VERY SIMILAR Y CHROMOSOMES.

SO WE CAN TRACE THAT SET OF SIMILAR Y CHROMOSOMES TO A PARTICULAR PART OF THE WORLD WHERE THEY ORIGINATED.

SO A Y-DNA ANALYSIS, IN OTHER WORDS, IS WHAT PEOPLE IN THE BARBERSHOP TALK ABOUT, "THE PATERNITY TEST."

IT SURE IS.

NOW, IF CHARLES, THE SLAVE OWNER, DID FATHER GEOFF'S ANCESTOR, WHAT WOULD WE EXPECT TO SEE IN GEOFFREY'S Y-DNA?

HE WOULD HAVE A HAPLOGROUP THAT WOULD BE MOST COMMON IN EUROPE.

SO THAT WOULD SHOW ITS ORIGINS IN EUROPE.

SO JOANNA ANALYZED GEOFFREY'S Y-DNA TO SEE WHERE IT LED.

AND GUESS WHAT SHE FOUND.

IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THREE OTHER GUESTS IN THIS SERIES SHARE THIS HAPLOGROUP WITH YOU.

DO YOU WANT TO SEE WHO THEY ARE?

YEAH.

GOOD, TURN THE PAGE.

[ CHUCKLES ] THIS IS NOT THE CREW I WAS EXPECTING, THESE THREE.

THIS IS KEVIN BACON, ROBERT DOWNEY JR., AND HARRY CONNICK JR. WE PLOTTED THE ORIGINS OF THIS HAPLOGROUP ON A MAP, AND THERE WERE NO HITS IN AFRICA.

LET'S TURN THE PAGE.

COULD YOU LOOK AT AFRICA?

[Laughing] DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT'S THERE.

YOU ARE DEFINITELY DESCENDED FROM A WHITE MAN.

I GUESS IT'S GOOD I DON'T HATE WHITE PEOPLE.

[ LAUGHING ] GEOFFREY ALSO HAS DNA IN HIS OTHER CHROMOSOMES THAT LEADS BACK TO RECENT BLACK AFRICAN ANCESTORS.

BUT HIS Y-DNA PROVES HE IS DESCENDED FROM A WHITE MAN ON HIS FATHER'S LINE.

THE QUESTION THAT REMAINS IS WHO THIS WHITE MAN WAS.

COULD IT HAVE BEEN THE SLAVE OWNER, CHARLES CANNADAY?

THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT FOR SURE -- COMPARE GEOFFREY'S DNA ACROSS HIS GENOME WITH THAT TAKEN FROM A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF CHARLES CANNADAY.

OUR GENEALOGISTS TRACKED DOWN TWO DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF CHARLES CANNADAY, BUT WHEN WE CALLED THEM TO ASK FOR A DNA SAMPLE, WE RAN INTO A PROBLEM.

I WENT BACK TO SEE GEOFFREY TO TELL HIM WHAT HAD HAPPENED.

SO WE FOUND TWO OF HIS GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.

TWO OF CHARLES CANNADAY'S GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN?

RIGHT.

WE EXPLAINED THE SITUATION, AND THEY BOTH REFUSED TO TAKE THE TEST.

THEY WOULDN'T TAKE THE TEST?

I JUST THINK IT'S ABOUT THE SCIENCE OF UNDERSTANDING WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE GOT HERE.

SO I'M DISAPPOINTED THEY WOULDN'T DO IT.

I THOUGHT, ACTUALLY, THAT THEY WOULD.

GEOFF, WE MAY NEVER, UNFORTUNATELY, KNOW THE NAME OF THOMAS' FATHER, BUT WE DO KNOW, WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT, THAT A WHITE MAN FATHERED YOUR FEMALE SLAVE ANCESTOR AND ENTERED YOUR FAMILY LINE.

I STILL BELIEVE, SKIP, THAT THIS IS PART OF AMERICA THAT WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND TALK ABOUT.

YOU KNOW, MY GRANDKIDS ARE DOMINICAN, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, AND NOW PAKISTANI.

WOW.

BUT THIS IS NOW COMMON.

INVITE ME TO A FAMILY REUNION, BECAUSE THERE'S SOME GOOD FOOD THERE.

IT'S THE NEW AMERICA.

YEAH.

THE FACT IS THAT ALL HUMAN BEINGS CONSTITUTE GENETIC MIXES.

FOR AS LONG AS THERE HAVE BEEN BLACK PEOPLE AND WHITE PEOPLE, CHRISTIANS AND JEWS, WHATEVER COMBINATIONS YOU CAN THINK OF, THESE GROUPS HAVE MIXED TOGETHER SEXUALLY NO MATTER WHAT THE LAW SAID.

BUT DNA ANALYSIS IS ALLOWING US TO RESURRECT THESE LONG LOST ANCESTORS.

I WANTED TO SEE WHAT BARBARA'S DNA COULD TELL US ABOUT THE MAKEUP OF HER FAMILY TREE.

NOW WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT YOUR PERCENTAGE OF JEWISH ANCESTRY; WASP, OR NON-JEWISH ANCESTRY -- I'M SURE IT'S ALL JEWISH.

ISN'T IT?

WE'RE GOING TO SEE.

WHAT DO YOU BET?

OUT OF 100%, WHAT PERCENT ARE YOU JEWISH, WHAT PERCENT NOT JEWISH?

I WOULD SAY 99.9% JEWISH.

OKAY, BET YOU DINNER.

DINNER?

I WOULD HAVE DINNER WITH YOU ANYWAY, BUT NOW I KNOW I'M WRONG.

NOW YOU HAVE TO PAY.

I'LL DO THAT, TOO.

TURN THE PAGE.

'CAUSE I'M AN INDEPENDENT WOMAN, I'LL PAY.

OKAY, GREAT.

IT SAYS THAT 91.02% MIDDLE EASTERN.

AND 8.9% EUROPEAN.

WE KNOW THAT YOUR MIDDLE EAST DNA SHOWS ONLY MATCHES IN THE DATABASE WITH SEMITIC OR JEWISH POPULATIONS.

SO I WAS PRETTY CLOSE, 91%.

I SAID 99% -- I WAS VERY CLOSE.

YOU LOST, AND YOU OWE ME DINNER.

I ONLY LOST A LITTLE.

I'LL BUY YOU AN APPETIZER.

SO, WHAT IS EUROPEAN, THAT ALMOST 9%?

THAT MEANS NON-JEWISH PEOPLE.

THERE WAS SOME SNEAKIN' AND CREEPIN' GOING ON THERE.

THEY DID A LITTLE BIT OF IT, HUH?

AS IN BARBARA'S CASE, DNA RESULTS OFTEN REVEAL THAT OUR FAMILY TREES ARE MORE DIVERSE THAN WE HAD ASSUMED.

IN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY, GENETIC EVIDENCE OF OUR RAINBOW-COLORED ROOTS IS CHALLENGING LONG-HELD ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BLACK.

AND I WONDERED IF THIS WOULD CHANGE THE WAYS THAT STUDENTS AT GEOFFREY'S CHARTER SCHOOL VIEWED THEIR OWN IDENTITY.

SO I ASKED A GROUP OF GEOFFREY'S HONOR STUDENTS TO SWAB THEIR CHEEKS AND TAKE PART IN A LITTLE EXPERIMENT.

YOU'VE JUST TAKEN A DNA TEST THAT'S GOING TO REVEAL YOUR PERCENTAGE OF AFRICAN ANCESTRY, EUROPEAN ANCESTRY, AND ASIAN OR NATIVE-AMERICAN ANCESTRY.

NOW, LET'S PLAY A LITTLE GAME.

I WANT YOU TO GUESS WHAT YOU THINK YOUR PERCENTAGES ARE.

ALL RIGHT, ARIANNA GOOLSBY, WHAT PERCENT AFRICAN ARE YOU?

90%.

AND WHAT PERCENT NATIVE-AMERICAN?

5%.

AND SO 5% EUROPEAN.

I GUESS 30%.

50%.

40%.

0%.

100% AFRICAN.

Gates: 100% AFRICAN.

ALL RIGHT.

CORINNE BROWN.

THIS ADMIXTURE TEST REVEALS HOW MUCH OF YOUR ANCESTRY TRACES TO EUROPE, AFRICA, ASIA, OR THE AMERICAS.

Girl: 50% AFRICAN.

1% ASIAN, AND 49% EUROPEAN.

Gates: WOW!

SO, YOU'RE LIKE ALMOST 50-50.

KIANA GREEN.

BUT IS THAT THE ENTIRE STORY?

DOES YOUR GENOME TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING BLACK?

COOL.

OKAY.

91% AFRICAN.

9% EUROPEAN, AND 1% ASIAN.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?

IT'S COOL.

SO LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS.

WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?

ARE YOU SURPRISED?

DOES THIS CHANGE HOW YOU VIEW YOURSELVES?

Girl: YES.

HOW?

BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS EUROPEAN, AND NOW I DON'T CONSIDER MYSELF JUST BLACK.

ALAN, DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL... MORE RELATED TO WHITE AMERICANS?

IN A WAY.

IS THAT GOOD OR BAD?

THERE'S NOTHING BAD ABOUT IT.

THAT'S JUST WHAT I AM.

WHAT IS BLACKNESS?

NONE OF YOU IS 100% OF AFRICAN GENETIC DESCENT.

WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE TALK ABOUT BEING BLACK, THEN?

IF THE STATISTICS SAY YOU'RE THE MAJORITY OF A RACE, THEN THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE.

SO YOU'RE LIKE A POSITIVIST SCIENTIST, YOU GO, 51%, YOU'RE OUT OF THE RACE.

CAN THESE RESULTS CHANGE YOUR CULTURAL IDENTITY?

NO.

CULTURE IS MORE IMPORTANT BECAUSE ALL MY LIFE I WAS RAISED BLACK.

THAT'S WHAT I'M USED TO, SO I DON'T THINK I WOULD CHANGE IT NOW.

YOU'RE LIVING IN A TIME WHEN SCIENCE IS MAKING A REVOLUTION IN OUR NOTIONS OF WHAT RACIAL IDENTITIES ARE.

BASICALLY, THIS TEST JUST DECONSTRUCTED THE NOTION OF RACE.

IT JUST SHOWED YOU THAT BEING BLACK IS A LOT MORE COMPLICATED.

WE'RE ALL MIXED UP.

COMING TO TERMS WITH MIXED ROOTS CAN BE SURPRISING AND SOMETIMES EVEN PAINFUL.

BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT GEOFFREY CANADA FELT HE HAD TO DO TO COMPLETE HIS JOURNEY.

HE WANTED TO VISIT FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA.

IT'S LIKELY THAT SOMEWHERE IN THESE MOUNTAINS, A WHITE MAN FATHERED ONE OF HIS ENSLAVED ANCESTORS, A LEGACY GEOFFREY WANTS TO CONFRONT TODAY.

I'VE ALWAYS HATED SLAVERY, AND ALWAYS FELT, THANK GOD, I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

AND THEN MAYBE MY ANCESTORS WERE VERY MUCH PART OF THIS SYSTEM, SO IN SOME SENSE, I HAVE TO CLAIM BOTH SIDES OF THIS EQUATION.

YOU CAN'T PUSH THIS OFF ON ONE GROUP WITHOUT ASSUMING SOME RESPONSIBILITY, I THINK, OURSELVES, AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT SO COMPLICATED.

IT'S WHAT MAKES BEING AN AMERICAN SO COMPLICATED.

GEOFFREY STARTED HIS JOURNEY INTO HIS FATHER'S PAST WITH NOTHING BUT QUESTIONS.

NOW HE'S TRACED HIS ROOTS BACK OVER 150 YEARS.

GEOFFREY CAN EVEN VISIT THE VERY FARM WHERE HIS GREAT-GREAT- GRANDFATHER THOMAS WAS ENSLAVED AND LIVED TO BECOME FREE.

NOW I KNOW THAT THAT HISTORY REALLY BEGAN WITH THOMAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY TO MAKE IT AND TO FIND A BETTER LIFE.

ONE DAY, THE PROPERTY OWNERS THEMSELVES REEDUCATED THEMSELVES, DOING WHAT THEY COULD TO MAKE A WAY FOR THEMSELVES IN THIS COUNTRY.

Gates: WE'VE COME TO THE END OF THE FAMILY SAGAS OF THE CANNADAYS, KENNEDYS, CANADAS, AND THE WAREMWASSERS, WARMWATERS, WALTERS.

SO JOIN ME NEXT TIME AS WE TAKE TWO MORE REMARKABLE PEOPLE ON INCREDIBLE JOURNEYS INTO THEIR FAMILIES' BURIED PAST.