PBS North Carolina's Finding Your Roots Preview Screening & Discussion

Join PBS North Carolina for an unforgettable evening of storytelling, history, and discovery with a special preview screening from the acclaimed PBS series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The evening begins with an exclusive advance screening of the “Song of the South” episode from Season 12, featuring celebrated musician Rhiannon Giddens and award-winning actor Danielle Deadwyler. In this powerful episode, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces the deeply rooted Southern family histories of these two remarkable artists, uncovering long-hidden truths, unexpected connections, and stories their ancestors went to great lengths to conceal. Along the way, the episode explores heroes and villains alike and ultimately celebrates the courage it takes to embrace one’s full family story.

Panel Discussion & Q+A

Following the screening, stay for an engaging conversation and audience Q&A with local historians and genealogists. Panelists will dive deeper into:

• The Enslaved Persons Project | People Not Property: Slave Deeds
• Practical tips for starting (or continuing) your own family history and genealogy journey

Whether you’re passionate about history, curious about your ancestry, or a longtime fan of Finding Your Roots, this discussion offers meaningful insight and inspiration.

Event details:

Date: Thursday, March 5
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Friday Center, 100 Friday Center Drive, Chapel Hill, NC

This is a FREE event, but registration is required.
Please reserve your seat(s) by registering through Eventbrite.

For questions, contact Karen Nowak at [email protected].

About the Series

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns for its 12th season on PBS. Over the course of ten new episodes, Gates and his team use genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis to trace the family trees of twenty compelling guests, telling stories that illuminate America’s fundamental diversity.

As the pages turn in each guest’s book of life, emotional revelations give way to complex questions about identity. Through Gates’ discerning touch, his guests learn what every family history shares—love, courage, and sacrifice—and how our histories transcend borders, merging to form a national root system fortified by difference as well as commonality. Along the way, viewers are transported from coastal Africa to rural Texas; from Muslim communities in northern India to the ancestral lands of the Cherokee Nation; from villages in the Philippines to George Washington’s camp at Valley Forge—all in search of the stories that will bring our guests’ ancestors to life.

Guests include actors Kate Burton, Lizzy Caplan, Kristin Chenoweth, Liza Colón-Zayas, Darren Criss, Danielle Deadwyler, America Ferrera, Sanaa Lathan, and Delroy Lindo; comedian Hasan Minhaj; basketball stars Brittney Griner and Chris Paul; musicians Flea, Rhiannon Giddens, Lizzo, and Wiz Khalifa; playwright Tracy Letts; talk show host Sara Haines; media mogul Barry Diller; and filmmaker Spike Lee.

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. airs Tuesdays at 8 PM on PBS NC and is available to stream anytime online and on the PBS app.

Corporate support for Season 12 of FINDING YOUR ROOTS WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. is provided by Gilead Sciences, Inc., Ancestry and Johnson & Johnson. Major support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Support is also provided by Ford Foundation; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Candace King Weir; by the Inkwell Society together with many of its members; and by public television viewers.

This event was made possible with grant funds from WETA.

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