Roots Less Traveled

A poignant journey starts from an enslaved family's Kentucky roots and their progression to freedom through a monumental court case, an arduous trek across three states and the start of the American dream.

A family learns that their African American ancestors were farmers and landowners before the emancipation proclamation because of a friendly family of Quakers.

A brother and sister learn about their cousin's past and the time he gave the keys to Mexico City to JFK; an uncle and nephew learn their family has a connection to downtown Havana, Cuba; a mother and son learn about their ancestors.

An aunt and nephew learn they have family ties to the Brooklyn Bridge; siblings learn their ancestor went from debtors' prison to owning a fleet of whaling ships; a father and daughter learn their ancestor was a Union soldier in the Civil War.

Faruq Tauheed hosts as brother and sister Jimmy and Katie seek out their Japanese heritage beginning in 1890s Japan, then in San Francisco, and finally in the farmlands of the Central Valley of California in the 1940s.

Gwendolyn and her daughter, Gabrielle, discover that her great-grandfather was liberated on one of the most significant days of President Abraham Lincoln's presidency and later became a hero with the U.S. Colored Troops 1st Infantry in the Civil War.

Cousins Patti and Damon learn that their African American ancestors were farmers and landowners pre-Emancipation with help from a family of Quakers, and a family discovers how their ancestors gained freedom through a monumental Kentucky court case.

Siblings seek their Japanese heritage beginning in 1890s Japan in California's farmlands in the 1940s; a mother and daughter discover their ancestor was freed from enslavement by President Lincoln and became a Civil War hero.