Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Professor Gates has published numerous books and produced and hosted an array of documentary films. The Black Church (PBS) and Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches (HBO), which he executive produced, each received Emmy nominations. In January 2024, Finding Your Roots, Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series, returned for its tenth season on PBS. His most recent history series for PBS, Gospel, premiered in February 2024.

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Gates is a recipient of a number of honorary degrees, including his alma mater, the University of Cambridge. Gates was a member of the first class awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation in 1981, and in 1998 he became the first African American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2001 he discovered the first novel written by a Black female author, The Bondwoman’s Narrative, by Hannah Craft.

A native of Piedmont, West Virginia, Gates earned his B.A. in History, summa cum laude, from Yale University in 1973, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from Clare College at Cambridge in 1979, where he is also an Honorary Fellow. A former chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and serves on a wide array of boards, including the New York Public Library, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Aspen Institute, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Library of America, and The Studio Museum of Harlem. In 2011, his portrait, by Yuqi Wang, was hung in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Books

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Kevin M. Burke. 2015. And Still I Rise: Black America Since MLK. Ecco/HarperCollins. Publisher's Version Abstract

The companion book to Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s PBS series, And Still I Rise—a timeline and chronicle of the past fifty years of black history in the U.S. in more than 350 photos.

Beginning with the assassination of Malcolm X in February 1965, And Still I Rise: From Black Power to the White House explores the last half-century of the African American experience.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2014. Os Negros Na América Latina. Companhia das Letras. Abstract

Latin American Edition of 'Black in Latin America'

Segundo Henry Louis Gates Jr., a história da diáspora africana é em grande medida a história dos ciclos econômicos - mineração, açúcar, tabaco, pecuária - das colônias europeias no Novo Mundo. A partir da descoberta da América, milhões de homens e mulheres foram transportados em horríveis condições até portos como os de Havana, Veracruz e Salvador. Aqueles que sobreviviam à viagem em geral trabalhavam até a morte nas fazendas, minas e cidades coloniais, assim como seus descendentes.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2014. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African American Literary Criticism (25th Anniversary Edition). 25th ed. Oxford University Press. Abstract

25th anniversary edition of Gates's landmark work of cultural studies

New to this Edition:

New preface written by the author
New afterword written by noted critic W. T. J. Mitchell

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2013. En Busca De Nuestras Raíces: De Cómo 19 Extraordinarios Afroamericanos Rescataron Su Pasado. Latin American Edition of "In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past." Ciencias Sociales.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Donald Yacovone. 2013. The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. Smiley Books. Abstract

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is the companion book to the six-part, six hour documentary of the same name, airing on national, primetime public television in the fall of 2013. The series is the first to air since 1968 that chronicles the full sweep of 500 years of African American history, from the origins of slavery on the African continent and the arrival of the first black conquistador, Juan Garrido, in Florida in 1513, through five centuries of remarkable historic events right up to today—when Barack Obama is serving his second term as President, yet our country remains deeply divided by race and class.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2012. The Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Reader. Edited by Abby Wolf. Basic Civitas Books. Abstract

Educator, writer, critic, intellectual, film-maker-Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has been widely praised as being one of America's most prominent and prolific scholars. In what will be an essential volume, The Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Reader collects three decades of writings from his many fields of interest and expertise.

Films

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2012. Finding Your Roots, Season 1. Writer, narrator, and executive producer. Television series, PBS (ten, one-hour episodes): March 25 - May 20, 2012. Abstract

The basic drive to discover who we are and where we come from is at the core of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Continuing on the quest begun in his previous projects, African American Lives, African American Lives 2, and Faces of America, Gates finds new ways to get into the DNA of American culture.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2011. Black in Latin America. Writer, narrator, and executive producer. Four-hour series, PBS, April 19 - May 10, 2011. Abstract

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers Latin America's African roots in this four-part series. Black in Latin America is a quest to discover how Africa and Europe combined to create the vibrant cultures of Latin America, with a rich legacy of thoughtful, articulate subjects whose stories are astonishingly moving and irresistibly compelling.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2010. Faces of America. Writer, narrator, and executive producer. Four-hour series, PBS, February 10 - March 3, 2010. Abstract

What made America? What makes us? These two questions are at the heart of the new PBS series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Harvard scholar turns to the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 renowned Americans.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2009. Looking for Lincoln. Writer, narrator, and executive producer. Two-hour program, PBS, February 11, 2009. Abstract

LOOKING FOR LINCOLN dissects the myths that have grown up around Abraham Lincoln. In doing so, the program addresses outstanding questions - about race, equality, religion and depression - by carefully interpreting the evidence provided by people who actually knew him. Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2008. African American Lives 2. Writer, narrator, and executive producer. Four-hour series, PBS, February 6 and 13, 2008. Abstract

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets with influential African American figures, like Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock and Maya Angelou, to piece together their genealogy and disclose captivating facts about their ancestors. Genealogical detective work, DNA analysis and the study of historical documents fills in the gaps of history and reveals emotional tales of African American heritage and survival.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2007. Oprah’s Roots: An African American Lives Special. Writer, narrator, and executive producer. One-hour program, PBS, January 24, 2007. Abstract

Finding Oprahs Roots, a companion to the book by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., features Oprah, showing by her example, that it is possible to build an African American family tree. Excerpts from the Oprahs Roots documentary are combined with comments from many of the experts featured in the film including genealogist Tony Burroughs and historian John Thornton. Powerful storytelling and a clear how-to guide make this DVD a unique educational resource.