"An Inside Look at Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr."

The above titled article appears in the Fall 2014 issue of American Ancestors, a genealogy magazine published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) on pages 24-29. The president of NEHGS, Brenton Simons, interviewed Henry Louis Gates, Jr, the creator and host of the very popular Finding Your Roots television program. The whole article is very illuminating and a worthwhile read.

One section in particular encapsulates what genealogy research has done for me. Simons asks "What does the viewer draw from these discoveries?" And Dr. Gates replies "The point of these stories is that your family tree personalizes American history in a way that textbooks never could. There's no way any of these individuals could look at any aspect of the history that I've just explained their ancestors were involved in, in the same way again."

The library's copy of American Ancestors can be found in the Franklin Sylvester Room for anyone who wants to read the complete article.