Dick's Genealogy & History Corner

Did you miss the first episode of the PBS series Faces of America? Or do you want to see it again? Then you can see the whole episode by going to this link.  You can also just watch parts if you don’t want to watch the whole episode at once.

This is your last notice! This Wednesday is the first of a four part series, Faces of America hosted by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates. He uses genealogy and DNA to explore the ancestors of 12 celebrities. Those profiled are:

• Professor and poet Elizabeth Alexander
• Chef Mario Batali
• Comedian Stephen Colbert
• Novelist Louise Erdrich
• Journalist Malcolm Gladwell
• Actress Eva Longoria
• Musician Yo-Yo Ma
• Director Mike Nichols
• Her Majesty Queen Noor
• Television host/heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz
• Actress Meryl Streep
• Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi

The programs airs in Rochester on WXXI at 8p.m. on Wednesday; elsewhere check your local schedule.

A lot of other blogs are carrying news of an official website for the NBC series “Who Do You Think You Are?” I can also add that I saw a promo for the series this morning during the Today Show. That means that NBC has some confidence in the series.

I’ve said it before that I have used the upcoming genealogy program “Who Do You Think You Are?” as a running joke. It first was going to be broadcast in April 2009 and then summer of 2009. Then it showed up on NBC web pages as starting in the fall of 2009 but never actually showed on the schedule. NBC is canceling the Jay Leno Show and that leaves 5 hours to fill. There will be a couple new drama shows to fill the spots and others are moving from earlier times to 10 p.m. That leaves some open spots in early evening. One of those spots is being filled by “Who Do You Think You Are?” Really! I’m not kidding this time.

It is on an NBC Press Release that the first episode of WDYTYA will be broadcast at 8 p.m. (eastern) on Friday, March 5th. The WDYTYA website says that “a celebrity embarks on a journey of self-discovery and unearths his or her family tree – revealing surprising, inspiring and sometimes tragic stories that are often linked to events in American history.” The only celebrities mentioned on the website are Lisa Kudrow (who also the producer), Sarah Jessica Parker and Susan Sarandon, Other non-confirmed celebrities may be Spike Lee, Matthew Broderick, Brooke Shields and Emmitt Smith.

Meanwhile, the companion book; Who Do You Think You Are?: The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History was originally going to be published on Dec. 31, 2009. Then the published date was moved back to March 15th. Now, the publish date on Amazon shows as April 15th.

Last night I watched another new genealogy program called “The Generations Project.” This was the first episode of a series that follows people through the places and occupations of their ancestors. In this episode, Lumina, goes to Liberty, NY to find out more about her grandmother who was able to juggled a family, restaurant career and politics. Plus she headed to Ellis Island where she looked up her great grandmother on the passenger lists from 1907. Then a visit to the Tenement Museum in New York City showed the conditions that immigrants  had to live in the early 20th century. It was interesting to see someone discover their family history but going to Ellis Island seemed like it was only for show as you can view all the Ellis Island records online at: ellisisland.org.

The series is on BYUTV. That station is on DishNetwork and DirectTV but not on the cable system in Rochester.  If you can receive the channel then new episodes are being broadcast on Monday nights and also rebroadcast a few other times during the week. So check your listings…

Here is a preview:

There is a new genealogy series coming to PBS in February. Professor Henry Louis Gates from Harvard is the host of “Faces of America.” The series uses the latest techniques of genealogy and genetics to trace the ancestors of famous Americas to all over the planet.

“Professor Gates’s guests include poet Elizabeth Alexander, who composed and read the poem at President Barack Obama’s inauguration, chef Mario Batali, comedian Stephen Colbert, novelist Louise Erdrich, writer Malcolm Gladwell, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, film director Mike Nichols, Her Royal Highness Queen Noor, actress Eva Longoria, actress Meryl Streep and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.”

The series premieres nationally on PBS, Wednesdays, February 10 – March 3, 2010 from 8-9 p.m. ET. Check your local listings as the date gets closer.

Here is a video preview:

My family had cable TV very early. I grew up in Elmira, NY and we only had one TV station in town and another station from Binghamton that you could almost see, sometimes. It was about summer of 1963 when the cable was installed on our street.  We got hooked up as soon as possible. All of a sudden we had 8 or 9 stations. It didn’t matter that in the evening we had 3 stations showing NBC programming. We finally had all three networks! There were many new shows that I had only heard about. About a year later, they even added WPIX from New York City which opened up more possibilities because it was an independent (non-network) station.

It cost about $2.25 per month which was well worth the cost. That was the days before all the local cable companies were bought up by huge corporations. It seems like we get many more channels now but pay a lot more per channel. Plus there are those channels that hardly anyone watches.

The running joke keeps going. The US version of Who Do You Think You Are? when last heard from was supposedly slated to begin in January 2010. I just looked at the NBC schedule beginning in January and WDYTYA is not on the schedule. Another clue is the WDYTYA; companion book by Megan Smoleyak was originally coming out at the end of December. Now the release date on Amazon.com shows as March 18th. NBC has the Olympics on in February. March seems much more likely for a start date for WDYTYA.

Last Monday on ABC was a preview of a new TV series called “Find My Family.” It is about adoptees being reunited with their birth families. It runs similar to those segments that show up on daytime talk shows. In the preview segment, the natural parents having been looking for 9 years for the daughter that they gave up about 30 years ago. The investigators just looked at every birth record for a given date and found one record that was marked as “amended.” That turned out to be the daughter. It wouldn’t be that easy in New York State because you can just look through birth records in this State.

After doing some digging, I found that ABC only has filmed 6 one hour episodes of “Find My Family.” It is based on a a Dutch show titled “Lost Without a Trace.” That was copied by an Australian series titled “Find My Family.” The hosts for the ABC series are Lisa Joyner and Tim Green.  You can see the preview episode online but ABC makes you download a special browser plug-in to watch online.

I have used the American version of Who Do Think You Are? as a running joke. It was supposed to be on NBC in April 2009, then summer 2009, then fall 2009 and when last heard from it is supposed to start in Jan. 2010. Now there is a clue that it may actually happen in January. On Amazon.com they are taking pre-orders for Who Do You Think You Are?: The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History, the companion book to the series. Amazon says that the book is to be released on Dec. 31st. The author is Megan Smolenyak who has been the Chief Family Historian at Ancestry.com since January 2007, and is one of the founders of RootsTelevision.com. She recently made news when she traced some of Michelle Obama’s roots. Megan has published a few genealogy books. Her most recent was Trace Your Roots with DNA: Use Your DNA to Complete Your Family Tree which was published in 2004.

Note: I make a very small commission if you buy from Amazon through one of the links.