“Can’t we all just get along?” This is the case for Harvard Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, MA Sgt James Crowley. Both men were involved in the high profile race scandal that took place in Cambridge Massachusetts back in 2009. The incident caught the attention and involvement of President Barack Obama who resolved the issue with a “Beer Summit.” Genetic test performed on Gates and Crowley traced both individual’s family tree back to Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish king who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century. The two men have since reconciled and develop a closer relationship, according to Gates on today’s airing of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Dr. Gates is host to “Faces of America,” a new PBS TV series that utilizes modern technology to trace the ancestry of popular celebrities. Familiar faces like Yo-Yo Ma, Eva Longoria, and Steven Colbert agreed to testing that not only linked each participants family line but surprisingly traced lines showing relations to other famous celebrities. ABC has syndicated it’s own version of genetic tracing with it’s series, “Faces of America,” airing Fridays at 8:00pm. Spike Lee, Emmitt Smith, Sara Jessica Parker are a few notable names who agreed to using genealogical databases to find valuable family history.
To begin the search for your own family legacy visit, http://www.ancestry.com/