Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. An Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Gates’s most recent books are "Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow" and "The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song." He has also produced and hosted an array of documentary films; "The Black Church" on PBS and "Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches" on HBO — which he executive produced — each received Emmy nominations. His latest history series for PBS is "Making Black America: Through the Grapevine." "Finding Your Roots," Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series, has completed its ninth season on PBS and will return for a 10th season in 2024.