I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

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

IN THIS PROGRAM, OUR GUESTS INCLUDE THE ACTOR SAMUEL L. JACKSON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZA RICE, AND THE PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY, RUTH SIMMONS.

Simmons: THERE IS A CERTAIN LONGING TO KNOW WHERE YOU CAME FROM BECAUSE I'VE LIVED ALL MY LIFE WITHOUT IT.

Gates: RUTH, CONDOLEEZA, AND SAM'S QUESTS FOR THEIR LOST ROOTS ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR.

IN AMERICA, WE HAVE TROUBLE TALKING ABOUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED DURING SLAVERY.

Gates: ALL THREE HAVE LONG HEARD RUMORS THAT AT LEAST ONE WHITE MAN, A SLAVE OWNER, FATHERED ONE OF THEIR ENSLAVED ANCESTORS.

WHEN I LOOK AT MY SKIN TONES, I KNOW THAT THERE ARE WHITE PEOPLE IN MY FAMILY SOMEWHERE.

THE STORY IN THE FAMILY WAS THAT MY GRANDMOTHER WAS IN TOUCH WITH HER WHITE RELATIVES IN GRAPELAND.

OF COURSE, THIS WAS WHISPERED ABOUT.

Gates: BUT THEY NEVER HAD ANY WAY TO ESTABLISH THE TRUTH ABOUT THESE SUSPICIONS UNTIL NOW.

YOU ARE LOOKING AT YOUR THIRD GREAT GRANDFATHER.

WOW.

GET OUT OF HERE.

RUTH, MEET YOUR COUSIN.

I DON'T SEE THE RESEMBLANCE, BUT IT MUST BE THERE.

Gates: WE POURED THROUGH RECORDS FROM THE SLAVE ERA.

JULIA, FOUR YEARS OLD, $450.

MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WAS WORTH $450.

Gates: AND WHEN THE PAPER TRAIL RAN OUT, WE TURNED TO DNA ANALYSIS TO LOOK FOR GENETIC LINKS THAT MIGHT CONNECT THESE RUMORED WHITE ANCESTORS TO EACH OF OUR AFRICAN-AMERICAN GUESTS.

THEN WE SEARCHED FOR CLUES ABOUT THEIR SLAVE ANCESTORS' ORIGINS BACK IN AFRICA.

THAT MEANS YOUR KUNTA KINTE ANCESTOR CAME FROM RIGHT THERE.

WOW.

I'LL BE GOING HOME.

COULD YOU READ WHAT IT SAYS?

I'M STUNNED.

IT SAYS 51% AFRICAN, 40% EUROPEAN, AND 9% ASIAN.

Gates: WE COMPILED OUR DISCOVERIES INTO A BOOK OF LIFE FOR EACH GUEST.

WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN YOUR PAGE?

I'M ALMOST AFRAID TO.

[ LAUGHS ] Gates: A RECORD OF ALL THAT WE HAD LEARNED.

YOU EVER IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE A REVOLUTIONARY WAR ANCESTOR?

WELL, I WAS ASKING YOU WHEN I CAME IN HERE, DID I GET OFF THE NINA, THE PINTA, OR THE SANTA MARIA.

GETTING CLOSE.

GETTING CLOSE.

GETTING CLOSE.

GETTING CLOSE.

SLAVERY STRIPPED SAM, CONDEE, AND RUTH OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR DEEP FAMILY ROOTS, AND TONIGHT, WE'RE GOING TO PIECE THAT KNOWLEDGE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN USING CLUES HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT -- CLUES WRITTEN IN THEIR DNA.

I HAVE MUCH IN COMMON WITH SAM, CONDOLEEZA, AND RUTH.

EACH OF US WAS BORN INTO THE SEGREGATED WORLD OF JIM CROW, NOT FAR FROM THE LAND WHERE OUR ANCESTORS WERE ONCE ENSLAVED.

THIS IS MY HOME -- PIEDMONT, WEST VIRGINIA -- AND THESE ARE MY PEOPLE -- MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

OUT OF PIEDMONT'S 2,000 RESIDENTS IN 1950, ABOUT 300 WERE BLACK, AND WE ALL LIVED IN THREE SEGREGATED NEIGHBORHOODS.

THE COLOR OF OUR SKIN SET STRICT LIMITS ON WHERE WE COULD LIVE AND GO TO SCHOOL, WHERE WE COULD WORK AND WITH WHOM WE COULD SOCIALIZE.

BUT IT ALSO BONDED US TOGETHER CULTURALLY IN INNUMERABLE WAYS.

WE CREATED COMPLEX AND NURTURING COMMUNITIES THAT HELPED US TO SURVIVE THE STIFLING INEQUITIES OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.

SEGREGATION COULD IMPOSE MANY LIMITS, BUT IT COULDN'T COMPLETELY CRUSH ALL OF OUR DREAMS.

I READ IT AND CALLED HIM AND SAID, OKAY, YOU CAN TRY TO GET ME TO COME BACK TOMORROW WHEN YOU GIVE ME THE TEXT.

Gates: SAMUEL L. JACKSON GREW UP UNDER JIM CROW JUST LIKE I DID, AND HE'S RISEN TO THE PINNACLE OF HIS PROFESSION.

HE'S THAT RARE ACTOR WHO GARNERS BIG BOX OFFICE NUMBERS AN D CRITICAL RESPECT, ESPECIALLY FOR HIS COMPLEX CHARACTER STUDIES IN FILMS SUCH AS "JUNGLE FEVER" AND "PULP FICTION."

IT'S NOT A BAD THING TO SAY, OKAY, THIS IS WHAT HE DID, THIS IS WHAT HE DIDN'T DO.

Gates: I CAUGHT UP WITH SAM BACKSTAGE AT HIS FIRST BROADWAY SHOW, "THE MOUNTAINTOP," IN WHICH HE PLAYS THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

I WOULD FIND IT INTIMIDATING MYSELF TO PLAY KING.

REALLY?

YEAH, JUST 'CAUSE HE'S SUCH A LARGER-THAN-LIFE... THAT ONE, THAT KING, YEAH, YOU WOULD FIND DIFFICULT TO PLAY HIM, BUT, YOU KNOW, HE'D COME INTO A MOTEL ROOM, HE'D CLOSE THE DOOR, HE SLUMPS HIS SHOULDERS, HE TAKES HIS COAT OFF.

WHOLE 'NOTHER CAT.

Gates: SAM'S CONNECTION TO DR. KING IS MORE THAN ARTISTIC.

IN 1968, AS A FRESHMAN AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, KING'S ALMA MATER, IN ATLANTA, SAM WAS GIVEN THE HONOR OF SERVING AS AN USHER AT DR. KING'S FUNERAL.

RADICALIZED BY THE ASSASSINATION, SAM JOINED THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT.

HE STILL CARRIES SOME OF THAT RIGHTEOUS ANGER INTO HIS MOST ELECTRIFYING WORK ONSCREEN.

DID YOU THINK YOU'D GROW UP TO BE AN ACTOR?

NO, THAT WASN'T AN OPTION.

[ LAUGHS ] BUT THE ONE THING THAT I HAD DECIDED BY THIS AGE WAS THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO SPEND MY LIFE IN CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.

THE WORLD HELD A LOT OF INTEREST AND MYSTERY FOR ME AND I WAS GOING TO GET OUT THERE AND GET SOME OF THAT.

Gates: SAM LEFT CHATTANOOGA TO ATTEND MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, BUT HIS 18 YEARS GROWING UP THERE FUNDAMENTALLY SHAPED THE PERSON HE'S BECOME TODAY.

WHAT WAS CHATTANOOGA LIKE IN THE '50s?

QUIET SOUTHERN TOWN.

EXTREMELY SEGREGATED, YOU KNOW.

THERE WERE STILL "WHITE ONLY" SIGNS AND WHEN THE COUNTY FAIR CAME TO TOWN EVERY YEAR, THERE WAS ONE DAY THAT WAS THE BLACK DAY THAT WE COULD GO TO THE FAIR, AND THAT WAS ON FRIDAY.

WAS THERE A MOMENT WHEN RACISM FIRST HIT YOU UPSIDE YOUR HEAD IN CHATTANOOGA WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP?

NO, IT WAS ALWAYS THERE.

Gates: THE COLOR LINE WAS CLEARLY DRAWN, EVEN IN SAM'S NEIGHBORHOOD IN DOWNTOWN CHATTANOOGA, WHICH WAS A PATCHWORK OF BLACK FAMILIES AND A FEW POOR WHITE ONES.

THERE WAS A LITTLE BITTY KID ACROSS THE STREET, AND WHEN HE SAW ME AND MY GRANDMOTHER, HE WOULD SAY, "HEY, NIGGER LADY," YOU KNOW, "HI, NIGGER BOY," AND I'D BE READY TO HIT HIM.

MY GRANDMOTHER WAS LIKE, "LEAVE HIM ALONE."

YEAH.

AND, YOU KNOW, SOME WHITE KIDS DROVE BY ON THE BUS AND THEY THREW ROCKS OUT THE WINDOW OR THREW LIGHT BULBS AT US ON THEIR WAY TO SCHOOL.

SO I HAD A VERY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT OUR PLACE WAS.

Gates: FAMILY WAS THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST THE STING OF SEGREGATION.

FOR SAM, THAT MEANT HIS MOTHER AND GRANDPARENTS.

HIS FATHER HAD ABANDONED HIS FAMILY BEFORE SAM COULD WALK.

Jackson: I DIDN'T HAVE A SENSE OF NOT HAVING A FATHER BECAUSE I HAD MY GRANDFATHER THERE IN THE HOUSE, WHO WAS MY BEST FRIEND, AND HE'D TELL ME STORIES OR WE'D LISTEN TO THE RADIO.

WE'D LISTEN TO RADIO DRAMAS.

OH, YOU WOULD?

YEAH.

HE BOUGHT ME MY FIRST KNIFE AND WE WOULD CARVE TOGETHER.

THE FACT THE I HAD A KNIFE AND HE HAD ONE WAS, LIKE, SO COOL TO ME.

Gates: TO SAM, HIS GRANDFATHER WAS LARGER THAN LIFE, BUT TO MOST OF WHITE CHATTANOOGA, HE WAS PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER NEGRO JANITOR PUSHING A BROOM.

I'D BEEN GOING TO WORK WITH HIM SINCE I WAS ONE OR TWO YEARS OLD.

HE'D HOLD MY HAND AND I'D WALK TO WORK WITH HIM.

YEAH.

AND THOSE WHITE PEOPLE MY GRANDFATHER WORKED FOR, THEY WERE ALWAYS "MISTER SO AND SO," AND HE WAS TWICE THEIR AGE AND THEY WERE STILL CALLING HIM ED.

I MEAN, THEY'D CALL, "BOY, BOY, BOY," SO MY GRANDFATHER WAS A BOY.

HE WAS 60 YEARS OLD AND HE WAS STILL A BOY.

Gates: THROWN BACK ON THEMSELVES, THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN CHATTANOOGA TURNED TO EACH OTHER FOR STRENGTH AND SUPPORT.

THE BLACK COMMUNITY WAS A VERY TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY.

I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE I WAS BEING DEPRIVED OF ANYTHING BECAUSE EVERYBODY TOOK SUCH GREAT CARE OF US.

WHEN PEOPLE START TALKING ABOUT SEGREGATION, THEY ALWAYS THINK ABOUT, "OH, IT MUST HAVE BEEN SO HARD."

NO, THAT WAS WHAT IT WAS.

Rice: IN SOME WAYS, BECAUSE IT WAS SO SEGREGATED, RACISM WAS BOTH EVERYTHING AND NOTHING AT ALL.

[ INSTRUMENTS TUNING ] Gates: LIKE SAM, CONDOLEEZA RICE ROSE FROM THE SEGREGATED SOUTH TO STRATOSPHERIC HEIGHTS.

[ PLAYING PIANO ] FOR BES MAGAZINE ONCE CALLED HER "THE MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD."

YOU THINK WE CAN MAKE EYE CONTACT WHEN WE START THAT?

Woman: YES.

OKAY, SO... JUST TO ESTABLISH THAT, "WE'RE HERE NOW AND NOW WE'RE PLAYING," RIGHT?

YEAH.

EXACTLY.

♪ Gates: SHE IS A CLASSICAL PIANIST.

SHE WAS THE PROVOST OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY, WHERE SHE STILL IS A PROFESSOR.

SHE WAS BOTH THE FIRST FEMALE AFRICAN-AMERICAN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR AND SECRETARY OF STATE.

MR. PRESIDENT, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY AND FOR YOUR CONTINUED CONFIDENCE IN ME.

Gates: CONDOLEEZA IS ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZED PUBLIC FIGURES IN AMERICA, BUT SHE'S KEENLY AWARE THAT HER LIFE IS JUST A SMALL PART OF A MUCH LARGER STORY.

WAS THAT GOOD?

I GUESS THAT PEOPLE FIND INTERESTING OR FASCINATING THE UNBELIEVABLE JOURNEY OF SOMEBODY WHO CAME FROM SLAVES AND FROM SEGREGATED BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, TO BE SECRETARY OF STATE.

BUT THAT'S NOT ME, THAT'S OUR HISTORY.

[ TRAIN HORN BLOWS ] Gates: CONDOLEEZA'S JOURNEY BEGAN BACK IN THE 1950s, IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, IN THE BLACK, MIDDLE-CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD OF TITUSVILLE.

DR. KING CALLED BIRMINGHAM "THE MOST SEGREGATED CITY IN AMERICA."

AS CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CHALLENGED THE STATUS QUO, WHITE TERRORISTS RESPONDED WITH A WAVE OF VIOLENCE THAT EARNED CONDOLEEZA'S HOME TOWN THE NICKNAME OF "BOMBINGHAM."

WERE YOU AWARE THAT THIS HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT WAS OUT THERE?

OCCASIONALLY YOU WERE AWARE OF IT.

OUR PARENTS DID EVERYTHING THEY COULD TO SHIELD US FROM IT.

AND BECAUSE YOU WENT TO SCHOOLS THAT WERE COMPLETELY SEGREGATED, YOUR CLASSMATES WERE BLACK, YOUR TEACHERS WERE BLACK, YOU DIDN'T ACTUALLY HAVE TO ENCOUNTER THE WHITE COMMUNITY THAT OFTEN.

Gates: THE MOST INFAMOUS ATTACK WAS THE BOMBING IN SEPTEMBER 1963 OF THE 16th STREET BAPTIST CHURCH, WHICH KILLED FOUR YOUNG BLACK GIRLS.

AT NEARBY WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NINE YEAR OLD CONDOLEEZA WAS GETTING READY FOR HER OWN SERVICES WHEN SHE FELT THE GROUND RUMBLE FROM THE EXPLOSION.

WE'D JUST GOTTEN TO CHURCH BECAUSE MY DAD WAS THE PREACHER, SO WE WERE THERE A LITTLE EARLY, AND I REMEMBER THE THUD AND THE FEELING OF SOMETHING SHAKING, BECAUSE WE WERE ONLY ABOUT TWO MILES AS THE CROW FLIES FROM 16th STREET BAPTIST CHURCH, AND EVERY PERSON IN BLACK BIRMINGHAM KNEW ONE OF THOSE LITTLE GIRLS.

THE COMMUNITY WASN'T THAT BIG.

THAT NIGHT I ASKED MY PARENTS IF I COULD SLEEP IN THEIR BED.

THAT WAS PRETTY SCARY.

HOW COULD YOU DEAL WITH THAT TRAUMA?

PEOPLE KEEP GOING.

CHILDREN KEEP GOING.

Gates: IN THE FACE OF THIS VIOLENCE, BLACK FAMILIES IN TITUSVILLE PULLED TOGETHER.

WE WERE A LITTLE COCOON WITHIN BIRMINGHAM, VERY LOVING AND KIND AND NURTURING PLACE, AND SO I THINK IT WAS A PLACE THAT GAVE ME A LOT OF CONFIDENCE.

HIGH STANDARDS IN TERMS OF EDUCATION.

ALL OF OUR OWN LESSONS -- PIANO, BALLET, FRENCH -- ETIQUETTE LESSONS.

SO THIS WAS THE CREME DE LA CREME BRULEE.

[ LAUGHS ] DID YOUR PARENTS TELL YOU THAT YOU COULD BE WHATEVER YOU WANTED TO BE?

ABSOLUTELY.

YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO HAVE A HAMBURGER AT THE WOOLWORTH'S LUNCH COUNTER IN SEGREGATED BIRMINGHAM, BUT YOU COULD BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

EVEN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

EVEN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

IT'S A CAMPAIGN STOP.

OH.

YEAH, FUNDRAISER.

Gates: RUTH SIMMONS DIDN'T GROW UP TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, BUT SHE DID GROW UP TO BE THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESIDENT OF AN IVY LEAGUE UNIVERSITY.

I WOULD NOT HAVE THOUGHT IT POSSIBLE FOR A PERSON OF MY BACKGROUND TO BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY.

Gates: THE YOUNGEST OF 12 CHILDREN, RUTH WAS BORN INTO EXTREME POVERTY IN 1940s GRAPELAND, TEXAS.

[ CROWD CHEERING ] NEVERTHELESS, SHE ROSE TO BECOME THE LEADER OF ONE OF OUR FINEST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

Simmons: EVERY DAY I GO TO WORK AND I FACE THE -- THE PAINTING OF THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF BROWN, A SLAVE HOLDER, AND I THINK THE POWER IN THE FACT THAT I FACE THE SLAVE HOLDER AS A DESCENDANT OF SLAVES IS JUST AS IT OUGHT TO BE, BECAUSE IN THAT MARCH OF HISTORY, ALL THESE THINGS HAPPEN.

Gates: RUTH GREW UP JUST A STEP REMOVED FROM SLAVERY IN A FAMILY OF SHARECROPPERS.

THIS WAS THE NOTORIOUS SYSTEM UNDER WHICH FARMERS PICKED COTTON AND LIVED ON SOMEONE ELSE'S LAND IN RETURN FOR A SHARE OF THE PROFITS.

BUT THEY HAD TO PAY SUCH HIGH CHARGES FOR FOOD, CLOTHING, AND RENT THAT THEY OFTEN FELL INTO A CYCLE OF DEBT FROM WHICH THEY COULD NEVER ESCAPE.

ALMOST EVERY ASPECT OF RUTH'S CHILDHOOD REVOLVED AROUND THE COTTON PLANTATION WHERE HER FAMILY WORKED AND LIVED.

AND THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES LIVING ON IT.

IT WAS THAT VAST.

VILLAGE WITHIN THE VILLAGE.

A VILLAGE WITHIN A VILLAGE.

AND IT WAS A REALLY HARDSCRABBLE LIFE, AND WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT NOW, DO YOU KNOW WHAT MY SISTERS AND BROTHERS AND I TOOK FOR LUNCH NO, WHAT?

WHEN WE TO SCHOOL?

A BUCKET WITH SYRUP, A BISCUIT, AND BACON GREASE IN IT.

EVERY DAY.

MOST OF MY OLDER SIBLINGS WHO WERE IN GRAPELAND DIDN'T FINISH SCHOOL BECAUSE THEY HAD TO WORK IN THE COTTON FIELDS.

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?

OH, MY GOODNESS.

I COULD NOT HAVE HAD ANY ASPIRATION OTHER THAN TO FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MY PARENTS.

Gates: BUT IN THE EARLY 1950s, NEW POSSIBILITIES OPENED UP FOR RUTH WHEN HER FAMILY JOINED THE MASS MIGRATION OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO WERE MOVING FROM FARM TOWNS TO INDUSTRIAL CITIES LOOKING FOR WORK.

FOR RUTH'S FAMILY, THAT MEANT HOUSTON'S ALL-BLACK FIFTH WARD, AND IT WAS HERE THAT HER LIFELONG PASSION FOR EDUCATION TOOK ROOT.

THAT MOVE TO HOUSTON CHANGED MY LIFE BECAUSE THE CITY REQUIRED US TO GO TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY, AND THAT SORT OF SAVED THINGS FOR ME.

THIS IS...

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT IT WAS THIS FAR INTO THE BUSH.

Gates: RUTH AND HER BROTHERS, CLARENCE AND WILFORD STUBBLEFIELD, WANTED TO TAKE US BACK TO GRAPELAND TO SHOW US THE FARM WHERE THEIR FAMILY HAD ONCE WORKED AS SHARECROPPERS.

OKAY.

THIS IS RUTH'S FIRST TRIP BACK SINCE HER CHILDHOOD.

IT WAS HARD LABOR FOR ADULTS, AND NATURALLY IT WAS INCREDIBLE LABOR FOR CHILDREN TO DO, AND YET AS SOON AS YOU WERE ABLE, YOU WERE TAKEN TO THE FIELD AND YOU WERE EXPECTED TO BE A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE LABOR.

WE WOULD GET UP AROUND... 5:00, 5:30, AND WE WOULD EITHER CHOP COTTON OR PICK COTTON FOR THE DURATION OF THE DAY, AND THEN WE WOULD COME BACK IN.

Simmons: YOU HAD TO HAVE AS MANY HANDS ON DECK AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE YOU HAD TO BRING IN AS MUCH OF THE CROP AS YOU COULD IN ORDER TO MAKE A SUBSISTENCE LIVING.

Gates: THIS FARM WAS A SELF-CONTAINED COLORED WORLD WHERE RUTH'S FAMILY ALMOST NEVER ENCOUNTERED WHITE PEOPLE.

BUT ON THE RARE OCCASION WHEN THEY DID GO INTO GRAPELAND, THEY WERE FORCED STRICTLY TO FOLLOW THE CODE OF THE JIM CROW SOUTH.

Simmons: FROM MY EARLIEST DAYS, I WAS AWARE THAT THERE WERE CERTAIN WAYS OF BEHAVING THAT WERE ESSENTIAL TO SURVIVING IN THAT ENVIRONMENT.

DON'T EVER TALK BACK TO A WHITE PERSON, OKAY?

IF YOU'RE ON THE SIDEWALK AND YOU MEET A WHITE PERSON, STEP OFF THE SIDEWALK AND LET THEM PASS.

SO WE HAD A LONG LIST OF THINGS THAT WE DARED NOT DO FOR FEAR OF WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO US, BECAUSE VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACKS IN THOSE DAYS WAS COMMONPLACE, SO WE WERE IN THIS VISE.

Gates: ALL THREE OF MY GUESTS GREW UP ON ONE SIDE OF A PUBLIC COLOR LINE THAT WAS OFTEN POLICED WITH VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION.

BUT THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SOUTHERN RACE RELATIONS SUGGESTS THAT THE COLOR LINE COULD BE FAR MORE DIFFICULT TO PATROL IN PRIVATE.

FOR RUTH SIMMONS, THAT STORY BEGINS WITH HER GRANDMOTHER.

YOUR FATHER'S MOTHER, FLOSSIE STUBBLEFIELD, WAS BORN IN GRAPELAND, TEXAS, IN 1883.

HER MAIDEN NAME WAS BEASLEY.

SHE WAS QUITE FAIR, WHICH IS NOT SO CLEAR ON THIS PICTURE, BUT SHE WAS FAIR, AND THE STORY IN THE FAMILY WAS THAT MY GRANDMOTHER WAS IN TOUCH WITH HER WHITE RELATIVES IN GRAPELAND.

OF COURSE, THIS WAS WHISPERED ABOUT.

THESE WERE THE WHITE BEASLEYS.

YES.

Gates: RUTH WAS TOO YOUNG TO REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT HER GRANDMOTHER FLOSSIE, BUT HER OLDER BROTHERS TOLD US SOMETHING QUITE INTRIGUING.

AT THE HEIGHT OF JIM CROW, THIS WHITE FAMILY, WHO SHARED THEIR GRANDMOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME, BEASLEY, WOULD VISIT FLOSSIE AT THE FARM.

WE WANTED TO FIND OUT WHY.

THEY WOULD COME DOWN AND HAVE DINNER WITH US.

WE ALWAYS -- WE ALWAYS TOOK FOR GRANTED THERE WAS SOME CROSSING OF THE LINES IN OUR FAMILY BECAUSE OF THE COLORS OF OUR SKIN.

SOME OF US ARE PRETTY MUCH FAIR-SKINNED PEOPLE, AND WE KNOW SOMETHING HAD TO HAPPEN.

Gates: LIKE SO MANY AFRICAN-AMERICANS OF OUR GENERATION, RUTH, SAM, CONDOLEEZA, AND I ALL GREW UP HEARING TALES ABOUT A SUPPOSED WHITE MALE ANCESTOR HIDDEN SOMEWHERE ON A BRANCH OF OUR FAMILY TREES DEEP IN SLAVERY TIMES.

IN MY OWN FAMILY, WE WERE ALWAYS TOLD WITH GRAVE CERTAINTY THAT MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER ON MY FATHER'S SIDE, A WOMAN NAMED JANE GATES, BORE CHILDREN WITH A WHITE MAN NAMED SAMUEL BRADY.

THE HISTORY OF SEXUAL RELATIONS BETWEEN MASTER AND SLAVE IS WRITTEN ON OUR FACES AND IN OUR FEATURES, BUT FEW AFRICAN-AMERICANS HAVE EVER BEEN ABLE TO ESTABLISH THE FACTS BEHIND THESE STORIES.

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS, SUSAN O'DONOVAN STUDIES POWER DYNAMICS UNDER THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.

O'Donovan: IT WAS A VERY COERCIVE WORLD IN WHICH POWER WAS INCREDIBLY INEQUITABLE, IN WHICH WHITE MEN, WHETHER THEY WERE OVERSEERS, STRANGERS ON THE ROAD, MASTERS, MASTERS' BROTHERS, YOU KNOW, WHOEVER, HAD ENORMOUS POWER OVER ENSLAVED WOMEN, AND SO THERE'S ENDLESS OPPORTUNITY FOR COERCED SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS.

Gates: SAMUEL JACKSON TOLD ME THAT HE HAD LONG HEARD RUMORS OF A WHITE ANCESTOR ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE.

HE KNOWS THAT THESE MIXED-RACE ROOTS ARE A COMMON LEGACY OF SLAVERY.

IT'S JUST PART AND PARCEL OF WHAT YOU EXPECT IF YOU'RE IN THE SOUTH AND YOU'RE PART OF A SOUTHERN HERITAGE, AND I LOOK AT MY SKIN TONES, I KNOW THAT THERE ARE WHITE PEOPLE IN MY FAMILY SOMEWHERE.

OBVIOUSLY.

I DON'T HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THAT.

I KNOW THAT.

SOMEWHERE IN THAT WOOD PILE... Gates: OUR SEARCH FOR CLUES LED US TO NORTHERN GEORGIA, WHERE SAM'S FAMILY ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE HAS LIVED SINCE THE 1800s.

SAM'S FIRST COUSINS, EMMA AND HILDA FINLEY, TOOK US TO THE MOUNT ZION CEMETERY.

THEY SHOWED US THE GRAVES OF SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF SAM'S MATERNAL ANCESTORS, INCLUDING THE FAMILY'S MATRIARCH.

THIS IS GRANDMA LILLIE.

SHE USED TO BE LILLIE BRANHAM.

LILLIE WAS SAM'S GREAT GRANDMOTHER.

THERE'S A SPOT UP HERE WHERE... Gates: ACCORDING TO ARTHUR FINLEY, ONE OF SAM'S OTHER COUSINS, LILLIE BRANHAM HAD FAIR SKIN AND WAS THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF A WHITE MAN.

I JUST HEARD THAT HER GRANDFATHER WAS A JUDGE BRANHAM, WHO WAS WHITE.

I KNEW HE HAD TO BE WHITE IF HE WAS A JUDGE.

Gates: WE FOUND OUT THAT LILLIE'S GRANDMOTHER, SAM'S GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER, WAS AN ENSLAVED WOMAN NAMED MATILDA.

IF THE FAMILY STORY IS TRUE, THEN MATILDA HAD A CHILD WITH THIS MYSTERIOUS JUDGE BRANHAM.

WE HEADED TO PUTNAM COUNTY, GEORGIA, WHERE MATILDA HAD BEEN ENSLAVED, TO SEE IF WE COULD CONFIRM THIS STORY.

IN THE ESTATE PAPERS OF LOCAL LANDOWNERS, PUTNAM COUNTY HISTORIAN JIM MARSHALL DISCOVERED A CRUCIAL RECORD -- THE WILL OF A WHITE MAN NAMED HENRY BRANHAM.

IT LISTED ALL OF HIS SLAVES BY NAME, INCLUDING THE ONE WE WERE LOOKING FOR.

Jackson: "A NEGRO WOMAN MATILDA AND HER TWO CHILDREN."

SAM, THE BRANHAM FAMILY WERE THE WHITE PEOPLE WHO OWNED YOUR ANCESTORS ON THIS BRANCH OF YOUR FAMILY TREE.

WOW.

Gates: HENRY BRANHAM, WHO OWNED SAM'S GREAT GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER MATILDA WAS A WEALTHY PLANTER, THE SCION OF A PROMINENT LOCAL FAMILY, AND HE WAS A LEGISLATOR, BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT HE WAS NOT A JUDGE.

WITH A LITTLE MORE RESEARCH, WE DISCOVERED THAT HENRY BRANHAM HAD A NEPHEW NAMED JOEL BRANHAM -- JUDGE JOEL BRANHAM.

COULD THIS HAVE BEEN THE ELUSIVE JUDGE BRANHAM WHO WAS RUMORED TO HAVE FATHERED MATILDA'S CHILD?

THE TOWN'S GEOGRAPHY ITSELF HELD CLUES.

WE FOUND THAT THE SHORTEST ROUTE FROM JOEL BRANHAM'S HOME TO HIS WORK LED HIM RIGHT PAST A FAMILIAR ADDRESS.

Marshall: JUDGE BRANHAM LIVED HERE AND WOULD WALK DOWNTOWN, PASSING HIS UNCLE'S HOME WHERE MATILDA THE SLAVE WOMAN LIVED, AND IT WAS EVIDENTLY IN PASSING AT SOME POINT THAT THE REST OF THE STORY DEVELOPS.

Gates: THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE CONFIRMING SAM'S FAMILY STORY WAS BEGINNING TO MOUNT WHEN WE DISCOVERED ANOTHER INTRIGUING PIECE OF EVIDENCE.

JIM MARSHALL FOUND THAT A FEW MONTHS AFTER HENRY SIGNED HIS WILL, HE AMENDED ONE PART OF IT.

Marshall: HE SAYS, "SENT BY SON, WILLIAM C. BRANHAM, A NEGRO WOMAN, MATILDA, AND HER TWO CHILDREN."

Gates: HENRY SENT MATILDA AND HER YOUNG SONS AWAY FROM HIS ESTATE TO BE SLAVES ON A RELATIVE'S FARM IN THE COUNTRY.

COULD THIS HAVE BEEN AN ATTEMPT TO PROTECT HIS NEPHEW'S SECRET?

Marshall: IT WOULD BE EMBARRASSING, POSSIBLY, TO HAVE A MULATTO CHILD SUDDENLY ARRIVE AND BE PART OF THE HOMESTEAD, WHEREAS OUT IN THE COUNTY, WHERE THERE WERE PLANTATIONS THAT HAD HUNDREDS OF SLAVES AND THERE WERE PROBABLY MANY MULATTO CHILDREN, IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AS NOTICEABLE.

Gates: THIS TRAIL OF CLUES FINALLY HAD BROUGHT US FACE TO FACE WITH THE MAN WHO WAS MOST LIKELY SAM'S WHITE ANCESTOR.

[ LAUGHS ] THERE HE IS, JUDGE JOEL BRANHAM.

REALLY.

WOW.

YOUR FAMILY'S ORAL HISTORY, AND IN ALL PROBABILITY, YOU ARE LOOKING AT YOUR THIRD GREAT GRANDFATHER.

WOW.

Gates: AND IF JOEL BRANHAM IS SAM'S ANCESTOR, A FORMER BLACK POWER MILITANT FROM CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, HAS FAR DEEPER ROOTS IN THE WHITE ESTABLISHMENT THAN HE PROBABLY EVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED.

IF INDEED JUDGE BRANHAM IS YOUR THIRD GREAT GRANDFATHER, YOU COULD BE DESCENDED FROM A REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIER, THE GRANDFATHER OF JOEL BRANHAM.

OKAY.

SO, SAM, IF FAMILY STORIES ARE TRUE, IT MEANS THAT YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE A MEMBER OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

[ LAUGHS ] GET OUT OF HERE.

YOU EVER IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE A REVOLUTIONARY WAR ANCESTOR?

WELL, I WAS ASKING YOU WHEN I CAME IN HERE, DID I GET OFF THE NINA, THE PINTA, OR THE SANTA MARIA.

GETTING CLOSE.

GETTING CLOSE.

GETTING CLOSE.

GETTING CLOSE.

Gates: PAINSTAKING ARCHIVAL RESEARCH CAN HELP US BEGIN TO SOLVE FAMILY MYSTERIES, BUT IT CAN ONLY GO SO FAR.

IN MY OWN CASE, THE PAPER TRAIL COULDN'T BRING ME ANY CLOSER TO PROVING A LINK BETWEEN MY ENSLAVED GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER JANE AND SAMUEL BRADY, THE WHITE MAN MY FAMILY ALWAYS SUSPECTED WAS THE FATHER OF HER CHILDREN.

BUT NOW THERE'S A TOOL THAT CAN TAKE US BACK FURTHER THAN WRITTEN RECORDS.

I MET UP WITH DR. GEORGE CHURCH.

GEORGE IS A PROFESSOR OF GENETICS AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

SO, SALIVA WILL DO.

WE DON'T NEED BLOOD.

THAT'S THE QUESTION.

WE HAD TRACKED DOWN A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF SAMUEL BRADY, AND I WANTED TO KNOW HOW OUR GENOMES COULD REVEAL WHETHER WE SHARED THIS COMMON ANCESTOR.

GEORGE, WHAT COULD DNA TELL US ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS BEYOND THE WRITTEN RECORD?

WRITTEN RECORDS GO BACK TO THE DAWN OF WRITTEN HISTORY, AND DNA GOES BACK TO THE DAWN OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.

MM-HMM.

EACH GENERATION, YOU GET A SCRAMBLING, YOU GET A REARRANGEMENT OF THE DNA.

MM-HMM.

BECAUSE YOU GET ONE HALF FROM YOUR MOTHER AND ONE HALF FROM YOUR FATHER.

THAT'S RIGHT.

BASICALLY, THERE'S A HALF OF THE DNA FROM ANY GENERATION.

Gates: THAT MEANS THAT YOU INHERIT APPROXIMATELY A QUARTER OF YOUR GENOME FROM YOUR GRANDPARENTS AND A 16th FROM YOUR GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS.

SO IF TWO PEOPLE DO SHARE A RECENT ANCESTOR, THEY WILL ALSO SHARE LONG STRETCHES OF IDENTICAL DNA.

TO ANSWER THE CENTRAL MYSTERY OF MY PAST, WE COMPARED MY DNA WITH THE DNA OF THE DESCENDANT OF SAMUEL BRADY.

TO MY SURPRISE, AND, I HAVE TO CONFESS, TO MY DISAPPOINTMENT, THE TEST PROVED THAT BRADY DEFINITELY WAS NOT MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER.

BUT ANOTHER TEST PROVED THAT WHOEVER THIS MAN WAS, HE WAS MOST PROBABLY OF IRISH OR SCOTTISH DESCENT.

CONDOLEEZA RICE ALSO HAS A RUMOR OF A WHITE PATRIARCH AT THE HEART OF HER FAMILY STORY, A STORY THAT REVOLVES AROUND THE MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS OF HER PATERNAL GREAT GRANDMOTHER, JULIA HEAD.

Rice: JULIA HEAD WAS A...

GIGANTIC PRESENCE.

EVERYBODY TOLD THE STORY OF HER SITTING ON THE BACK PORCH WITH A PIPE.

SHE SMOKED A CORN COB PIPE, APPARENTLY, AND SHE'D SIT WITH HER SHOTGUN QUITE A LOT, SO SHE WAS A PRETTY TOUGH -- TOUGH LADY.

Gates: CONDOLEEZA TOLD ME THAT JULIA HEAD WAS BORN A SLAVE BUT LIVED TO SEE EMANCIPATION.

AS A FREE PERSON, SHE LEARNED TO READ, THE FIRST PERSON IN HER FAMILY EVER TO DO SO.

Man: SHE WAS MY GRANDMOTHER AND OBVIOUSLY A FIGURE OF AUTHORITY IN MY HOUSE.

SHE WAS DAD'S MOTHER.

Gates: THIS IS CONDOLEEZA'S UNCLE, PHILIP RICE, AND HER COUSIN CONNIE.

PHILIP IS ONE OF THE OLDEST MEMBERS OF THE RICE FAMILY AND ONE OF THE LAST LIVING RELATIVES ACTUALLY TO HAVE MET JULIA HEAD.

QUITE AN ELEGANT WOMAN COMPARED TO MANY HER AGE AT THAT TIME.

MMM.

AND SHE LOOKS VERY STRONG AND VERY STERN.

IT'S THAT STERN RICE CULTURE.

YOU KNOW, DON'T -- IF YOU'RE HAVING FUN, THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG.

THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG.

[ LAUGHS ] Gates: JULIA TOO HAD AN UNDENIABLE SIGN OF MIXED AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN ANCESTRY -- HER LIGHT SKIN.

CONNIE AND PHILIP HAD HEARD DETAILS ABOUT JULIA'S PAST THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY SHE LOOKED THIS WAY.

YOUR COUSIN HAD HEARD THAT JULIA WAS THE DAUGHTER OF A WHITE PLANTER IN GREENE COUNTY, ALABAMA, A MAN NAMED BURR HEAD.

YEAH.

HAVE YOU HEARD THIS STORY?

I'VE HEARD THAT STORY, I'VE HEARD THAT STORY.

Gates: THE STORY GOES THAT BURROWS HAD A DAUGHTER WITH ONE OF HIS SLAVES, AND THIS DAUGHTER WAS JULIA HEAD.

SHORTLY AFTER HER BIRTH, BURROWS HEAD GAVE JULIA AS A GIFT TO A RELATIVE ON A NEIGHBORING FARM, WHERE SHE LIVED AS A SLAVE.

WE WENT TO THE COURT HOUSE IN GREENE COUNTY, ALABAMA, TO INVESTIGATE.

GENEALOGIST FRAZINE TAYLOR FOUND THE WILL OF BURROW'S BROTHER, WILLIAM HEAD, WHO OWNED AN ADJOINING FARM.

Taylor: THIS DOCUMENT I HAVE IN MY HAND IS SHOWING ALL OF THE PERSONAL PROPERTY BELONGING TO THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM HEAD, DECEASED.

THE SLAVES ARE LISTED BY NAME.

Gates: THERE WE FOUND THE PROOF WE HAD BEEN SEEKING.

Rice: "JULIA, FOUR YEARS OLD, $450."

MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS WORTH $450 TO MR. HEAD.

YEAH.

DEHUMANIZATION, JUST PROPERTY.

JUST PROPERTY.

IT MAKES ME EVEN, UM, SORRIER THAT I DIDN'T MEET HER, BECAUSE SHE WAS SOMEBODY THAT EVERYBODY TALKED ABOUT ALL THE TIME, HER STRENGTH AND THAT SHE LIVED TO BE 101 AND ALL OF THAT, BUT TO THINK THAT SHE STARTED OUT AS SOMEBODY THAT PEOPLE PUT A PRICE ON, $450... Gates: JULIA WAS INDEED OWNED BY THE BROTHER OF BURROWS HEAD, BUT COULD WE PROVE THAT BURROWS WAS HER FATHER, AS FAMILY LEGEND CLAIMED?

OUR RESEARCHER TRACKED DOWN THE GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF BURROWS HEAD, AND SHE AGREED TO GIVE US A DNA SAMPLE.

I ASKED GENETICIST JOANNA MOUNTAIN TO COMPARE IT WITH ONE FROM CONDOLEEZA.

Mountain: IF THEY TRULY ARE THIRD COUSINS, WE CAN HOPE TO SEE SOME MATCHING DNA, A LONGER STRETCH OF MATCHING DNA.

DID WE?

WELL, HERE ARE THE RESULTS, AND THE CHROMOSOMES ARE ALL BLUE, MEANING NON-MATCHING DNA.

SO WE DID NOT FIND ANY DNA EVIDENCE OF THAT RELATIONSHIP.

WHEN THE BROTHERS SAY "DNA DON'T LIE," THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT.

I HAVE TO AGREE WITH THAT.

Gates: THE RICE FAMILY HAD FINGERED THE WRONG WHITE MAN, BUT THIS TEST RESULT DIDN'T MEAN THERE WAS NO WHITE ANCESTRY IN THE FAMILY'S PAST.

WE RAN ANOTHER DNA TEST FOR CONDOLEEZA, AN ADMIXTURE TEST, WHICH MEASURES HER PERCENTAGE OF AFRICAN, EUROPEAN, AND NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTRY.

IT REVEALED SOME FASCINATING INFORMATION ABOUT CONDOLEEZA'S ROOTS.

I'M STUNNED.

IT SAYS 51% AFRICAN, 40% EUROPEAN.

MEANING 40% OF YOUR GENETIC ANCESTRY GOES TO EUROPE.

I KNOW THAT IT'S A LOT OF EUROPEAN ANCESTRY.

YOU DEFINITELY HAVE LOTS OF WHITE ANCESTORS.

YOU HAVE TO ASSUME THAT SOME OF IT, OF COURSE, CAME FROM THE MOST TRAUMATIC AND PAINFUL EXPERIENCES OF SLAVERY.

I THINK THAT MY FEMALE ANCESTORS PROBABLY SUFFERED A LOT AND THAT I HAVE TO BE VERY GRATEFUL THAT THEY SURVIVED IT ALL.

I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THIS IS THE KIND OF UNHEALED WOUND IN AMERICA, THAT WE HAVE TROUBLE TALKING ABOUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED DURING SLAVERY.

WE HAVE TROUBLE TALKING ABOUT THE SCARS OF THAT.

THAT'S THE UNSPOKEN AND THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF RACE IN AMERICA.

Gates: DOES A HIDDEN HISTORY NEED TO STAY HIDDEN, OR CAN THE TRUTH, IN THE WORDS OF THE SCRIPTURE, SET US FREE?

I JUST WANT PEOPLE TO TELL THE TRUTH.

I WANT PEOPLE TO STAND UP IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE AND SAY, "THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS."

Gates: WE SUSPECTED THAT THE TRUTH ABOUT RUTH SIMMONS' HIDDEN HISTORY AND ANSWERS ABOUT HOW HER GRANDMOTHER FLOSSIE GOT HER LIGHT SKIN MIGHT BE BURIED IN CENSUS RECORDS FOR HER HOMETOWN OF GRAPELAND, TEXAS.

WE TRACED FLOSSIE'S FAMILY BACK TO THE 1880 CENSUS, WHERE WE DISCOVERED AN ENTRY FOR HER FATHER, RUTH'S GREAT GRANDFATHER, A FORMER SLAVE NAMED PETER BEAZLEY.

Simmons: "PETER BEAZLEY."

WITH A "Z."

"AGE 34.

MALE.

MULATTO."

MULATTO.

HUH.

YEAH, NOW WE KNOW WHY FLOSSIE -- NOW WE KNOW WHY -- FLOSSIE LOOKED LIKE FLOSSIE LOOKED.

YEAH.

Gates: SO PETER WAS A MULATTO, WHICH MEANS THAT HE HAD WHITE ANCESTORS, BUT WERE THEY THE WHITE BEASLEYS, AS RUTH'S BROTHERS HAD ALWAYS HEARD?

WE WENT TO THE COURT HOUSE IN HOUSTON COUNTY, TEXAS, TO SEARCH THE 1860 SLAVE SCHEDULE, WHICH LISTS SLAVES BY AGE AND GENDER BUT NOT BY NAME.

WE EXAMINED THE ENTRIES OF ALL THE WHITE BEASLEYS TO SEE IF ANY OWNED SLAVES WHOSE AGES AND GENDERS WOULD MATCH PETER'S.

IN THE ENTRY FOR A WHITE MAN NAMED CHARLES BEASLEY, WE FOUND THIS.

Simmons: "AGE 15, MALE, BLACK."

OUR GENEALOGISTS BELIEVE THAT THIS ANONYMOUS SLAVE WAS YOUR GREAT GRANDFATHER PETER BEASLEY.

MM-HMM.

IT'S QUITE SOBERING, YOU KNOW.

IT IS.

TO NEVER HAVE KNOWN EVEN MY GRANDPARENTS, AND TO BE ABLE TO REACH BACK AND TO TOUCH BEYOND THEM IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S QUITE SOMETHING.

Gates: SO CHARLES BEASLEY OWNED RUTH'S GREAT GRANDFATHER, PETER BEASLEY.

BUT WERE THESE TWO MEN RELATED BY BLOOD?

WE TRACKED DOWN A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF CHARLES BEASLEY, HIS GREAT-GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER, A LAWYER IN DALLAS NAMED CAMBER HAYMAN.

CAMBER AGREED TO GIVE US A DNA SAMPLE, AND WE COMPARED HER GENOME TO RUTH'S.

Simmons: "GENOME-WIDE COMPARISON BETWEEN RUTH SIMMONS AND CAMBER HAYMAN.

DNA OVERLAP OF 25, CENTIMORGANS THIRD OR FOURTH COUSIN."

WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

RUTH, MEET YOUR COUSIN.

HELLO, COUSIN.

[ LAUGHS ] WOW.

I DON'T SEE THE RESEMBLANCE, BUT IT MUST BE THERE SOMEWHERE.

IT IS BURIED IN YOUR GENES.

WOW.

NOW, THE DNA DOES NOT TELL US THE EXACT GENERATION, BUT YOU AND CAMBER SHARE AN ANCESTOR SINCE 1800.

OKAY.

WE JUST DON'T KNOW WHO DID THE DEED.

[ LAUGHS ] BUT THE DEED WAS DONE BY A BEASLEY.

WAS DONE BY SOMEBODY.

I THINK YOU'RE THE PERSON WE'RE WAITING TO MEET.

I THINK SO.

HI.

RUTH.

I'M CAMBER, RUTH, IT'S GREAT TO MEET YOU.

GOOD TO MEET YOU.

I BROUGHT YOU SOMETHING.

AH.

AN ARTIST DID THIS I THINK IN THE LATE '80s OR EARLY '90s, AND HE PULLED ONE OF HIS PROOFS SO I COULD GIVE THIS TO YOU.

OH, THANK YOU.

ISN'T THAT NEAT?

THANK YOU, THAT'S VERY NICE.

WE WERE JUST IN DARSEY'S.

WERE YOU?

YES.

WHEN THEY APPROACHED YOU ABOUT GIVING THE DNA, DID YOU HAVE ANY QUALMS ABOUT IT?

NO.

I -- WELL, YES AND NO.

I THINK IT'S WONDERFUL TO HAVE THAT RICHNESS IN THE HISTORY BECAUSE I THINK THAT THE PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY STARTED THE CROSS, IT MEANT SOMETHING TO THEM.

WE'RE GLAD YOU DID IT, AND IT'S BEEN INTERESTING, AND WE'RE ALL GLAD YOU DID.

THERE'S A LOT TO LEARN, A LOT TO THINK ABOUT, AND, YOU KNOW, THIS IS JUST YET MORE TO ABSORB.

Gates: THE TRUTH OF OUR FAMILIES' PAST, EVEN IF BORN IN PAIN AND HUMILIATION, CAN HELP US UNDERSTAND THE REAL STORY OF WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE GOT HERE.

THERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS CARRY A CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDERS, THAT WE OUGHT TO GET OVER SLAVERY.

YOU KNOW, WHY IS THAT STILL RELEVANT TODAY, THEY SAY.

JUST MOVE ON.

HOW DO YOU MOVE ON FROM WHO YOU ARE?

Gates: FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS, OF COURSE, FAMILY HISTORY IS NOT ONLY ABOUT IDENTIFYING OUR ANCESTORS IN THIS COUNTRY.

IT'S ALSO ABOUT TRACING OUR ROOTS TO OUR SLAVE ANCESTORS' ORIGINS BACK IN AFRICA.

HOW ARE YOU GUYS?

AT MIDDLE SCHOOL 51 IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A GROUP OF STUDENTS IS PLAYING A LITTLE GAME.

TAKE AN EDUCATED GUESS.

EACH MUST GUESS WHERE IN AFRICA THEIR ANCESTORS CAME FROM.

AFRICAN-AMERICANS HAVE LONG SPECULATED ABOUT WHERE ON THE VAST AFRICAN CONTINENT OUR ANCESTORS ORIGINATED, BUT THIS GAME IS DIFFERENT.

Woman: SO THIS IS THE MOMENT THAT YOU ARE GOING TO RECONNECT YOUR FAMILY TO A PART OF THEIR ANCESTRY THAT THEY DON'T KNOW.

Gates: THESE STUDENTS ARE PART OF THE CONTINUUM PROJECT, A NINE-WEEK PROGRAM THAT EXPLORES AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDENTITY AND USES DNA TESTING TO LOOK FOR GENETIC LINKS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC DEEP INTO THE PAST.

AND INTO THE ENVELOPE.

THEY'VE GOT TO GET THE IDEA...

THE KEY TO PIECING TOGETHER THAT ASPECT OF OUR LOST HISTORY IS THIS MAN, DR. RICK KITTLES.

WELL, I REALLY JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHERE I WAS FRO.

A PIONEERING GENETICIST AND THE FOUNDER OF AFRICAN ANCESTRY DOT COM, RICK HAS SPENT HIS CAREER TRYING TO BRIDGE THE GENEALOGICAL CHASM OF SLAVERY.

HOW DOES THE GENETIC SCIENCE WORK?

WE LOOK AT TWO GENETIC SYSTEMS THAT ARE INHERITED FROM EITHER THE MOTHER OR THE FATHER.

THOSE GENETIC SYSTEMS, WHICH IS THE Y CHROMOSOME AND MITOCHONDRIAL DNA, ARE PASSED ON UNCHANGED, MEANING THEY'RE IDENTICAL EVERY GENERATION.

SO THE ANCESTOR'S NO LONGER THERE, BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE PRESENT DAY POPULATION WHO SHARE THAT GENETIC INFORMATION FROM THE ANCESTOR.

Gates: RICK GATHERED A LARGE DATABASE OF DNA SAMPLES TAKEN FROM LIVING MEMBERS OF THE ETHNIC GROUPS MOST HIGHLY REPRESENTED IN THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE.

HE CAN SEARCH THIS DATABASE TO LOOK FOR GENETIC MATCHES BETWEEN AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND AN AFRICAN, AND A MATCH MEANS THAT THESE TWO PEOPLE ARE DISTANT COUSINS.

LET'S SAY THAT THE MATCH CAME BACK 100% MENDE.

THAT WOULD MEAN THAT THE SEQUENCE THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN WAS AN IDENTICAL SEQUENCE TO A MENDE INDIVIDUAL IN OUR DATABASE.

THERE'S A COMMON ANCESTOR THERE.

Gates: THAT MEANS THAT IF YOU SHARE SIMILAR ENOUGH Y OR MITOCHONDRIAL DNA WITH A MEMBER OF THE MENDE PEOPLE TODAY, THEN IT'S QUITE LIKELY THAT YOUR ANCESTOR ON THIS PARTICULAR LINE HAD BEEN A MENDE BEFORE THEY WERE SOLD INTO SLAVERY.

I ASKED RICK TO RUN DNA SAMPLES THROUGH HIS DATABASE FROM SOME OF THE OTHER AFRICAN-AMERICAN GUESTS IN THE SERIES TO SEE WHAT IT WOULD TELL US ABOUT THEIR ORIGINS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.

YOU HEARD OF CINQUE AND THE AMISTAD?

YES.

THEY WERE THE MENDE.

AND SO ARE YOU.

THAT'S AMAZING TO ME.

AMAZING TO ME.

TRIBE -- MENDE?

THE MENDE PEOPLE FROM SIERRA LEONE.

THEY WERE FIGHTERS?

AND LOVERS.

LOVERS.

[ LAUGHS ] WELL, I PREFER BEING A LOVER THAN A FIGHTER.

[ LAUGHS ] CAN YOU READ WHAT IT SAYS?

IT SAYS GABON, SHAKE AND KOTA.

SO I HAVE TO GO FIND THE SHAKE PEOPLE.

YOU GOT IT.

I'M GOING.

[ SINGING ] [ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] Gates: BACK IN BROOKLYN, THE CONTINUUM PROJECT CULMINATES IN A SPECIAL EVENING WHERE FRIENDS AND FAMILY GATHER TO WATCH AS THE STUDENTS LEARN FOR THE FIRST TIME ABOUT THEIR GENETIC LINKS TO AFRICA.

CAN I PLEASE HAVE LAURA?

[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] YOU SHARE ANCESTRY WITH THE FULA PEOPLE IN GUINEA BISSAU TODAY.

[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] WE SUCCESSFULLY SEQUENCED YOUR MATERNAL DNA.

YOU SHARE ANCESTRY WITH THE TIKAR PEOPLE IN CAMEROON TODAY.

SO WE'RE ACTUALLY RELATED.

HIGH FIVE.

ONE, TWO, THREE.

MISS NAOMI!

YOU SHARE ANCESTRY WITH THE YORUBA PEOPLE IN NIGERIA TODAY.

[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] Gates: I WAS CURIOUS -- WOULD LEARNING ABOUT THEIR AFRICAN ANCESTRY CHANGE THESE STUDENTS' SENSE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN?

DID YOUR ANCESTRAL DNA GIVE YOU A LEGACY, DO YOU THINK?

WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME WHERE I'M FROM, ALL I CAN SAY IS BROOKLYN, BUT NOW I CAN HONESTLY SAY I'M FROM THE YORUBA TRIBE IN NIGERIA.

WOW, THAT'S GREAT.

ERIC, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

IS THIS VALUABLE OR IS THIS A WASTE OF TIME?

I THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU'RE FROM BECAUSE THAT'S WHO YOU ARE.

YOU ARE YOUR ANCESTORS.

HMM.

IT'S ONE THING TO SAY THAT YOU'RE BLACK OR YOU'RE AFRICAN-AMERICAN, BUT TO ACTUALLY KNOW YOUR AFRICAN ANCESTRY, INSTEAD OF BEING DISTANT FROM THEM, YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE CONNECTED.

NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN A BRIDGE WAS BUILT INSTEAD OF A BARRIER.

MM-HMM, YEAH.

I WANT TO GO AND VISIT AND STAY FOR A WHILE SO I CAN MEET THE PEOPLE AND EXPERIENCE THEIR CULTURE, BECAUSE IT'S MY CULTURE NOW.

ONE, TWO, THREE.

Gates: 300 YEARS AFTER OUR ANCESTORS WERE SHIPPED TO THE UNITED STATES, WE CAN FINALLY POINT TO A SPOT WHERE THIS FAMILY JOURNEY MOST LIKELY BEGAN, AT LEAST FOR TWO LINES OF OUR ANCESTORS.

BUT IT'S NOT ALWAYS THE SPOT ON THE GLOBE THAT WE MIGHT EXPECT.

DID YOU HEAR ANY RUMORS IN YOUR FAMILY THAT YOU HAVE ANY NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTRY?

YES.

OKAY.

BUT VERY UNSPECIFIC.

UNSPECIFIC.

YEAH.

EVERY AFRICAN-AMERICAN FOR EACH OF MY SERIES HAS CLAIMED TO HAVE A GREAT GRANDMOTHER WITH HIGH CHEEKBONES AND STRAIGHT BLACK HAIR.

WELL, LOOK AT AFRICA, RUTH.

WHAT DO YOU SEE IN AFRICA?

I SEE NOTHING.

AFRICA IS A BIG, BLANK CONTINENT ON THIS MAP.

WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHOM WE TESTED WHO ACTUALLY DESCENDS FROM A NATIVE AMERICAN FEMALE.

WOW, THAT'S VERY POWERFUL.

YOU'RE ACTUALLY THE ONLY BLACK PERSON I KNOW WHOSE GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS A CHEROKEE PRINCESS.

Gates: SO RUTH'S MOTHER'S LINE, SURPRISINGLY, HAS BEEN FIRMLY ROOTED IN THE AMERICAS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

BUT FOR SAM AND CONDOLEEZA, THEIR DNA RESULTS LED US BACK TO THE MOTHERLAND.

YOU SHARE MATERNAL GENETIC ANCESTRY WITH THE TIKAR PEOPLE IN CAMEROON.

Rice: VERY INTERESTING.

I THOUGHT THAT IT MIGHT BE TO GHANA BECAUSE THE GHANAIANS THOUGHT THAT SORT OF FACIALLY I LOOK LIKE MAYBE I'D BEEN SOME MIXTURE OF ASHANTI AND EUROPEAN.

THAT WAS ABOUT THE TIME GHANA APPLIED FOR A BILLION-DOLLAR LOAN FROM GEORGE BUSH, WASN'T IT?

YOU THINK IT MAY HAVE BEEN PART OF THE STORY, RIGHT.

THEY'RE DOING THEIR OWN GENEALOGY.

LOOK LIKE ASHANTI TO ME.

[ LAUGHS ] IT MAKES ME WANT TO GO TO CAMEROON, MEET MY PEOPLE, YES.

Gates: YOU SHARE ANCESTRY WITH THE BENGA PEOPLE IN THE MODERN COUNTRY OF GABON.

THAT MEANS YOUR KUNTA KINTE ANCESTOR CAME FROM RIGHT THERE.

WOW.

GET OUT OF HERE.

I HAVE TO GOOGLE GABON IMMEDIATELY AND SEE WHAT'S THERE.

[ LAUGHS ] Gates: FOR RUTH, WE HAD ONE LAST HOPE FOR FINDING A LINK TO AFRICA -- HER FATHER'S LINE.

GABON.

GABON.

THE KOTA PEOPLE IN GABON.

WOW.

YOUR BROTHER'S Y-DNA SEQUENCE IS 100% IDENTICAL AS THEIRS.

WOW.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO GABON?

I HAVEN'T.

I'LL BE GOING NOW, I CAN TELL YOU, YEAH.

WOW.

I'LL BE GOING HOME.

Simmons: THERE IS A CERTAIN LONGING, YOU KNOW, THAT YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO KNOW WHERE YOU CAME FROM, AND I'VE LIVED ALL MY LIFE WITHOUT IT, SO I THINK IT'S PRETTY WONDERFUL.

WE'VE COME TO THE END OF THE FAMILY SAGAS OF SAMUEL L. JACKSON, CONDOLEEZA RICE, AND RUTH SIMMONS.

JOIN ME NEXT WEEK FOR ANOTHER JOURNEY INTO THE LOST PAST.