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Finding Your Roots

The Butterfly Effect

Season 11 Episode 8 | 52m 10s

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces actors Debra Messing & Melanie Lynskey to ancestors who made bold decisions that forever reshaped their family trees. Moving from shtetls in Eastern Europe to a fruit stand in NY City to the wilds of New Zealand, Gates introduces his guests to relatives who took great risks, overcame enormous hardships—and unwittingly transformed the lives of their descendants.

Aired: 02/24/25 | Expires: 03/25/25
Corporate support for Season 11 of FINDING YOUR ROOTS WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. is provided by Gilead Sciences, Inc., Ancestry® and Johnson & Johnson. Major support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Support is also provided by Ford Foundation; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Candace King Weir; by the Inkwell Society together with many of its members; and by public television viewers.
Extras
Watch • 4:12
Finding Your Roots
Laurence Learns About His Great-Great-Great-Grandmother
Laurence discovers the identity of his great-great-great-grandmother.
Clip: S11 E10 | 4:12
Watch • 4:14
Finding Your Roots
Skip Discovers His Great-Great-Grandfather
Skip discusses Jane Gates, his oldest known ancestor up until now.
Clip: S11 E10 | 4:14
Watch • 0:30
Finding Your Roots
Finding My Roots Preview
Family mysteries are solved for actor Laurence Fishburne & scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Preview: S11 E10 | 0:30
Watch • 3:41
Finding Your Roots
Lonnie Bunch Discovers His Grandfather's Heroic Educationonal Efforts
Lonnie learns about his grandfather who served on a school committee for mainly Black students.
Clip: S11 E9 | 3:41
Watch • 4:09
Finding Your Roots
The Surprising Love Story in Sheryl Lee Ralph's Ancestry
Sheryl's third great grandparents, a mixed race couple, got married in 1837.
Clip: S11 E9 | 4:09
Watch • 0:30
Finding Your Roots
Moving On Up Preview
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the roots of actor Sheryl Lee Ralph & historian Lonnie Bunch.
Preview: S11 E9 | 0:30
Watch • 3:53
Finding Your Roots
Debra Messing's Polish Ancestors Voyaged to New York
Debra discovers her grandfather's earliest years in America after leaving Poland.
Clip: S11 E8 | 3:53
Watch • 4:21
Finding Your Roots
Melanie Lynskey Learns of a Long-Lost Relative
Melanie discovers a potential match for her great-grandfather.
Clip: S11 E8 | 4:21
Watch • 0:30
Finding Your Roots
The Butterfly Effect Preview
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces the family trees of actors Debra Messing & Melanie Lynskey.
Preview: S11 E8 | 0:30
Watch • 0:30
Finding Your Roots
Latin Roots Preview
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets musician Rubén Blades & journalist Natalie Morales.
Preview: S11 E6 | 0:30