Trace the histories of these three guests. Tina Fey’s fifth great-grandfather survived a terrible massacre and became a hero in the Greek War of Independence. David Sedaris’ ancestors were also touched by the Greek War of Independence. George Stephanopoulos’ family was willing to sacrifice themselves in the struggle against the Nazi occupation of Greece during World War II.

Almost half of all Americans have at least one ancestor who entered the United States through Ellis Island (also called America's Gateway). In Ellis Island: Tracing Your Family History Through America's Gateway, leading family history author and researcher Loretto Dennis Szucs explains how you can find out if your relatives were among the millions who were processed for entry at this historic landmark. This book details the immigrant experience at...

Trace three guests’ roots into the heart of slavery, revealing that there is no singular narrative and challenging preconceptions of an era that profoundly shaped our nation’s sense of itself. Hip-hop artist Nas discovers a web of his slave ancestors and their intimate relationship with their slave master; award-winning actress Angela Bassett meets ancestors whose slave family tragedy is rivaled only by a triumphant emancipation story; and presidential...

Three of America’s greatest athletes, whose determination and love of sports were deeply shaped by their families, were all cut off from their true origins. Billie Jean King learns the story of her grandmother, who had always kept her orphan status a secret. Derek Jeter confronts his ancestors’ lives as slaves and learns that they were owned by a white man named James Jeter — the source of the Jeter name and Derek’s third great-grandfather....

Three iconic American storytellers have spent their lives chronicling the lives of others, while knowing almost nothing about their own family history. Ken Burns confronts the reality of his southern ancestors’ role in the Civil War, including Confederate soldiers held captive and a slave-owning Virginian. Anderson Cooper, scion of one of America’s most storied families, the Vanderbilts, longs to know more about his father’s southern roots —...

Three celebrity chefs who cook the food of their ancestors discover family members who have shaped their lives — and America’s cuisine. Tom Colicchio of “Top Chef” learns the hardships his family endured (famine, bandits) living in a tiny town in Northern Italy and celebrates the courage of his original immigrant ancestor, a man who crossed the Atlantic many times to bring the Colicchios to the United States; Ming Tsai, the child of immigrants...

Three guests whose ancestry demonstrates the extraordinary influence of the British Empire during the 18th and early 19th century: Sally Field discovers that she descends from William Bradford, who arrived on the Mayflower and helped his fellow English Puritans establish their new lives in colonial America and later discovers that her ancestors sided with the British crown during our nation’s War of Independence and paid the ultimate price; Deepak...