I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS," A JOURNEY INTO THE ANCESTRAL PAST OF SOME OF AMERICA'S MOST FASCINATING FIGURES.

IN THIS PROGRAM, WE'RE EXPLORING THE FAMILY HISTORIES OF THE ACTORS KEVIN BACON AND KYRA SEDGWICK.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE EVER RESEARCHED THE LIVES OF A MARRIED COUPLE, TWO PEOPLE WHO ALSO HAVE ANCESTORS WHO PLAYED IMPORTANT ROLES IN THE FOUNDING OF AMERICA.

TO DISCOVER KYRA AND KEVIN'S TRUE ORIGINS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.

GENEALOGISTS HELPED STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST USING THE PAPER TRAIL THAT THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND, WHILE GENETICISTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN DNA ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD.

THIS IS YOUR BOOK OF LIFE.

AND I'M GOING TO... Gates: WE'VE COMPILED EVERYTHING THAT WE FOUND INTO THEIR VERY OWN BOOK OF LIFE, A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

WELL, THE STORY GETS MORE INTERESTING, SO I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO KEEP READING.

KEVIN, WHO JOINED US IN LOS ANGELES WHILE DONNING HAIR EXTENSIONS FOR HIS LATEST FILM ROLE, HAD NO IDEA THAT HIS ROOTS IN AMERICA RAN SO DEEP.

YOUR FAMILY WAS PART OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COLONY IN AMERICA AT THAT TIME, PENNSYLVANIA.

AND KYRA, WHOSE FAMILY HISTORY WAS PASSED DOWN TO HER AND HER SIBLINGS WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP, WAS AMAZED AT WHAT WE UNEARTHED.

OH, MY GOSH!

REALLY?

INCLUDING A SECRET THAT LINKS HER AND KEVIN TOGETHER IN THE MOST UNEXPECTED WAY.

I WONDER IF MY FAMILY KNOWS THIS.

[Whispering] Maybe they just kept it under wraps.

TO OUR SURPRISE, THE STORIES CONTAINED IN KYRA AND KEVIN'S PAST SHED NEW LIGHT ON THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY IN COLONIAL AMERICA.

AND THOUGH THEIR ANCESTORS PLAYED A ROLE IN THIS SAD HISTORY, THEIRS IS ULTIMATELY A STORY ABOUT REDEMPTION.

KEVIN BACON AND KYRA SEDGWICK ARE TWO OF THE MOST RESPECTED ACTORS IN HOLLYWOOD -- NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THEIR ACCOMPLISHED CAREERS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THEIR UNUSUALLY LONG AND HAPPY PARTNERSHIP.

IN HOLLYWOOD, WHERE DIVORCE OFTEN SEEMS TO BE A WAY OF LIFE, AS AN EXTRAORDINARILY RARE EXCEPTION.

SO I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT DREW THEM TOGETHER IN THE FIRST PLACE.

BUT FIRST I HAD TO GET USED TO KEVIN'S UNUSUAL APPEARANCE.

HE'S CAST AS A HIPPIE FROM THE '60s IN BILLY BOB THORNTON'S LATEST FILM.

DO YOU THINK THAT HAVING STRONG FAMILY... KYRA HAD TOLD ME THAT SHE FIRST MET KEVIN BEFORE SHE WAS EVEN A TEENAGER.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT DREW YOU TO EACH OTHER IN THE BEGINNING?

WHAT DREW ME TO HER WAS, I THOUGHT SHE WAS HOT.

WHEN YOU MET HER, SHE WAS 12 AND YOU WERE 19.

WELL, NO, NOT THE FIRST TIME I MET HER.

I DON'T REMEMBER THAT MEETING, ACTUALLY.

YOU DON'T?

NO, MNH-MNH.

I HAD JUST SEEN HIM IN A PLAY CALLED "ALBUM."

HE'S 7 YEARS OLDER, SO I GUESS HE WAS 19.

AND I WENT TO THIS DELI AFTERWARDS, AND I WAS WITH MY BROTHER, NICO, AND HE SAID, "THAT'S THE GUY FROM THE PLAY!"

AND I SAID, "OH, YEAH, IT IS THE GUY FROM THE PLAY!

HE WAS REALLY GOOD!"

AND SO HE SAID, "GO UP TO HIM AND TELL HIM YOU THOUGHT HE WAS GOOD," AND SO I DID, AND HE WAS LIKE, "THANKS, SWEETIE."

THE TWO WOULDN'T MEET AGAIN FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS, WHEN TWO OTHER ACTORS BOWED OUT OF THE LEAD ROLES OF THE FILM "LEMON SKY" AND KYRA AND KEVIN WERE CAST INSTEAD.

Bacon: I JUST TOOK ONE LOOK AT HER, AND I WAS LIKE, "OKAY, I GOT TO BE WITH THIS GIRL."

SHE APPARENTLY FELT THE SAME WAY.

NOT RIGHT AWAY, NO.

TOOK HER A WHILE.

I THOUGHT HE WAS A LITTLE FULL OF HIMSELF.

HE SEEMED A LITTLE COCKY.

Gates: HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO MELT HER DOWN?

YOU'D HAVE TO ASK HER.

MAYBE YOU DID ASK HER.

IT'S LIKE "THE NEWLYWED GAME."

ONCE I GOT TO KNOW HIM, WHAT TAKES IT TO THAT NEXT LEVEL AFTER ATTRACTION WAS THAT I FELT HOME WITH HIM, YOU KNOW.

YEAH, OH, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN.

YEAH.

KYRA SEDGWICK WAS BORN IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1965.

SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF HARRY SEDGWICK AND PATRICIA ROSENWALD.

HARRY WAS THE PRIVILEGED SON OF A PROMINENT NEW ENGLAND FAMILY, WHILE PATRICIA WAS THE DAUGHTER OF PROSPEROUS JEWISH IMMIGRANTS.

I WAS STRUCK BY THE FACT THAT YOU COME FROM TWO TOTALLY DISSIMILAR, ALTHOUGH VERY DISTINGUISHED, LINEAGES.

ON THE ONE HAND, YOUR FATHER IS FROM THE ULTIMATE WASP ROYALTY OF AMERICA.

[Chuckling] RIGHT.

THE SEDGWICKS OF STOCKBRIDGE.

AND SOME PEOPLE MIGHT SAY, ON THE OTHER HAND, THAT YOUR MOTHER WAS ALSO FROM A KIND OF ROYALTY -- A PRINCESS, MAYBE A JEWISH AMERICAN PRINCESS.

[ LAUGHS ] FROM NEW YORK CITY.

DO YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS JEWISH?

I DO, I DO.

I'VE TOTALLY EMBRACED OF COURMY JEWISH SIDE.OW, I BDO THE RIGHT THINGON TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

WITH NO REWARD.

RIGHT, EXACTLY.

DO YOU THINK, GIVEN THAT, THAT YOU'VE BEEN EQUALLY SHAPED BY YOUR MOTHER'S FAMILY AND YOUR FATHER'S FAMILY?

PROBABLY, BUT I THINK WE'RE FORMED MOSTLY BY WHERE WE GROW UP AND OUR SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS AND OUR FAMILIES, OUR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES.

MM-HMM.

KYRA'S PARENTS' MARRIAGE DISSOLVED WHEN SHE WAS VERY YOUNG.

THOUGH HER MOTHER EVENTUALLY REMARRIED, IT WAS A DIFFICULT PERIOD IN HER LIFE.

WHAT ARE YOUR EARLIEST MEMORIES OF YOUR FAMILY?

UM... [ LAUGHS ] I REMEMBER MY DAD LEFT.

[ LAUGHS ] So much for that.

WHEN I SEE THAT FACE, THAT'S WHAT I THINK OF.

YEAH.

HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN HE LEFT?

UM, I THINK I WAS BETWEEN 2 AND 3.

I DON'T KNOW -- THE STORIES VARY.

KYRA TOLD US THAT SHE BOUNCED AIMLESSLY BETWEEN PRIVATE SCHOOLS UNTIL, AT THE AGE OF 12, SHE DISCOVERED A PASSION FOR ACTING.

SHE LANDED HER FIRST TELEVISION ROLE WHEN SHE WAS ONLY 15.

SINCE THEN, KYRA HAS APPEARED IN HIT MOVIES LIKE "BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY" AND "SINGLES."

AND IN 2008, SHE WON THE BEST ACTRESS EMMY FOR HER LEADING ROLE IN THE ACCLAIMED TV DRAMA, "THE CLOSER."

ACTING IS ALSO WHAT LED HER TO HER LEADING MAN, KEVIN BACON.

YOU KNOW THAT WE'RE INTERVIEWING YOUR HUSBAND, KEVIN BACON.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU HOPE TO LEARN ABOUT HIS FAMILY TREE?

[Laughs] MY BIGGEST FEAR IS THAT WE'RE COUSINS.

AND THAT IT'LL BE ILLEGAL?

YEAH, RIGHT, EXACTLY.

WELL, EVEN -- YOU KNOW, I MEAN, AS LONG AS WE'RE NOT FIRST COUSINS, IT'S FINE.

I KNOW WE'RE NOT FIRST COUSINS.

BUT I JUST THINK -- IT'S JUST MY BIGGEST FEAR.

KEVIN BACON GREW UP IN PHILADELPHIA, THE YOUNGEST OF SIX KIDS.

HE TOLD US THAT, EVEN AS A CHILD, HE WAS ALWAYS IN COSTUMES, TRYING ON DIFFERENT ROLES, ACTING.

YOU HAVE QUITE A FEW SIBLINGS.

WAS THAT A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING, GROWING UP?

GOOD THING, YEAH, I LOVED HAVING A BIG FAMILY, IT WAS AWESOME.

BUT YOU DIDN'T FEEL STARVED FOR THE ATTENTION OF YOUR PARENTS, WITH ALL THAT COMPETITION WITH FIVE OTHER SIBS?

CERTAINLY, GETTING ATTENTION IS A BIG PART OF WHY YOU BECOME AN ACTOR.

AND I CAN ABSOLUTELY REMEMBER AS A LITTLE KID, THINKING TO MYSELF, "IF I WALK INTO A ROOM, I WANT PEOPLE TO LOOK AT ME."

AND, YOU KNOW, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WERE MY FIRST AUDIENCE.

HEY, HEY, HEY, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

KEVIN'S FAMILY STILL PLAYS A BIG PART IN HIS CREATIVE ENDEAVORS.

♪ FOR THE LAST DECADE, HE AND HIS OLDER BROTHER MICHAEL, A TALENTED COMPOSER WHO IS ALSO SCORING THIS SERIES, HAVE BEEN PART OF A BAND.

THE BACON BROTHERS HAVE RECORDED SEVEN ALBUMS AND REGULARLY TOUR THE COUNTRY.

BUT KEVIN AND MICHAEL HAVE BEEN PLAYING MUSIC TOGETHER SINCE THEY WERE BOYS.

Bacon: I GREW UP ADMIRING MY OLDER BROTHER.

HE WAS THE FIRST KIND OF MUSICAL INFLUENCE THAT I HAD.

I DON'T REALLY REMEMBER THERE EVER BEING A TIME WHEN I DIDN'T HEAR HIM PLAY MUSIC.

HE'D PLAY THE CELLO, GUITAR, HE PLAYED IN BANDS, AND, YOU KNOW, IF YOUR OLDER BROTHER HAS A WICKED FAST BALL, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE GOING TO, LIKE, TRY TO THROW A FAST BALL.

I DO HAVE A WICKED FAST BALL.

JUST WANT TO POINT THAT OUT.

Gates: BUT PERHAPS IT WAS KEVIN'S FATHER AND HIS PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS THAT WAS KEVIN'S GREATEST MOTIVATION.

EDMUND BACON WAS A FAMOUS URBAN PLANNER, KNOWN AS THE FATHER OF MODERN PHILADELPHIA, SERVING AS CITY PLANNER FOR OVER TWO DECADES.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAD.

WHAT KIND OF MAN WAS HE?

WAS HE WARM?

WAS HE DISTANT?

UH, I WOULDN'T SAY HE WAS A WARM MAN, NO.

HE WAS A VERY LARGER-THAN-LIFE FIGURE AND WAS ENAMORED WITH HIS OWN PRESS, GOOD OR BAD.

AND FOR ME, WAS VERY INFLUENTIAL, BECAUSE I REALLY JUST, YOU KNOW, WANTED TO BE MORE FAMOUS THAN HIM.

[Laughs] NO KIDDING.

SURE.

OH, THAT'S GREAT.

I WANTED TO KICK HIS ASS.

[Laughs] DID YOU?

I DID.

WELL, LET'S SEE HOW FAMOUS HE WAS.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.

YEAH, THAT'S PRETTY FAMOUS.

I'VE NEVER BEEN ON THE COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE.

I WAS GOING TO SAY, KICKED HIS ASS?

EXCUSE ME?

MAYBE NOT, YEAH, MAYBE NOT, MAYBE NOT.

I GUESS I GOT TO TAKE THAT BACK.

Gates: I FOUND MYSELF WONDERING WHAT WE WOULD DISCOVER ABOUT KYRA AND KEVIN'S PAST ON THEIR FAMILY TREES.

WHAT SECRETS WOULD WE REVEAL?

WHAT MYSTERIES WOULD WE SOLVE?

WHAT WOULD WE LEARN ABOUT HOW THEIR ANCESTORS SHAPED WHO THEY ARE TODAY?

THOUGH THERE WERE A MULTITUDE OF STORIES THAT WE FOUND ALONG THEIR BRANCHES, WE CHOSE TO FOCUS ON JUST A FEW.

KYRA'S FAMILY NEEDED LITTLE INTRODUCTION.

THE SEDGWICKS ARE ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT AND MOST CHRONICLED FAMILIES IN ALL OF NEW ENGLAND.

SINCE HER ANCESTORS ARRIVED HERE OVER THREE CENTURIES AGO, THEY PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN THE CREATION OF THE NEW REPUBLIC.

THE SEDGWICKS HAVE BEEN CONGRESSMEN, SENATORS, ELDER STATESMEN, JUDGES, WRITERS, AND WITNESSES TO MANY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

THE FAMILY BUILT THIS STATELY COLONIAL HOME IN STOCKBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, OVER 200 YEARS AGO.

IT STANDS BOTH AS A MONUMENT TO THEIR FAMILY'S COLLECTIVE PAST AND ACTS AS A LOCUS FOR THEIR FAMILY GATHERINGS TODAY.

DID YOU GO TO STOCKBRIDGE ON WEEKENDS?

YEAH, WE USED TO GO IN THE SUMMER AND ALL BE TOGETHER.

WHAT'S THE OLD HOUSE LIKE?

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL OLD COLONIAL.

IT'S GOT LOTS AND LOTS OF ROOMS.

AND YOU CAN JUST FEEL THE HISTORY, WALKING AROUND.

IT'S GOT THIS GIGANTIC, YOU KNOW, GRAND STAIRCASE IN THE MAIN HOUSE.

IT'S GOT A WING THAT WAS PROBABLY USED FOR THE SERVANTS' QUARTERS, PROBABLY, BACK IN THE DAY.

YOU KNOW, I MEAN, IT REEKS OF HISTORY.

IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

DID YOU FEEL PRIVILEGED, LIKE A SPECIAL KID, ARISTOCRAT?

KIND OF, YEAH.

I MEAN, YOU KNOW, IT WAS A BIG DEAL THAT, YOU KNOW, THE SEDGWICK LINE.

AND, I MEAN, I THINK EVERYONE PROBABLY HAS A RICH FAMILY HISTORY.

WHEN YOU GO BACK, IT'S JUST, HISTORY IS FASCINATING.

BUT I KNEW SO MUCH MORE ABOUT MY DAD'S, BECAUSE IT WAS A CELEBRATED, YOU KNOW, STORY.

KYRA'S ANCESTORS CAME FROM ENGLAND IN THE YEAR 1636 AND QUICKLY ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES IN A COLONY KNOWN AS CHARLESTOWN IN WHAT IS NOW THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

NOT FAR FROM PLYMOUTH ROCK.

BUT THE SEDGWICK NAME WAS MADE FAMOUS JUST THREE GENERATIONS LATER BY KYRA'S FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN KNOWN AS JUDGE THEODORE SEDGWICK.

IT WAS JUDGE SEDGWICK WHO BUILT THE HOUSE IN STOCKBRIDGE IN 1785.

WHAT BODY OF WATER IS THIS?

KYRA'S FATHER, HARRY SEDGWICK, GRACIOUSLY GAVE ME A TOUR OF THE HOUSE, WHICH THE FAMILY HAS OCCUPIED CONTINUOUSLY SINCE THE JUDGE BUILT IT.

THIS IS A SERIOUS HOUSE!

OKAY, WHO IS THIS?

Harry: THAT'S THE JUDGE.

THAT'S THEODORE.

THEODORE SEDGWICK.

HIMSELF.

Harry: HIMSELF, AND WITH THE SEDGWICK NOSE.

SEE, LOOK AT HIS NOSE.

LOOK AT BABO'S NOSE.

I GOT A LITTLE TWINKIE.

[ LAUGHS ] Harry: HE WAS A TOUGH FELLOW, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, A REALLY SQUARE-JAWED, GET-THE-JOB-DONE... Gates: HE LOOKS LIKE A DETERMINED MAN.

OH, HE CERTAINLY WAS.

HE WAS TOUGH.

Gates: THE SON OF FARMERS, THEODORE WAS THE VERY FIRST SEDGWICK TO GO TO COLLEGE, ATTENDING MY ALMA MATER, YALE UNIVERSITY, IN 1761.

DETERMINED TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF, HE MOVED TO WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS TO ESTABLISH A LAW PRACTICE.

AT THAT TIME, THE BERKSHIRES WERE THIS KIND OF INTERESTING HOLLOW BETWEEN THE ESTABLISHED EAST OF BOSTON, PHILADELPHIA, THE MAJOR CITIES ALONG THE COAST, AND THE PIONEERS, WHO HAD, AT THAT POINT, GOTTEN OUT ALL THE WAY TO OHIO.

Gates: WE SAT DOWN WITH KYRA'S UNCLE, JOHN SEDGWICK.

JOHN HELPED ME UNDERSTAND JUST WHO THEODORE SEDGWICK WAS.

John: HE HAD AN UNBELIEVABLY FORCEFUL PERSONALITY.

I THINK HE COULD PROBABLY WIN ANY CASE, WHETHER THE FACTS WERE FOR HIM OR AGAINST HIM, WHETHER THE LAW WAS FOR HIM OR AGAINST HIM.

IT REALLY DIDN'T MATTER.

THE POWER OF HIS PERSONALITY WAS SUCH THAT HE WOULD JUST BE ABLE TO PUSH THROUGH.

BY 1773, THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY WAS BOILING OVER WITH RESENTMENT TOWARD THE BRITISH CROWN.

FROM THE STREETS AND TAVERNS TO PARLORS AND PLACES WORSHIP, PEOPLE WERE CALLING FOR REVOLUTION.

AND THEODORE SEDGWICK WAS DETERMINED TO USE HIS INFLUENCE AND INTELLECT TO AID THE CAUSE.

John: HE BELIEVED VERY MUCH IN DEMOCRACY, AND THAT WHAT THE ENGLISH WERE IMPOSING ON THE COLONISTS WAS MORE OF A TYRANNY.

IN JANUARY OF 1773, THEODORE AND A GROUP OF OTHER PROMINENT MEN IN THE BERKSHIRES WROTE A MANIFESTO DEMANDING LIBERATION.

THE DOCUMENT THAT EMERGED THAT NIGHT WOULD BE KNOWN AS "THE SHEFFIELD RESOLVE," AND ITS CENTRAL TENET WOULD SERVE AS A ROAD MAP FOR COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE -- THAT ALL MEN HAVE A RIGHT TO HAPPINESS, PROPERTY, AND LIBERTY.

JUST THREE YEARS LATER, THOMAS JEFFERSON HIMSELF WOULD ECHO THEODORE'S WORDS IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

THEODORE'S ROLE IN THE REVOLUTION LAUNCHED HIS CAREER AS AN IMPORTANT AMERICAN STATESMAN.

Kyra: I CAN REMEMBER AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE, YOU KNOW, HEARING ABOUT HOW GREAT JUDGE THEODORE SEDGWICK WAS.

AND I WAS VERY PROUD AND -- PEOPLE TALK ABOUT FOUNDING FATHERS.

YOU REALLY DESCEND FROM A FOUNDING FATHER.

RIGHT.

YOU PROBABLY KNOW THIS FAMILY LORE.

HE WAS ELECTED FIRST TO THE STATE LEGISLATURE AND THEN TO THE STATE SENATE AND THEN TO THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.

HE WAS THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

NO, I DID NOT KNOW THAT.

HE WAS THE MAN.

WOW.

AS FASCINATING AS KYRA'S FAMILY'S HISTORY IS, I WAS ESPECIALLY EXCITED TO DELVE INTO KEVIN'S TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANY OVERLAP.

THE NAME, "KEVIN BACON," HAS BECOME A METAPHOR FOR HUMAN CONNECTEDNESS.

BECAUSE HE HAS APPEARED IN OVER 60 FILMS, HIS PROLIFIC CAREER PLACED HIM IN THE CENTER OF A POP CULTURE PHENOMENON.

NOW, THIS IS A SERIES ABOUT CONNECTING PEOPLE TO THEIR LOST ANCESTORS, KEVIN, SO OF COURSE THE WORD "CONNECTION" COMES TO EVERYONE'S MIND WHEN THEY THINK OF KEVIN BACON, BECAUSE YOU INSPIRED "SIX DEGREES OF KEVIN BACON," IN WHICH, SUPPOSEDLY, EVERY ACTOR IN HOLLYWOOD CAN BE LINKED TO YOU WITHIN SIX STEPS THROUGH THEIR FILM ROLES.

NOW, WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD ABOUT THIS, DID THIS PISS YOU OFF?

OR WAS THIS FLATTERING?

WELL, NO, I WASN'T IN THE HEAD SPACE TO TAKE IT AS FLATTERY.

I KIND OF FELT LIKE IT WAS A JOKE AT MY EXPENSE, YOU KNOW.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS LOSER CAN BE CONNECTED TO, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE GREAT ACTORS IN HISTORY, YOU KNOW, LIKE OLIVIER OR SOMEBODY LIKE THAT, IN SIX DEGREES?

SO I DIDN'T LOOK AT IT AS A BADGE OF HONOR THEN.

BUT IT'S A BEAUTIFUL CONCEPT, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THAT WE ARE CONNECTED.

THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ALL, ESSENTIALLY, AS YOU KNOW, KIND OF CLIMBED OUT OF THE SAME SWAMP, AND IT'S FUN TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THAT IDEA.

Gates: BUT I WANTED TO CONNECT KEVIN TO HIS EARLIEST ANCESTORS, MANY MORE DEGREES OF SEPARATION BACK IN TIME THAN HE COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE.

WE WERE ABLE TO TRACE KEVIN'S FATHER'S LINE BACK 12 GENERATIONS TO A QUAKER NAMED HENRY COMLY, A MAN WHO WAS LIVING IN BRISTOL, ENGLAND, IN 1663.

AT THAT TIME, QUAKERS LIKE HENRY COMLY COULD BE JAILED OR EVEN BEATEN SIMPLY FOR HOLDING THEIR OWN RELIGIOUS MEETINGS OR FOR NOT ATTENDING THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

THEY WERE RELIGIOUS RADICALS WHO OFTEN PAID A HEAVY PRICE FOR THEIR FAITH.

NATURALLY, MANY LOOKED FOR A WAY OUT.

FORTUNATELY FOR COMLY AND HIS FAMILY, FELLOW QUAKER WILLIAM PENN WAS ALREADY IN AMERICA, AND HE WAS OFFERING QUITE A LOT OF LAND FOR SALE.

"WILLIAM PENN, PROPRIETARY GOVERNOR "OF PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA "AND TERRITORIES THEREUNTO BELONGING, "AT THE REQUEST OF HENRY COMLY, "PURCHASER OF 500 ACRES, I WOULD GRANT HIM TAKE UP A LOT IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA."

YOUR ANCESTOR WAS GIVEN TWO PLOTS OF LAND -- 300 ACRES IN BUCKS COUNTY AND 200 ACRES IN PHILADELPHIA.

PHILADELPHIA, THE CITY FOR WHICH YOUR FATHER SERVED AS THE CITY PLANNER FOR ALL THOSE YEARS.

WOW, HOW DID HE GET 500?

I MEAN, THERE WAS THAT MUCH LAND TO GIVE AWAY?

THERE JUST WERE -- THEY HAD TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ACRES.

THE DOCUMENT ON THE LEFT SHOWS WILLIAM PENN'S SEAL ITSELF.

NOW, THESE ARE SYMBOLIC HISTORIC RECORDS, KEVIN.

THEY REPRESENT THE FIRST MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY TO OWN LAND IN AMERICA.

YOUR FAMILY WAS PART OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COLONY IN AMERICA AT THAT TIME, PENNSYLVANIA.

IN A STRANGE KIND OF WAY, IT -- YOU KNOW, KNOWING THIS KIND OF BRINGS ME... CLOSER TO THAT TIME PERIOD.

ABSOLUTELY.

SO YOU HAVE A REFERENCE POINT NOW, INSTEAD OF ABSTRACT HISTORICAL EVENTS.

YEAH, YEAH, THAT'S GREAT.

AND THEY DIDN'T COME LATE.

THEY SHAPED THE HISTORY OF AMERICA FROM THE GET-GO.

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 500 ACRES.

[ LAUGHS ] Gates: HOW ARE FAMILY STORIES PASSED DOWN?

SOME ARE RECOUNTED OVER AND OVER AT THE DINNER TABLE, ON HOLIDAYS, OR AT FAMILY REUNIONS.

AND THERE'S ALWAYS ONE PERSON IN MOST FAMILIES WHO BECOMES THE UNOFFICIAL RECORD KEEPER, THE FAMILY HISTORIAN.

I CAN STILL REMEMBER THE DAY IN 1960 WHEN MY FATHER SHOWED MY BROTHER AND ME MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S PHOTOGRAPH AND OBITUARY FROM THE YEAR 1888.

IT IGNITED IN ME A PASSION FOR GENEALOGY, TO FIND OUT WHERE SHE HAD COME FROM AND HOW SHE AND I WERE CONNECTED.

WHAT'S SO UNUSUAL ABOUT THE SEDGWICKS IS THAT MOST OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT KYRA'S FAMILY, AND ESPECIALLY HER FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER THEODORE, COMES DIRECTLY FROM BOOKS WRITTEN BY GENERATIONS OF SEDGWICKS THEMSELVES.

THE WALLS OF THE HOUSE IN STOCKBRIDGE ARE LINED WITH LEATHER-BOUND VOLUMES.

KYRA'S UNCLE JOHN IS THIS GENERATION'S STORYTELLER.

John: YOU REALIZE, IN A FAMILY LIKE MINE, ANYWAY, THAT THE PAST IS NOT PAST.

THE PAST REMAINS PRESENT.

IN LOOKING AT HISTORY, YOU'RE REALLY LOOKING INTO YOURSELF, BECAUSE EVERY BIT OF HISTORY THAT I HAVE UNCOVERED IN MY FAMILY HAS SOME REMNANT IN MY OWN SELF.

Gates: BUT HOW RELIABLE ARE THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES ABOUT OUR FAMILIES?

AS WE SIFTED THROUGH KYRA'S PAST, WE DISCOVERED A SURPRISING STORY, A STORY ABOUT THEODORE SEDGWICK THAT'S NEVER BEEN PART OF ANY WRITTEN FAMILY HISTORY.

WE CAME TO THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO MEET WITH THE HEAD RESEARCHER, PETER DRUMMEY.

PETER HAS ACCESS TO THE RECORDS OF SOME OF THE EARLIEST NEW ENGLAND FAMILIES, STRETCHING ALL THE WAY BACK TO T HE MAYFLOWER.

PETER PORED THROUGH THE STACKS, SEARCHING FOR ANYTHING NEW THAT HE COULD TELL US ABOUT THEODORE OR THE SEDGWICKS.

THEN, IN A FOLDER MARKED, "REAL ESTATE," HE FOUND SOMETHING THAT SURPRISED EVEN HIM.

OKAY, PETER, I'VE GOT YOUR CALL.

WHAT'S UP?

THIS IS A BILL OF SALE FOR A SLAVE IN THE THEODORE SEDGWICK PAPERS.

THEODORE SEDGWICK, THE OUTSPOKEN ADVOCATE OF INDEPENDENCE, THE AUTHOR OF THE SHEFFIELD RESOLVES, IN 1777, DURING THE HEART OF THE REVOLUTION, IS BUYING A SLAVE NAMED TON FROM ANOTHER REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER NAMED JOHN FELLOWS.

BUYING A SLAVE TO FREE THE SLAVE?

NO, BUYING A SLAVE TO ACT AS A SERVANT IN HIS HOUSEHOLD.

NO KIDDING!

AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST SLAVE THAT THEODORE SEDGWICK HAS OWNED.

IN A CENSUS FROM 1771, HE'S LISTED AS OWNING A SERVANT FOR LIFE.

WOW.

THIS IS A MAJOR -- I AM -- I AM FLABBERGASTED, ACTUALLY.

BECAUSE NONE OF THE STORIES OF SEDGWICK SAY THAT HE WAS A SLAVE OWNER, NO.

WERE YOU SHOCKED WHEN YOU FOUND OUT?

I'M STUNNED, ACTUALLY.

I HONESTLY THOUGHT IT MUST BE ANOTHER SEDGWICK, THAT IT MUST BE A COINCIDENCE OF NAME.

BUT IT'S CLEARLY THEODORE SEDGWICK.

Gates: SO, IN SPITE OF HIS CALLS FOR LIBERTY AND FREEDOM THAT HE WROTE SO ELOQUENTLY INTO THE SHEFFIELD RESOLVES, IT TURNS OUT THAT THEODORE SEDGWICK WAS STILL PRACTICING HIS OWN FORM OF TYRANNY AGAINST ANOTHER MAN.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

COULD YOU READ WHAT IT SAYS?

"KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENCE "THAT I, JOHN FELLOWS OF SHEFFIELD, "IN CONSIDERATION OF THE SUM OF £60 TO ME IN HAND WELL AND TRULY PAID BY THEODORE SEDGWICK..." "BARGAIN, SELL, AND CONVEY UNTO HIM "A NEGRO WOMAN NAMED TON, ABOUT 30 YEARS OLD, TO HAVE AND TO HOLD SAID NEGRO WOMAN."

"FOR AND DURING THE TERM OF HER NATURAL LIFE."

IT'S A BILL OF SALE DATED JULY 1, 1777, A YEAR AFTER THE DECLARATION.

THIS DOCUMENT SHOWS THAT YOUR ANCESTOR BOUGHT AND OWNED A SLAVE.

THAT'S SO SAD.

WOW.

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

Gates: THOUGH OFTEN OVERLOOKED, SLAVERY IN THE NORTH WAS WIDESPREAD.

IN 1755, 1 IN 10 ADULTS IN RHODE ISLAND WAS A BLACK SLAVE.

THIS IS A CENSUS, A TOWN-BY-TOWN CENSUS OF MASSACHUSETTS... AND ACCORDING TO PETER'S RECORDS, THERE WERE OVER 2,000 SLAVES IN MASSACHUSETTS, SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE COLONY.

Gates: BRAINTREE, HULL, AND BROOKLINE.

Drummey: BROOKLINE, IT'S EVERYWHERE.

AND I THINK PEOPLE TODAY ARE NOT AWARE OF THAT, NOT AWARE OF SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS, AND EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO ARE AWARE OF SLAVERY IN NEW ENGLAND, EARLY SLAVERY IN NEW ENGLAND, DON'T UNDERSTAND IT TO BE EVERYWHERE ON THE LANDSCAPE.

Gates: FOR MANY, EVEN IN THE NORTH, SLAVERY WAS A HARD HABIT TO BREAK.

AROUND THE SAME TIME AS KYRA'S FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER THEODORE WAS PURCHASING THE SLAVE IN MASSACHUSETTS, KEVIN BACON'S SIXTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED SAMUEL ATKINSON, WAS TENDING HIS FAMILY FARM IN NEW JERSEY.

AS A DEVOUT QUAKER, SAMUEL FOUND HIMSELF STRUGGLING WITH THE MORALITY OF THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY ITSELF.

Man: WHEN QUAKERS ARRIVED IN THE 1650s, SLAVERY ALREADY EXISTED, AND QUAKERS DID OWN SLAVES IN NEW YORK, IN PHILADELPHIA, IN NEW JERSEY.

Gates: WE MET WITH CHRISTOPHER DENSMORE, THE CURATOR OF THE FRIENDS HISTORICAL LIBRARY AT SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, TO UNDERSTAND MORE DEEPLY THE QUAKERS' SHIFTING VIEWS ABOUT SLAVERY.

Densmore: BY THE 1680s, QUAKERS CLEARLY ARE UNHAPPY WITH SOME OF THE ASPECTS OF SLAVERY.

BUT IT REALLY TAKES THEM TO THE 1750s BEFORE THEY COME WITH A CLEAR POSITION THAT IT'S NOT JUST TREATMENT OF SLAVES, IT'S NOT JUST THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE, IT'S A SYSTEM THAT WE CAN'T MAKE BETTER, WE CAN'T MAKE HUMANE.

IT'S FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG.

Gates: DENSMORE SHOWED US THE MINUTES FROM QUAKER MEETINGS THAT DESCRIBE THESE DEBATES ABOUT THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY AND THEIR EVENTUAL DECISION TO CALL FOR ITS ABOLITION.

THEY WILL INCLUDE ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT EVERY MEETING ASKS, AND THAT'S WHETHER FRIENDS ARE CLEAR OF OWNING SLAVES.

THE EXPECTATION IS, YOU'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT, "YES."

Gates: ACCORDING TO DENSMORE, BY 1775, ABOUT 10% OF QUAKERS STILL OWNED SLAVES.

AND KEVIN'S SIXTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SAMUEL ATKINSON, WAS ONE OF THEM.

THIS IS SAMUEL ATKINSON'S WILL, KEVIN, FROM THE YEAR 1775, THE YEAR BEFORE THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE BROKE OUT.

WILL YOU READ THE TRANSCRIBED PART?

"I GIVE AND BEQUEATH TO MY SON SAMUEL "MY MULATTO MAN CALLED ADAM.

"I GIVE AND BEQUEATH TO MY DAUGHTER REBECCA "MY MULATTO BOY CALLED LOT.

"I GIVE AND BEQUEATH TO MY DAUGHTER RUTH MY TWO MULATTO BOYS CALLED NOAH AND ANDREW."

SO YOUR ANCESTORS OWNED SLAVES.

THAT'S KIND OF NAUSEATING.

DID YOU EVER THINK THAT YOUR ANCESTORS MIGHT HAVE OWNED SLAVES?

BEING FROM THE NORTH, YOU KNOW?

YEAH, WELL, WHEN WE WERE GETTING READY TO DO THIS, IT DID CROSS MY MIND.

IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU KIND OF GO, "WOW, I'D REALLY LIKE TO THINK THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN, BUT..." BUT, YEAH, IT DID CROSS MY MIND.

ARE YOU SURPRISED?

I'M KIND OF SURPRISED ON THE QUAKER SIDE, BECAUSE I DIDN'T REALLY EVER THINK OF THE QUAKERS AS BEING SLAVE OWNERS, ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY WERE A PERSECUTED PEOPLE, AS WE SPOKE ABOUT BEFORE, WHO CAME OVER HERE TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION.

THERE'S SUCH A DISCONNECT THERE BETWEEN THE IDEA THAT YOU'RE... YOU KNOW, COME TO SOME PLACE SO THAT YOU CAN PRACTICE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU THINK IT'S OKAY TO OWN A HUMAN BEING.

Gates: BUT, ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, SAMUEL, LIKE SO MANY OTHER QUAKERS, RETHOUGHT HIS POSITION.

"I DESIRE THAT ALL MY MULATTOES KEPT TO THEIR READING," THE WILL READ.

"AND WHEN EACH OF THEM ATTAIN THE AGE OF 35 YEARS, THAT THEY HAVE THEIR LIBERTY PROVIDED."

HE WANTS THEM TO LEARN HOW TO READ, AND HE WANTS THEM TO BE SET FREE.

KEVIN, I'VE SEEN MANY WILLS OF SLAVE OWNERS, AND MOST OF THEM DO NOT EXPLICITLY INSTRUCT THEIR HEIRS TO MAKE SURE THE SLAVES CONTINUE TO BE EDUCATED.

BECAUSE, REMEMBER, THROUGHOUT MANY OF THE SLAVE STATES, IN THE SOUTH, IT WAS EXPLICITLY ILLEGAL FOR A BLACK PERSON TO LEARN HOW TO READ AND WRITE, AND FOR A WHITE PERSON TO TEACH A BLACK PERSON TO READ AND WRITE.

AND HE ALSO WANTS THEM TO BE FREED AT THE AGE OF 35.

SET 'EM FREE NOW, DUDE.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

BUT HE WAS CLEARLY CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR WELFARE.

NOW, HERE I AM, A BLACK MAN, DEFENDING THE SLAVE OWNER, RIGHT, I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU HE WASN'T AS BAD AS SOME OF THESE GUYS.

Densmore: BY TRYING TO KEEP THEM UNTIL THEY'RE IN THEIR 30s, HE'S VERY FAR BEHIND THE SENTIMENT OF FRIENDS.

BUT BY OFFERING TO FREE HIS SLAVES AT ALL, ATKINSON IS FAR IN ADVANCE OF THE GREAT BULK OF AMERICAN SOCIETY.

HE'S DONE MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE HAVE DONE.

GEORGE WASHINGTON WILL EVENTUALLY FREE HIS SLAVES BY HIS WILL WHEN HE'S DEAD.

ABOUT OUR FOUNDING FATHERS'F ATTITUDES TOWARD SLAVERY.

IT'S DIFFICULT FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND HOW THOSE WHO BELIEVED SO STRONGLY IN PERSONAL FREEDOM AND LIBERTY FOR THEMSELVES COULD STILL DENY IT SO STEADFASTLY FROM THEIR SLAVES.

WHEN I WAS A BOY GROWING UP IN WEST VIRGINIA, I WAS NEVER TAUGHT THAT ANY OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS ACTUALLY OWNED SLAVES.

IN FACT, AS ONE OF ONLY A FEW BLACK KIDS IN CLASS, I ONCE WAS TOLD THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE, WERE IT NOT FOR THESE NOBLE WHITE MEN.

I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE ISSUE OF NORTHERN SLAVERY WAS BEING TAUGHT IN OUR HIGH SCHOOLS TODAY.

Woman: ALL RIGHT, CLASS, TODAY WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL GUEST.

THIS IS HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. Gates: SO I VISITED A HISTORY CLASS AT THE CAMBRIDGE RINDGE AND LATIN HIGH SCHOOL TO SEE WHAT I'D FIND.

THOMAS JEFFERSON OWNED SLAVES.

GEORGE WASHINGTON OWNED SLAVES.

THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.

SHOULD WE FEEL DIFFERENTLY ABOUT THEM, KNOWING THAT THEY OWNED SLAVES?

Young man: WITHIN AMERICA, I WOULD SAY WE'RE VERY HYPOCRITICAL.

THEY TELL US, LIKE, THE STORIES OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS BEING, LIKE, GREAT LEADERS AND DOING ALL THESE POSITIVE THINGS, LIKE BEING AGAINST SLAVERY, BUT, LIKE, TO NOW BE HIT WITH THIS, IT'S LIKE DEFINITELY A SHOCKER.

WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS.

THEY'VE BEEN POUNDED INTO OUR HEADS AS, LIKE, THESE GREAT PEOPLE.

YEAH, THEY SHOULD BE GIVEN A LOT OF CREDIT FOR STUFF, BUT, LIKE, AT THE SAME TIME, THEY WERE PART OF THE PROBLEM.

Young woman: GROWING UP IN HAITI, THEY TEACH YOU A LOT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BUT I NEVER LEARNED ABOUT HOW THE FOUNDING FATHERS HAD SLAVERY, AND NOW WHEN I LEARNED ABOUT IT, IT MAKES ME LOOK AT AMERICA DIFFERENTLY.

IT'S HYPOCRITICAL.

Gates: LOOK AT MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

AND THEN LOOK AT OUR OWN BELOVED CAMBRIDGE.

I GAVE THE STUDENTS A COPY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SLAVE CENSUS FROM THE YEAR 1754.

IT LISTS THE NUMBER OF SLAVES IN EACH TOWN IN EVERY COUNTY IN THE COMMONWEALTH, EVEN HERE IN CAMBRIDGE.

I MEAN, WE ALL KNEW SLAVERY EXISTED IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND MISSISSIPPI AND VIRGINIA AND ALABAMA.

DID IT SURPRISE YOU ALL WHEN YOU FOUND OUT THAT SLAVERY EXISTED HERE IN NEW ENGLAND?

I ACTUALLY JUST MOVED HERE TO MASSACHUSETTS.

I USED TO LIVE IN FLORIDA.

AND JUST LIVING IN THE SOUTH, YOU ALWAYS THINK EVERY SLAVE WANTED TO COME HERE TO BE FREE, TO HAVE RIGHTS.

Gates: I WAS DISAPPOINTED TO LEARN THAT MUCH OF THIS COMPLEX HISTORY REMAINS UNTOLD IN OUR CLASSROOMS.

WE ALWAYS LEARN, "OH, IT'S THEM, IT'S JUST THE SOUTH.

THAT'S WHERE THE SLAVERY HAPPENED."

Gates: BUT I WAS IMPRESSED WITH THESE STUDENTS' ABILITY TO THINK CRITICALLY AND SENSITIVELY ABOUT THESE VERY COMPLICATED MATTERS.

NOBODY IN HISTORY IS PERFECT, AND THAT'S NOT A JUSTIFICATION FOR THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER.

SO, YES, THOMAS JEFFERSON OWNED 30 SLAVES, BUT HE ALSO LAID THE GROUNDWORK OF DEMOCRACY, WHICH, IN TODAY'S SOCIETY, AFFECTS 300 MILLION PEOPLE DAILY.

WOULD YOU HAVE OWNED SLAVES IF YOU HAD BEEN WEALTHY?

SITTING AROUND BOSTON, 1773, YOU'RE A RICH PERSON.

AND WHITE?

YEAH, WHITE, BLACK.

SOME BLACK PEOPLE OWNED SLAVES, TOO.

Young woman: SINCE BLACK PEOPLE WERE THOUGHT OF AS PROPERTY, I WOULD WANT TO OWN SOME PROPERTY, TOO, IF IT'S GOING TO PROFIT ME GAIN -- EVEN THOUGH IT'S WRONG, BUT AT THE TIME, IN THE MIND-SET, WHO WOULD YOU BE TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO WITH MY PROPERTY OR HOW TO TREAT MY PROPERTY?

THAT WAS THEIR MIND-SET AT THE TIME.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE.

HOPE YOU HAD FUN.

I LEARNED A LOT FROM THESE STUDENTS TODAY.

I DON'T THINK MY GENERATION WOULD HAVE HAD SUCH A THOUGHTFUL DISCUSSION.

MY TIME WITH THESE STUDENTS MADE ME THINK ABOUT ONE OF OUR GREATEST PRESIDENTS, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, AND THE DIFFICULT JOURNEY HE TOOK BEFORE HE DECIDED TO ACT AGAINST SLAVERY.

A WHITE MAN, BORN IN A SLAVE STATE, WHO HELD MANY OF THE SAME RACIST VIEWS AS SOUTHERNERS OF THE TIME, BUT A MAN WHOSE ATTITUDES EVOLVED, GIVING LIFE TO ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL DOCUMENTS IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY, THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

I WAS ASTONISHED TO LEARN THAT ALMOST A CENTURY EARLIER, THEODORE SEDGWICK HAD EMBARKED ON A SIMILAR JOURNEY.

IT WAS A JOURNEY THAT BEGAN ONE DAY IN 1781 WHEN A BLACK WOMAN, KNOWN ONLY AS "MUMBET," WALKED INTO HIS LAW OFFICE IN SHEFFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

I'VE LONG KNOWN THE NAME MUMBET.

HERS IS A SEMINAL STORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY -- A FEMALE SLAVE WHO DEMANDED HER OWN FREEDOM AND HASTENED THE END OF SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS.

BUT I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA THAT AN ANCESTOR OF KYRA SEDGWICK HAD PLAYED ANY PART IN THIS FASCINATING STORY.

KYRA'S FATHER, HARRY, TOLD ME THAT MUMBET WAS VERY MUCH A PART OF THEIR FAMILY HISTORY.

HER PORTRAIT EVEN HANGS IN THE FOYER OF THE OLD STOCKBRIDGE MANSION.

Harry: THERE IS MUMBET.

MM!

IN ALL HER GLORY.

IT'S AMAZING HOW THE IMAGE OF A BLACK PERSON -- A LIKENESS... Harry: SHE WAS A VERY STRONG WOMAN, AT LEAST, FROM EVERYTHING I CAN DETERMINE.

IN TERMS OF HISTORY, SHE WAS A LOT MORE INTERESTING THAN ANY OF THE SEDGWICK FAMILY -- WHICH IS FINE WITH US.

Gates: THE STORY OF MUMBET COMES DOWN TO US FROM THEODORE'S DAUGHTER CATHERINE, WHO WROTE ABOUT HER IN 1853.

CATHERINE DESCRIBES THE NIGHT THAT MUMBET'S MASTER'S WIFE THREATENED TO BEAT ANOTHER SLAVE, A GIRL NAMED LIZZY, WHO MANY BELIEVE WAS MUMBET'S DAUGHTER.

Kyra: "SHE SEIZED A LARGE IRON SHOVEL, "RED HOT FROM CLEANING THE OVEN, "AND RAISED IT OVER THE TERRIFIED GIRL.

"BET INTERPOSED HER BRAWNY ARM AND TOOK THE BLOW.

"IT CUT QUITE ACROSS THE ARM TO THE BONE.

"'BUT,' SHE WOULD SAY AFTERWARDS IN CONCLUDING THE STORY "OF THE FRIGHTFUL SCAR SHE CARRIED TO HER GRAVE, 'MADAM NEVER AGAIN LAID HER HAND ON LIZZY.'"

Gates: CATHERINE ALSO TELLS THE STORY OF THE DAY MUMBET HEARD A READING OF THE NEW DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AT THE SHEFFIELD TOWN HALL.

Kyra: "IT WAS SOON AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR "THAT SHE, BET, "CHANCED AT THE VILLAGE MEETING HOUSE IN SHEFFIELD "TO HEAR THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE READ.

"SHE WENT THE NEXT DAY TO THE OFFICE OF MR. THEODORE SEDGWICK, "THEN IN THE BEGINNING OF HIS HONORABLE POLITICAL CAREER.

"'SIRE,' SAID SHE, 'I HEARD THAT PAPER READ YESTERDAY.

"'THAT SAYS ALL MEN ARE BORN EQUAL "'AND THAT EVERY MAN HAS A RIGHT TO FREEDOM.

"'I AM NOT A DUMB CRITTER.

WON'T THE LAW GIVE ME MY FREEDOM?'"

RIGHT ON!

SO IT WAS HER IDEA -- IT WAS HER IDEA.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, YEAH, RIGHT, EXAYEAH!

NOW, YOU TALK ABOUT CHUTZPAH.

THAT'S CHUTZPAH.

AND PLUS, I LIKE THE FACT THAT SHE, EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS, "ALL MEN," IT DOESN'T SAY WOMEN TOO, THAT SHE STILL INCLUDED HERSELF IN THAT.

AND SHE SAID, "I'M NOT A DUMB CRITTER."

THAT'S RIGHT, NOT A DUMB CRITTER, LOVE THAT.

Gates: DESPITE HIS CLOSE FRIENDSHIP WITH MUMBET'S OWNER, JOHN ASHLEY, THEODORE DECIDED TO TAKE HER CASE.

John: HE WAS IMPRESSED, I THINK, WITH HER ARGUMENT.

HE HAD TO HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED BY HER PERSONALITY.

AND THAT TRIAL WAS, IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD, THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY.

Gates: MANY SLAVES IN MASSACHUSETTS HAD PETITIONED FOR THEIR FREEDOM AND LOST.

BUT THEODORE DECIDED TO TRY A NOVEL APPROACH, PUTTING FORTH AN ARGUMENT THAT CHALLENGED THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY ITSELF.

WHAT'S REMARKABLE ABOUT THE ARGUMENT THAT YOUR FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER MADE IS THAT HE DIDN'T LOOK FOR A LOOPHOLE OR SOME SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE THAT WOULD OBLIGE ASHLEY TO SET HER FREE.

RATHER, HE ACTED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT, SINCE ALL MEN WERE BORN FREE AND EQUAL, AS STATED IN THE STATE'S BRAND-NEW CONSTITUTION, THEN NOBODY IN MASSACHUSETTS COULD BE HELD IN SLAVERY.

NOBODY.

WOW.

THERE WERE VERY FEW PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES WHO WERE MAKING THAT ARGUMENT AT THAT TIME.

IT WAS A RADICAL POSITION, A REALLY RADICAL POSITION.

THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THE SLAVES SHOULD BE FREED, YES, EVENTUALLY.

THEY WERE CALLED "GRADUAL EMANCIPATIONISTS."

RIGHT.

BUT HE WENT FOR THE JUGULAR.

AND HE SAID, "IF THE FIRST IS TRUE, THEN IT HAS TO BE TRUE FOR THESE BLACK PEOPLE."

RIGHT.

THAT'S A PRETTY HEAVY THING.

THAT IS.

AND HE WON.

AMAZING.

Gates: ON AUGUST 21, 1781, AFTER WEIGHING THEODORE'S PERSUASIVE ARGUMENTS, A JURY OF 12 LOCAL FARMERS -- ALL WHITE, ALL MALE -- GRANTED MUMBET HER FREEDOM.

THE FIRST THING MUMBET DID WAS TO CHANGE HER NAME.

NOW A FREE WOMAN, SHE BECAME ELIZABETH FREEMAN AND CAME TO WORK AS A PAID SERVANT FOR THEODORE IN THE OLD HOUSE IN STOCKBRIDGE, HELPING TO RAISE HIS SEVEN CHILDREN.

SHE HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE IN THEIR FAMILY HISTORY, AND TODAY SHE REMAINS THE ONLY NON-SEDGWICK BURIED IN THE FAMILY CEMETERY.

AND HERE IS MUMBET.

"ELIZABETH FREEMAN, KNOWN BY THE NAME OF MUMBET, "DIED DECEMBER 28, 1829.

"HER SUPPOSED AGE WAS 85 YEARS.

"SHE WAS BORN A SLAVE AND REMAINED A SLAVE "FOR NEARLY THIRTY YEARS.

"SHE COULD NEITHER READ NOR WRITE, "YET IN HER OWN SPHERE SHE HAD NO SUPERIOR NOR EQUAL.

"SHE NEITHER WASTED TIME NOR PROPERTY.

"SHE NEVER VIOLATED A TRUST, NOR FAILED TO PERFORM A DUTY.

GOOD MOTHER, FAREWELL."

"GOOD MOTHER, FAREWELL."

THAT'S THE LINE THAT KILLS ME.

IT'S WONDERFUL.

YEAH.

Gates: FOR HARRY, KYRA, AND THE ENTIRE SEDGWICK CLAN, THE STORY OF MUMBET HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SYMBOL OF THEIR FAMILY'S DECENCY AND LIBERAL SENSIBILITIES.

BUT NOW, HAVING LEARNED THAT THEODORE, THEIR PATRIARCH, ONCE OWNED A SLAVE HIMSELF, MUMBET'S LEGACY IS ALSO POWERFULLY REDEMPTIVE.

THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY WOULD BEDEVIL THE COUNTRY FOR MUCH OF THE NEXT CENTURY AS WE BATTLED BETWEEN ITS OBVIOUS IMMORALITY AND ITS ENORMOUS PROFITABILITY.

IT WOULD TAKE NOTHING SHORT OF A CIVIL WAR TO DETERMINE THE FATE OF "THE PECULIAR INSTITUTION."

BY 1865, OVER 600,000 AMERICANS HAD BEEN KILLED, AND MUCH OF THE SOUTH LAY IN RUINS.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN WAS NOW TURNING HIS ATTENTION TO HEALING THE NATION'S WOUNDS WHEN HE GAVE HIS SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

Densmore: LINCOLN'S SECOND INAUGURAL, WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT SLAVERY, HE DOESN'T TALK ABOUT IT AS THIS THING THAT THOSE CONFEDERATES, OUR ENEMIES, HAVE BEEN SUPPORTING.

HE TALKS ABOUT THIS AS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE DONE.

THIS SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.

AND WITH THAT SHARED RESPONSIBILITY IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY -- IF YOU'VE ALL BROKEN SOMETHING, YOU'VE ALL GOT SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR HELP PUTTING IT BACK TOGETHER.

Gates: KEVIN BACON'S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WAS A PART OF THIS EFFORT TO HELP REBUILD THE NATION.

LYDIA ATKINSON, A QUAKER, BORN IN 1843, WAS JUST 20 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE HEEDED THE PRESIDENT'S CALL FOR SERVICE.

DEEP IN THE STACKS OF THE FRIENDS LIBRARY, DENSMORE DISCOVERED LYDIA ATKINSON'S JOURNALS.

INSIDE ARE VIVID ACCOUNTS OF HER JOURNEY FROM NEW JERSEY TO WASHINGTON, WHERE SHE WOULD START A JOB AS A TEACHER IN A SCHOOL ESTABLISHED TO EDUCATE NEWLY FREED SLAVES.

Densmore: ATKINSON IN THE 1860s IS FOLLOWING A TRADITION THAT HAS BEEN GOING FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS.

WHEN QUAKERS MANUMITTED SLAVES, THERE IS A CONCERN FOR WHAT HAPPENS TO FREED PEOPLE.

YOU KNOW, IF WE DISMANTLE SLAVERY, WHAT HAPPENS TO THAT PERSON?

ARE THEY SIMPLY GOING TO BE UNEMPLOYED AND BEG FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE AND DIE IN A DITCH?

AND SO, BY THE 1750s, QUAKERS ARE HEAVILY BECOME -- SORT OF BECOME HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATION.

Gates: YOUR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WAS A 21-YEAR-OLD QUAKER FROM NEW JERSEY, TEACHING FREED SLAVES IN A GOVERNMENT CAMP JUST AS THE CIVIL WAR ENDED.

COULD YOU TURN TO PAGE 16?

THIS IS A PAGE OF THE DIARY OF LYDIA ATKINSON.

ISN'T THAT GREAT, JUST TO BE ABLE TO SEE THAT?

YEAH.

AND WE'VE TRANSCRIBED IT.

WOULD YOU BE KIND ENOUGH TO READ THAT?

SURE.

"I HAVE OVER 40 PUPILS IN ALL, MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN.

"WE HAD A VISITOR A FEW DAYS SINCE, A SOUTHERN LADY, "AND I COULD NOT HELP FEELING "A GRATIFIED PRIDE AS I REMARKED "HER WONDERING FACE AND HEARD HER EXPRESSIONS OF SURPRISE "WHEN THE LITTLE ONES "POINTED OUT ON THE MAP EVERY STATE FROM MAINE TO TEXAS, REPEATING" -- I COULDN'T EVEN DO THAT -- "REPEATING ACCURATELY AND WITHOUT PROMPTING THE CAPITAL OF EACH."

THERE'S NO WAY I COULD DO THAT.

[ CHUCKLES ] "AND WHEN SHE SAW THE WRITHING "AND HEARD THE READING "OF THE DIFFERENT CLASSES, SHE SAID "SHE HAD THOUGHT THE TEACHING OF SUCH A SCHOOL "WOULD BE AN UNPLEASANT TASK, BUT SHE BELIEVED SHE WOULD QUITE ENJOY IT."

WOW, WHAT A THING TO CHOOSE TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE, YOU KNOW.

YEAH, I MEAN, WHAT COMMITMENT.

I MEAN, IMAGINE THE PEOPLE, UNEDUCATED -- I MEAN, THEY HAD TO LEARN EVERYTHING.

MM.

TOOK A BIG COMMITMENT.

YEAH.

YOUR FAMILY HAS COME A LONG WAY, KEVIN, FROM YOUR SIXTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SAMUEL ATKINSON, TRYING TO HOLD ON TO THOSE SLAVES.

OH, HE WAS A BAD EGG.

I NEVER LIKED THE GUY.

[ CHUCKLES ] Gates: BUT EVEN WHILE LYDIA TOILED AWAY, TEACHING THE FREED SLAVES, THE NATION STILL HAD MUCH WORK TO DO.

IN A CHILLING PASSAGE FROM HER JOURNAL, LYDIA DESCRIBES AN EVENT THAT SINGLE-HANDEDLY CHANGED THE NATURE AND PACE OF RECONSTRUCTION IN POST-CIVIL WAR AMERICA, ONE OF THE DARKEST DAYS IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY.

"APRIL 14, 1865.

"OH, GOD!

THE BLOW HAS COME.

"IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME HORRID DREAM, SOME FRIGHTFUL NIGHTMARE, "WERE BINDING ME IN CHAINS, BUT ALAS, "I KNOW THIS ANGUISH IS NOT THE FANTASY OF SLEEP.

"WERE TO HEAVEN IT WERE!

"I KNOW THAT I AM WAKING "AND OUR IDOLIZED PRESIDENT IS DEAD!

"WHY MUST THIS CALAMITY HAVE FALLEN UPON US?

"AND NOW, IN THE MIDST OF OUR REJOICINGS, "TO BE ROBBED BY THE BLOODY HAND OF AN ASSASSIN "OF OUR NATION'S DEAREST LIFE.

OH GOD!

WHERE IS THY MERCY!"

WOW.

WOW.

WHAT'S SO CRAZY ABOUT THIS IS THAT I'M SO...

FASCINATED BY THE BOOTHS.

THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN READING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, CONSTANTLY.

I'M WORKING ON A TELEVISION SHOW ABOUT IT.

THAT'S GREAT.

YOU'VE GOT TO DO IT.

IT'S JUST WEIRD.

THAT'S AMAZING.

SHE WAS WRITING ABOUT, ABOUT JOHN WILKES BOOTH.

YOU KNOW, IT'S SO PERSONAL.

YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY REMEMBERS WHERE THEY WERE WHEN KENNEDY WAS KILLED, OR 9/11, OR, YOU KNOW -- IT'S THE SAME THING.

YEAH, AND WE HAVE VERY FEW PEOPLE IN OUR FAMILY LINES THAT WE CAN SAY WERE EYEWITNESSES TO HISTORY.

AND SHE'S DEALING IN A DIARY, SHARING HER ANGUISH WITH GOD, YOU KNOW.

THIS IS A LETTER ADDRESSED TO GOD.

YEAH, IT'S INCREDIBLE.

YOU KNOW, I LIKE HISTORY, I FIND HISTORY INTERESTING, BUT I'D NEVER REALLY THINK OF IT AS MY OWN FAMILY HISTORY, YOU KNOW?

IT'S LIKE, I -- IT'S OTHER PEOPLE.

YOU KNOW, IT'S THOSE OLD PEOPLE.

SO, YOU KNOW, THERE SHE IS, RIGHT WHERE HISTORY'S HAPPENING.

THAT'S COOL.

♪ I HAVE BEEN DOWN HERE FOR SO MANY YEARS ♪ Gates: WE TRAVELED OVER DIFFICULT GROUND WITH KEVIN AND KYRA'S FAMILY STORIES, BUT IN THE PROCESS, WE'VE ADDED A NEW AND RICHER PERSPECTIVE ON THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN THE NORTH.

♪ WON'T YOU LET ME GO DOWN ♪ KYRA AND KEVIN'S FAMILY TREES ABOUND WITH STORIES ABOUT THEIR ANCESTORS, BUT WE CHOSE TO FOCUS ON JUST A HANDFUL.

BEFORE I LEFT, I WANTED TO INTRODUCE KEVIN TO A FEW MORE COUSINS HE DIDN'T KNOW THAT HE HAD.

WE DECIDED TO PLAY OUR OWN GAME OF "SIX DEGREES OF KEVIN BACON" WITH KEVIN BACON.

SO LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.

THIS IS AN ACTUAL PAPER TRAIL.

ONLY OUR GAME IS BACKED BY REAL GENEALOGICAL RECORDS.

THERE YOU ARE AT THE BOTTOM.

THEN LET'S GO ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP.

OH, THE KING OF ENGLAND!

EDWARD I, KING OF ENGLAND, IS YOUR 22nd GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

LOOK AT THAT!

YOU ARE DESCENDED FROM ROYALTY.

WOW.

LET'S SEE WHO YOU'RE RELATED TO AMONG YOUR CONTEMPORARIES.

HOW ABOUT HOLLYWOOD?

AH!

YOU AND BRAD PITT ARE 13th COUSINS, TWICE REMOVED.

HOW ABOUT POLITICIANS?

LET'S SEE WHO YOU'RE RELATED TO.

[ LAUGHS ] NO KIDDING!

YOU AND PRESIDENT OBAMA SHARE A COMMON ANCESTOR NAMED ANTHONY WOOLHOUSE.

YOU ARE 12th COUSINS, THREE TIMES REMOVED.

I KNEW I WASN'T GETTING ENOUGH RESPECT.

THOSE ARE YOUR SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION.

THAT'S GREAT, MAN.

Gates: WE HAD A COUPLE MORE DISCOVERIES TO SHARE WITH KYRA.

USING TRADITIONAL GENEALOGY, WE WERE ABLE TO TRACE HER FATHER'S LINE BACK HUNDREDS OF YEARS, CONFIRMING HER PROTESTANT ROOTS ALL THE WAY TO ENGLAND.

THERE YOU ARE...

BUT USING DNA ANALYSIS, WE WERE ABLE TO GO EVEN DEEPER INTO HER PAST ON HER MOTHER'S LINE, ESTABLISHING HER JEWISH ANCESTRY GENETICALLY.

LOOK AT THAT.

NOW, I KNOW IT TAKES A WHILE TO LOOK AT.

HERE'S A GRAPH OF YOUR 23 CHROMOSOMES, AND WHAT IT SAYS IS THAT 50% OF ALL YOUR GENETIC MATERIAL THAT THEY EXAMINED TRACES BACK TO ASHKENAZI JEWS.

SEE?

THANK YOU, I WANT TO BE HALF JEWISH.

THERE YOU GO.

YES.

I'M PROUD OF MY JEWISH HERITAGE.

I KNOW I HAD YOU GOING THERE.

YOU WERE ON THE ROPES.

YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, EXACTLY.

YOU LIKED BEING A WASP THERE FOR, LIKE, FIVE MINUTES.

NOW YOU'RE JEW AGAIN.

THANK GOD.

THANK GOD.

YEAH, IS THE FOOD BETTER?

YES.

YOU CAN HAVE BAGELS AGAIN.

YES.

Gates: I COULDN'T KEEP KYRA WAITING ANY LONGER.

I NEEDED TO REVEAL THE INFORMATION SHE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE WE STARTED.

SO, WE DECIDED THAT WE WOULD PLAY A LITTLE GAME THAT WE CALL "SIX DEGREES OF KYRA SEDGWICK --" [Laughs] OKAY.

TO SEE WHO WE COULD CONNECT YOU TO BY GENEALOGY.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

OKAY.

MET THAT GUY BEFORE?

[BLEEP] SEE?

I KNEW IT!

I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT!

I KNEW IT!

OH, MY GOD, LOOK AT HOW HIGH THOSE PANTS ARE.

THAT IS YOUR NINTH COUSIN ONCE REMOVED, AND HIS NAME IS KEVIN BACON.

LET'S SEE.

OY GEVALT.

I KNEW IT.

I'M TELLING YOU, I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

OY , I'M HAVING A HOT FLASH.

[ LAUGHS ] Gates: I ASKED KYRA NOT TO TELL KEVIN, WHOM I'D BE INTERVIEWING TWO WEEKS LATER.

BUT THIS WAS ONE FAMILY SECRET TOO GOOD TO KEEP.

AH, SEE, KNEW THIS.

SHE TOLD ME.

SHE CHEATED!

WELL, SHE CHEATED, YEAH.

SHE WAS SO EXCITED.

THIS IS WHY WE'RE STILL MARRIED, BECAUSE YOU CAN NEVER TELL HER TO NOT TELL ME SOMETHING.

IT JUST WON'T WORK -- BUT I WILL SAY THAT I ASKED HER -- SHE WASN'T GOING TO SAY ANYTHING UNTIL I ASKED, AND SHE WAS LIKE...

I SAID, "SO, ARE WE COUSINS?"

SHE WAS LIKE... [ LAUGHS ] I SAID, "ALL RIGHT, SPILL THE BEANS."

[ BOTH LAUGHING ] KYRA AND KEVIN'S JOURNEY INTO THE PAST HAS BEEN QUITE AN ADVENTURE.

JOIN US NEXT TIME AS WE INTRODUCE TWO NEW GUESTS TO LONG-LOST ANCESTORS ON THEIR FAMILY TREES IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS."