Faces of America (Book)

Based on the PBS television series Faces of America hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

As a nation of immigrants, the American experience is vibrantly defined by the diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious heritage of its people. Americans carve out their personal histories by tracing genealogies, combing through family archives, and mining the stories and family trees of their elders. But how far back into your past can you actually go? If you could look even 400 years into your genetic history, what would that really look like?

Since 2006, scholar and cultural critic Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has been helping African Americans find long-buried details of their ancestries by analyzing their DNA and then marrying that information to a wealth of historical data. Global in scope, Faces of America looks outside the Black experience to explore the roots and identities of twelve of America’s most recognizable and extraordinary citizens, who are of Asian, Hispanic, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Syrian, West Indian, and Native American ancestry: Inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander, chef Mario Batali, comedian and television personality Stephen Colbert, writer Louise Erdrich, writer Malcolm Gladwell, actress Eva Longoria, cellist Yo Yo Ma, writer and director Mike Nichols, former monarch of Jordan Queen Noor, surgeon and author Dr. Mehmet Oz, actress Meryl Streep, and Olympic gold medalist and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

Author: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.