Dr. Henry Louis Gates at the National Archives

Dr. Henry Louis Gates

On February 5th, 2009, distinguished Harvard University historian and scholar Dr Henry Louis Gates, was the featured guest on a panel hosted by the National Archives in their ongoing discussion series entitled American Conversations. “Skip” Gates, as he is affectionately known, shared with his audience the experiences and insights he gained while producing his enormously successful PBS series African American Lives, wherein he unearths the genealogy and ancestry of a number of prominent Black Americans like Oprah Winfrey, Chris Rock, Don Cheadle, Chris Tucker, Tom Joyner and many others. He was also there to sign copies of the book based on the series. Dr Gates is also the co-publisher of  The Root, and online Black  journal.

Gates was both witty and informative as he emphasized his desire to elevate the stature of genealogical studies,which has never really enjoyed the same prestige as that of historians. Gates shared the stage withthe U.S. Archivist Dr. Allen Weinstein and Dr. Lonnie Bunch, historian and Founding Director of the Smithsonian’s African-American Museum of History and Culture, which will be located on the Capital Mall in Washington, D.C. In attendance were a number of prominent personalities in their own right, like A’Lelia Bundles, the great, great grand daughter of Madame C.J Walker, the first Black female millionaire, Sylvia Cyrus, Executive Director of ASALH, and Hazel Trice Edney, Editor-in- Chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (N.N.P.A).

Pictures are below