Laughing on the Inside

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL MEET COMEDIANS LEWIS BLACK AND ROY WOOD, JR. TWO EXTREMELY FUNNY MEN WHOSE FAMILY TREES CONTAIN STORIES OF HARDSHIP AND TRAGEDY.

WOOD JR.: DIFFICULT TRUTHS GENERALLY DON'T GO DISCUSSED.

GATES: OH YEAH.

WOOD JR.: YOU WANT TO WILL IT AWAY OR JUST, JUST SHUSH IT INTO OBLIVION.

GATES: ANY IDEA WHAT HAPPENED TO GRANDMA AFTER THAT?

BLACK: NONE, I HAVE NO CLUE.

IT WAS LIKE A DISAPPEARANCE.

GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.

GENEALOGISTS HELPED STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST FROM THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND... BLACK: HOW DID YOU FIND THIS?

THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

GATES: WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD... WOOD JR.: WHOA!

GATES: AND WE'VE COMPILED IT ALL INTO A BOOK OF LIFE.

A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES... WOOD JR.: THIS SHOW IS A ROLLER COASTER!

GATES: AND A WINDOW INTO THE HIDDEN PAST... BLACK: THIS IS MORE THAN I EVER EXPECTED.

WOOD JR.: WHAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME IS MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MYSELF, THAT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I WAS IN SEARCH OF.

IT'S A LOT.

BUT DAMN IT WAS WORTH IT.

GATES: MY TWO GUESTS HAVE DEVOTED THEIR LIVES TO MAKING AUDIENCES LAUGH, BUT THEIR ROOTS ARE FILLED WITH PEOPLE WHO HAD A MUCH SIMPLER GOAL: SURVIVAL.

IN THIS EPISODE, THEY'LL MEET WOMEN AND MEN WHO FACED ENORMOUS CHALLENGES AND MADE IMMENSE SACRIFICES TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR THEIR SUCCESS.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS).

♪ ♪ GATES: IF YOU'VE NEVER SEEN LEWIS BLACK PERFORM, YOU'RE MISSING OUT.

BLACK: WHEN MY MOTHER REACHED MID-90'S I SAID, WHAT'S IT LIKE LIVING SO LONG?

AND SHE SAID, "I WOULDN'T CALL THIS LIVING."

GATES: THE GRAMMY-WINNING COMEDIAN HAS THE UNIQUE ABILITY TO MAKE EVERYDAY ANGER IMMENSELY ENTERTAINING.

BLACK: SHE TURNED 100...

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE.

SHE BLEW THE CANDLES OUT ON THE CAKE AND SAID, "NOBODY SHOULD LIVE THIS (BLEEP) LONG!"

GATES: BUT IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A DIRECT CONNECTION BETWEEN LEWIS' ART AND HIS LIFE, WELL, YOU'RE IN FOR A SURPRISE.

IN PERSON, LEWIS IS GENTLE, ALMOST RESERVED AND THE ARC OF HIS CAREER IS NOT WHAT YOU MIGHT IMAGINE.

LEWIS GREW UP IN SUBURBAN MARYLAND IN THE 1950'S, WITH A MOTHER WHOSE FIERCE TEMPER MATCHED HIS OWN.

BUT HE FIRST RECOGNIZED HIS CALLING ALONGSIDE HIS EASYGOING FATHER, WHO LOVED THE THEATER AND TRIED TO SHARE THAT LOVE WITH LEWIS, TAKING HIM TO SHOWS IN NEW YORK, AN EXPERIENCE THAT HAD A MAJOR IMPACT.

BLACK: FOR ME IT WAS LIKE GOING TO THE THEATRE REALLY WAS LIFE CHANGING, 'CAUSE IT WAS TO ME AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENT.

GATES: RIGHT.

BLACK: AND I GOT TO SEE SOME REMARKABLE PRODUCTIONS.

ONCE, WE WENT TO SEE THIS ONE PLAY AND IT WAS, IT WAS ABOUT A MIX-UP OF, WAY EARLY ON, A MIX-UP OF SPERM IN A SPERM BANK.

GATES: HUH!

BLACK: A COMEDY.

AND NOBODY'S LAUGHING EXCEPT ONE GUY IN THE FRONT ROW.

IT WAS EVERY THIRTY SECONDS, "WAH-HA-HA-HA!

WAH-HA-HA-HA!"

AND I, I TURNED TO MY FATHER AND I SAID, "WHO DO YOU THINK THAT IS?"

GATES: "WHO'S THAT IDIOT?"

LEWIS BLACK: AND MY FATHER SAID, "THAT'S THE PLAYWRIGHT."

GATES: THAT'S GREAT.

DO YOU THINK YOUR FATHER WAS TRYING TO INTRODUCE YOU TO YOUR FUTURE CAREER, OR WAS HE JUST ADDICTED TO THE THEATRE AND TAKING YOU ALONG?

BLACK: I THINK IT WAS OUR WAY OF BONDING.

GATES: UH-HUH.

BLACK: AND THEN I, UH, AND I REALLY IMMEDIATELY GRAVITATED TOWARD IT.

HE HAD NO IDEA THAT IT WOULD BECOME A PASSION OF MINE.

GATES: LEWIS' PASSION WOULD TAKE HIM TO PLACES HIS FATHER LIKELY NEVER EXPECTED.

HE WENT TO COLLEGE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, WHERE HE WON A FELLOWSHIP IN PLAYWRITING.

THEN, THE YEAR AFTER GRADUATING, HE GATHERED A TROOP OF ACTORS AROUND HIM, WROTE A SUCCESSFUL PLAY AND SET OFF ON A QUIXOTIC JOURNEY.

BLACK: EVERY SO OFTEN YOU WRITE SOMETHING, IT'S THE RIGHT PLACE, THE RIGHT TIME.

IT'S, IT, IT, IT WON'T HOLD WATER TEN YEARS LATER, BUT BOY, AT THAT MOMENT IT'S LIKE... GATES: YES.

YES.

BLACK: AND WE HIT IT.

THEN WE ENDED UP TOURING THE STATE.

AND SOMEBODY IN THAT GROUP DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS A THEATRE IN COLORADO SPRINGS... GATES: FOR SALE.

BLACK: FOR SALE.

FOR, AT THE TIME, UM, WE, THERE WERE TWENTY OF US, AND IT WAS A $15,000 THEATRE, THAT IF WE COULD COME UP WITH $2,000 OR $3,000 IT WOULD COST US, IT WOULD COST EVERYBODY, LIKE, $20 A MONTH OR $30 A MONTH, AND WE COULD HAVE A THEATRE.

GATES: THAT'S BRILLIANT.

SO YOU HAD AN OUTLET.

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: THE THEATER IN COLORADO DIDN'T STAY OPEN FOR LONG.

BUT LEWIS WAS ONTO SOMETHING AND HE KEPT AT IT.

EVOLVING, OVER TIME, FROM A PLAYWRIGHT, TO AN EMCEE, TO A STAND-UP COMEDIAN, CRAFTING A ROUTINE THAT EVENTUALLY BROUGHT HIM FAME.

ALONG THE WAY, LEWIS ALSO BEGAN TO INCORPORATE THE INFLUENCE OF HIS MOTHER, WHOSE TEMPERAMENT WILL PROVE FAMILIAR TO HIS FANS.

GATES: HOW ARE YOU MOST LIKE YOUR MOTHER?

(SIGHS).

BLACK: I HAVE UH, UH, MY MOM.

I HAVE CERTAIN ANGER ISSUES THAT I GOT FROM HER THAT I KIND OF, I FEEL, HAVE DEALT WITH OVER TIME.

GATES: YOU MEAN, UH, IN YOUR RANTS ON TV... BLACK: YES.

YEAH, I FOUND A DIRECTION FOR THEM.

I MEAN, SHE REALLY, UM, UH, HAS HAD A LOT OF ANGER.

GATES: DOES SHE THINK YOU'RE FUNNY?

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: DOES SHE?

BLACK: YEAH.

IT TOOK A WHILE.

GATES: MY SECOND GUEST IS ROY WOOD, JR. A MAINSTAY OF LATE NIGHT COMEDY, WITH A REGULAR GIG ON "THE DAILY SHOW".

WOOD JR.: MLK DAY IS A SPECIAL DAY FOR AMERICA AND IT'S A SPECIAL DAY FOR ME AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN MISTAKEN FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

MANY TIMES!

GATES: MUCH LIKE LEWIS BLACK, ROY TOLD ME THAT HE DIDN'T SET OUT TO BECOME A COMEDIAN.

INSTEAD, HE SAYS THAT HE TURNED TO COMEDY ALMOST BY ACCIDENT, AFTER CIRCUMSTANCES IN HIS FAMILY FORCED HIM TO SPEND MUCH OF HIS CHILDHOOD LIVING WITHIN HIS OWN IMAGINATION.

WOOD JR.: I WAS THE ONLY CHILD BY MY MOTHER.

I GREW UP ALONE... GATES: YOU HAVE HALF-SIBLINGS?

WOOD JR.: YEAH.

I HAVE A LOT OF HALVES, BUT DAY AND NIGHT IN THAT HOUSE, I WAS ALONE.

GATES: YEAH.

RIGHT.

WOOD JR.: SO, I WAS THE KID THAT TALKED TO HIS TOYS.

I HAD FULL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE GI JOE'S VERSUS THE TRANSFORMERS, AND YOU KNOW, I KEPT MY HEAD LOW, MAN.

I HAD ONE OR TWO FRIENDS.

I DIDN'T REALLY DO A LOT OF, I WOULDN'T EVEN SAY I WAS EVEN REMOTELY A CLASS CLOWN UNTIL MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND EVEN THEN AS FAR AS THE ACTUAL, THE ACTUAL CONCEPT OF GOING, "I'M FUNNY, AND I KNOW I CAN MAKE THIS PERSON LAUGH," THAT, THAT CAME FROM SPORTS.

GATES: HOW?

WOOD JR.: IN, BECAUSE I WASN'T GOOD.

(LAUGHTER).

WOOD JR.: SO, UH, WHEN YOU RIDE THE BENCH, YOUR JOB IS TO HECKLE THE OPPOSING TEAM, PERIOD.

THAT'S YOUR JOB, SO I TOOK PRIDE IN THAT BECAUSE THAT WAS MY CONTRIBUTION.

AND IF YOU MAKE THE PARENTS OF THE OPPOSING TEAM LAUGH, YOU GOT A JOKE.

A STANDING OVATION IS MAKING THE UMPIRE LAUGH.

GATES: WHILE SPORTS MAY HAVE GIVEN ROY HIS FIRST AUDIENCE, IT WOULD TAKE A TRULY TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE TO DRIVE HIM ONSTAGE FOR REAL.

DURING HIS JUNIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE, ROY WAS ARRESTED FOR THEFT, FOUND HIMSELF FACING PRISON AND DECIDED TO EMBRACE HIS TALENTS BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE.

WOOD JR.: I WAS STEALING CREDIT CARDS, AND WE WAS, YOU KNOW, TAKING CREDIT CARDS AND BUYING JEANS, AND LIKE JUST TRYING TO BE COOL.

GATES: UH-HUH.

WOOD JR.: WASN'T GUNS AND DRUGS, AND WE'RE NOT INVOLVED IN SOME INTERNATIONAL CONSPIRACY.

I JUST WANTED SOME NICE TOMMY HILFIGER JEANS.

GATES: SO, HOW ARE YOU STEALING CREDIT CARDS?

FROM WHOM?

WOOD JR.: I WAS A MAIL SORTER AT THE POST OFFICE.

GATES: OH.

WOOD JR.: THAT'S WHERE THE CREDIT CARDS START, DOC.

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW THAT.

CREDIT CARDS START AT THE POST OFFICE.

GATES: PRE-APPROVAL, PRE-APPROVAL.

WOOD JR.: YES.

YEAH.

IN THE '90'S, THERE WAS NO, "CALL THE NUMBER AND ENTER YOUR SOCIAL."

GATES: NO.

WOOD JR.: NO.

IT'S JUST A HOT CREDIT CARD IN AN ENVELOPE, THANK YOU, AND I WILL GO AND GET MYSELF SOME JEANS WITH THIS.

GATES: IT'S, IT'S LUCKY YOU DIDN'T GO TO JAIL.

WOOD JR.: I WAS SUPPOSED TO.

GATES: OH, WHAT HAPPENED?

HOW'D YOU GET OUT OF THAT?

WOOD JR.: I DON'T KNOW.

LUCK.

GATES: NO.

WOOD JR.: I'M SERIOUS.

I DON'T KNOW.

GATES: HUH.

WOOD JR.: I WAS, I HAD A LAWYER WHO TOLD ME I WAS GOING TO PRISON, SO I PREPARED TO GO TO PRISON, AND THEN WHEN I GOT TO COURT, THEY GAVE ME PROBATION.

AND DURING THE TIME WAITING, FOR SENTENCING, THIS WAS '98, I JUST STARTED DOING COMEDY.

I WAS SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL, BUT MY FINANCIAL AID HAD ALREADY BEEN PROCESSED FOR THE SEMESTER.

GATES: RIGHT.

WOOD JR.: SO, I HAD A CHECK FOR, LIKE, $6,000.

GATES: WOW.

WOOD JR.: AND NO CLASSES TO ATTEND.

GATES: THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY.

WOOD JR.: YOU'RE NINETEEN WITH $6,000.

GATES: CASH MONEY.

WOOD JR.: AND YOU GOT NOTHING TO DO.

I'M GONNA GO TELL THESE JOKES.

GATES: ROY MADE THE MOST OF HIS JOKES AND THOSE $6,000.

HE WAS SOON TAKING BUSES ACROSS THE SOUTH TO PERFORM AT SMALL COMEDY CLUBS, LAUNCHING A CAREER THAT HAS BEEN GROWING STEADILY EVER SINCE.

BUT FOR EVERYTHING HE'S ACCOMPLISHED, ROY HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN THAT HE OWES IT ALL TO ONE DARK MOMENT AND TO AN UNLIKELY DECISION.

WOOD JR.: I'VE SAID IT ON THE RECORD A MILLION TIMES, GETTING ARRESTED WAS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME.

IT LITERALLY SET MY ASS STRAIGHT, AND EVERYTHING THAT I AM SINCE THEN WAS BECAUSE OF THAT MISTAKE AND THE PEOPLE WHO SHOWED ME BENEVOLENCE DURING THE TIME WHEN I DIDN'T DESERVE ANY.

GATES: ROY AND LEWIS HAVE BOTH BEEN FORTUNATE.

THEIR COMEDIC GIFTS HAVE BROUGHT THEM SUCCESS THAT THEY COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG.

NOW IT WAS TIME TO INTRODUCE THEM TO ANCESTORS WHOSE GIFTS WERE DECIDEDLY MORE PRACTICAL AND WHOSE LIVES WERE MORE INCLINED TOWARDS DRAMA THAN TOWARDS COMEDY.

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FAMILY IS FROM?

BLACK: I KNOW, RUSSIA.

GATES: RUSSIA.

BLACK: YEAH, RUSSIA.

GATES: WE STARTED WITH LEWIS BLACK AND WITH A MYSTERY THAT HAD LONG CONSUMED HIS MOTHER'S FAMILY.

IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, WHEN LEWIS' GRANDFATHER, ISRAEL KAPLAN, WAS STILL A TEENAGER, HIS FATHER, LEWIS' GREAT GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED NOCHUM, DECIDED TO MOVE FROM HIS NATIVE RUSSIA TO WHAT WAS THEN PALESTINE.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IS THE STUFF OF FAMILY LEGEND.

BLACK: MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER DECIDES, THEY'RE IN RUSSIA, HE DECIDES THAT HE WANTS TO DIE IN PALESTINE.

AND SO, THE WIFE GOES, "OKAY."

THEY TAKE AND THEY GOT ALL THESE KIDS, AND THEY GO TO PALESTINE.

I SAID TO MY GRANDFATHER, "SO, WHAT WAS IT LIKE?"

HE SAID, "IT, IT WAS, IT WAS HORRIBLE.

IT WAS A DESERT.

THERE WAS NOTHING THERE..." GATES: THERE WAS NOTHING THERE.

BLACK: "AT ALL."

HE SAID IT WAS AWFUL.

BUT IT WASN'T LIKE HE DIDN'T LIKE, IT WASN'T BECAUSE THE, THE PEOPLE, IT WAS JUST REALLY THE, THE, THE, JUST THE GENERAL CONDITION.

GATES: SO THE PROMISE LAND HAD NOT BEEN PAVED, RIGHT?

BLACK: YEAH.

YEAH.

GATES: THERE ARE NO RECORDS FROM THE TIME THAT LEWIS'S FAMILY SPENT IN PALESTINE.

ALL WE KNOW IS THAT THEY LEFT AFTER ROUGHLY A YEAR AND THAT HIS GRANDFATHER ISRAEL THEN CAME TO AMERICA, FOLLOWING HIS BROTHER JOSEPH, WHILE HIS PARENTS SEPARATED AND SCATTERED, LEAVING THEIR DESCENDANTS WITH A HOST OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.

GATES: ACCORDING TO YOUR FAMILY, ISRAEL'S MOTHER, YOUR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, SAID "I'M OUTTA HERE".

(LAUGHTER).

AND RETURNED TO RUSSIA AFTER ONE YEAR IN THE HOLY LAND.

ANY IDEA, UH, FAMILY STORIES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO GRANDMA AFTER THAT?

BLACK: NONE.

I HAVE NO CLUE.

IT WAS LIKE A DISAPPEARANCE.

I MEAN, LITERALLY, IT ALL KINDA STOPS.

MY GRANDFATHER COMES OVER, AND UM, IT ALL KINDA STOPS THERE.

THE GREAT-GRANDPARENTS ARE REALLY NOT WELL KNOWN.

GATES: OKAY.

LET'S SEE WHAT WE FOUND.

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

YOU'RE LOOKING AT A SHIPPING MANIFEST UM, FOR THE SS JELUNGA, AND IT SAILED FROM THE PORT OF ROTTERDAM TO NEW YORK, ARRIVING JULY 17TH, 1908.

BLACK: "RUCHEL KAPLAN, 45, MARRIED OR SINGLE, D, GOING TO SON, JOSEPH KAPLAN."

GATES: THAT IS YOUR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER AND SHE WAS MAKING THE JOURNEY TO THE UNITED STATES AT THE AGE OF 45 TO JOIN HER SONS.

BLACK: YOU KNOW, I-I DIDN'T KNOW.

THAT'S REALLY, WOW.

GATES: YEAH.

AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE "D" STANDS FOR?

BLACK: DIVORCED?

GATES: DIVORCED.

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: YEAH.

DID YOU EVER HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT THAT?

BLACK: NO.

GATES: ACCORDING TO THIS RECORD, LEWIS' GREAT-GRANDMOTHER ROUCHLA, OR RACHEL, DIDN'T RETURN TO RUSSIA FROM PALESTINE.

RATHER, SHE DIVORCED HER HUSBAND AND RESETTLED, FIRST IN BELGIUM, AND FINALLY WITH HER SONS IN NEW YORK.

IT WAS A COMPELLING STORY.

BUT WE'RE NOT SURE IT'S TRUE.

AS WE SORTED THROUGH THE BELGIAN ARCHIVES, LOOKING FOR TRACES OF ROUCHLA WE FOUND SOMETHING ELSE.

A FILE FOR HER HUSBAND, LEWIS' GREAT-GRANDFATHER NOCHUM... AND IT SEEMS THAT NOCHUM HAD A VERY DIFFERENT IDEA ABOUT THE STATUS OF HIS MARRIAGE.

SO DO YOU NOTICE ANYTHING ODD ABOUT THAT DOCUMENT?

BLACK: THIS?

GATES: YES.

NOCHUM LISTS ROUCHLA AS HIS WIFE AFTER SHE INDICATED THAT SHE WAS DIVORCED.

(LAUGHTER).

THEY BOTH CAN'T BE RIGHT.

BLACK: YEAH.

WOW.

GATES: SO, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON, BUT IT SURE LOOKS LIKE THEY HAD A DISAGREEMENT ABOUT WHETHER THEY WERE MARRIED OR DIVORCED.

BLACK: DIVORCED.

YEAH.

GATES: WELL, LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENED.

PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

THIS IS VERY COOL.

THIS IS THE PASSENGER LIST OF A SHIP THAT ARRIVED IN NEW YORK FROM ANTWERP ON AUGUST 2, 1911.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

BLACK: YEAH.

"NOCHUM KAPLAN, 50 YEARS, MARRIED, GOING TO SON, I. KAPLAN, 233 HENRY STREET, NEW YORK."

SO THAT'S NOCHUM.

GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.

BLACK: SO, HE'S CHASING HER.

GATES: YEAH.

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

BLACK: IT IS REALLY, I MEAN SERIOUSLY, IT'S, LIKE, EYE OPENING.

GATES: WE CAN'T SAY FOR CERTAIN WHETHER NOCHUM AND RACHEL EVER OFFICIALLY DIVORCED, BUT WE'RE PRETTY SURE THAT THEY EVENTUALLY MANAGED TO PUT THEIR DIFFERENCES ASIDE, AS EVIDENCED BY NOCHUM'S NATURALIZATION PAPERS, FILED IN NEW YORK IN 1924.

BLACK: "I, NATHAN KAPLAN, AGED 64 YEARS, DO DECLARE THAT, I IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES FROM ANTWERP, BELGIUM.

I AM MARRIED.

MY WIFE IS RACHEL.

SHE NOW RESIDES WITH ME."

GATES: HOW ABOUT THAT, MAN?

BLACK: SO THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER.

GATES: THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER.

ISN'T THAT COOL?

BLACK: THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

GATES: AND YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT?

THIS IS YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S DECLARATION OF HIS INTENT TO BECOME A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

BLACK: UNITED STATES.

WOW, WOW.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

(SIGHS).

BLACK: IT'S KIND OF EXTRAORDINARY, UM, I'M KINDA MORE STUNNED THAT, THAT HE'S BACK WITH THE WIFE.

GATES: YEAH, ME TOO.

BLACK: AND BACK WITH MY UH, GREAT-GRANDMOTHER.

GATES: 'CAUSE SHE SAID, "I'M OUTTA HERE."

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: "DON'T BOTHER ME."

BLACK: YEAH, I MEAN.

GATES: BUT HE DIDN'T GIVE UP.

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: AND HE'S CHANGED HIS NAME TO NATHAN.

BLACK: NATHAN AND, AND NOW SHE'S RACHEL.

GATES: BUT THINK ABOUT WHAT AN AMAZING STORY.

AFTER AN ARDUOUS JOURNEY AROUND THE GLOBE, YOUR FAMILY IS FINALLY REUNITED.

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: AND SOMEHOW YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER, HE MUST'VE HAD THE GIFT OF GAB, 'CAUSE HE CONVINCED HIS WIFE TO TAKE HIM BACK.

BLACK: YEAH.

THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

GATES: YEAH.

NOCHUM PASSED AWAY SOMETIME BETWEEN 1925 AND 1930.

RACHEL DIED IN 1931.

THERE'S NO EVIDENCE THAT EITHER OF THEM EVER LEFT EACH OTHER AFTER THEY RECONCILED.

BUT THIS ISN'T THE END OF THE STORY.

THERE WAS ONE MORE DOCUMENT THAT WE WANTED SHARE WITH LEWIS, A RECORD OF THE DECISION THAT HAD ULTIMATELY BROUGHT STABILITY TO HIS FAMILY.

THE DECISION MADE BY HIS GRANDFATHER ISRAEL TO LEAVE PALESTINE AND TAKE HIS CHANCES IN AMERICA.

LEWIS, THIS IS A LIST OF PASSENGERS WHO ARRIVED IN THE PORT OF NEW YORK ON DECEMBER 3, 1906, ONBOARD A SHIP CALLED THE SS HUDSON.

BLACK: JESUS.

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

BLACK: "ISRAEL KOSOFSKI, 16, BY WHOM WAS PASSAGE PAID, SELF, WHETHER IN POSSESSION OF $50 AND IF LESS, HOW MUCH, $6."

GATES: LEWIS, YOUR GRANDFATHER, ISRAEL KOSOFSKI, SOON TO BE ISRAEL KAPLAN... BLACK: WOW.

GATES: ARRIVED IN NEW YORK AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN WITH SIX BUCKS IN HIS POCKET.

BLACK: RIGHT.

WOW.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT DOCUMENT?

BLACK: IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

IT'S PRETTY EXTRAORDINARY.

GATES: YEAH.

BLACK: YEAH.

I'M OVERWHELMED, YOU KNOW?

IT'S, UM, IF I HAD TO FIND MY GRANDFATHER'S GRAVE, GOOD LUCK.

GATES: YEAH.

BLACK: YOU LITERALLY, YOU DRIVE BY THIS THING.

IT'S A BILLION... GATES: RIGHT.

BLACK: YOU KNOW, IT COULD GO, IT HAS NO MEANING TO ME, AND I'VE NEVER QUITE UNDERSTOOD THAT.

UM, THIS HAS PROFOUND MEANING.

THIS IS REAL.

GATES: LIKE LEWIS, ROY WOOD, JR., WAS ABOUT TRAVEL DOWN AN UNKNOWN BRANCH OF HIS FAMILY TREE.

THE JOURNEY BEGAN IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, WHERE ROY SPENT MUCH OF HIS CHILDHOOD.

ROY'S FATHER, ROY WOOD SR, WAS 63 YEARS OLD WHEN ROY WAS BORN AND PASSED AWAY WHEN ROY WAS A TEENAGER.

A CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND PIONEERING RADIO ANNOUNCER, ROY, SR.

LIVED FOR HIS WORK.

INDEED, MOST OF ROY'S MEMORIES OF HIS FATHER ARE FOCUSED ON HIS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER.

WOOD JR.: HE WAS VERY MUCH RESPECTED.

GATES: YEAH.

WOOD JR.: AND THAT'S THE ONE THING THAT I REMEMBER MOST ABOUT MY FATHER WAS JUST EVERYONE RESPECTED HIM, AND IT WASN'T BECAUSE HE WAS A TYRANT.

HE WAS RESPECTED OFF THE MERIT OF HIS WORK AND HIS EFFORTS AND WHAT HE POURED INTO THE CULTURE.

GATES: UH-HUH WOOD JR.: YOU KNOW AND I HAVE A BARBER THAT TO THIS DAY WILL NOT CHARGE ME FOR A HAIRCUT IN BIRMINGHAM ON THE STRENGTH OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH MY FATHER.

GATES: OH, THAT'S GREAT.

WOOD JR.: AND YOU KNOW THERE'S JUST, THERE'S TONS OF PEOPLE LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW?

GATES: TOO BAD YOU DON'T LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM.

YOU'D SAVE A LOT OF MONEY.

WOOD JR.: YEAH.

GATES: UNFORTUNATELY, THOUGH HE MADE HIS LIVING BY TALKING, ROY SR.

RARELY SPOKE ABOUT HIS FAMILY.

ALL ROY KNEW WAS THAT HIS FATHER HAD LOST HIS OWN FATHER WHEN HE WAS A CHILD.

BEYOND THAT, HIS ROOTS WERE A BLANK SLATE.

WE SET OUT TO FILL THEM IN, FOCUSING FIRST ON ROY'S GRANDMOTHER, ROSALIE LATIMER.

ROSALIE WAS BORN IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA SOMETIME AROUND 1895.

A COLLEGE GRADUATE, SHE FOUND HERSELF WORKING AS A LAUNDRESS AFTER HER HUSBAND'S EARLY DEATH.

BUT ROSALIE WASN'T DESTINED TO WASH CLOTHES.

INSTEAD, SHE PACKED UP HER TWO YOUNG CHILDREN AND JOINED WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE "GREAT MIGRATION", THE MASS EXODUS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS OUT OF THE DEEP SOUTH.

BY 1928, SHE WAS IN CHICAGO, A JOURNEY OF MORE THAN 700 MILES.

WOOD JR.: THAT'S CRAZY.

GATES: WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MUST'VE BEEN LIKE FOR YOUR GRANDMOTHER, MAKING SUCH A BIG DECISION AS A SINGLE MOM, WITHOUT ANYONE TO FALL BACK ON IF SHE FELL FLAT ON HER FACE?

WOOD JR.: WELL, MY QUESTION IS, WELL, YOU GENERALLY DON'T MOVE UNLESS YOU HAVE SOME SORT OF NETWORK OR SYSTEM OR SOMEONE LIKE, WHO WERE THE RELATIVES?

WHO WERE THE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE FAMILY?

LIKE, WHAT MADE YOU.

GATES: WORD OF MOUTH.

IT WOULD'VE JUST BEEN, THE RACE WAS ON TO MOVE.

THERE WERE ARTICLES ABOUT THIS IN EVERY BLACK NEWSPAPER.

EVERY BLACK CHURCH WAS TALKING ABOUT IT.

PEOPLE WERE TIRED OF JIM CROW.

THEY WERE TIRED OF THE KLAN, AND ALL THIS NEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES WERE OPENING UP.

AND SO, BASICALLY, SHE HAS A COLLEGE DEGREE.

YOU WANT TO SCRUB WHITE PEOPLE'S DIRTY LINEN?

OR YOU WANT A JOB?

WOOD JR.: YEAH.

GATES: YOU KNOW?

WOOD JR.: YOU STILL GOT RACISM, BUT AT LEAST YOU CAN GET MONEY UP HERE.

GATES: YEAH.

THAT'S RIGHT.

YEAH.

ROSALIE FOUND BOTH MONEY AND STATUS IN CHICAGO, BECOMING AN OFFICE SUPERVISOR AND AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE NAACP, AS WELL AS MANY LOCAL CHARITIES.

UPON HER DEATH IN 1959, SHE WAS CELEBRATED WITH A FULL OBITUARY, WHICH WOULD PROVE TO BE A GOLD MINE FOR OUR RESEARCHERS.

AS IT CONTAINED THE NAME OF ROSALIE'S LONG DECEASED HUSBAND.

A NAME THAT WOULD TAKE ROY BY SURPRISE.

WOOD JR.: "MRS. WOOD WAS A WIDOW.

HER HUSBAND, ROY WOOD, SR., DIED IN OCTOBER 1919.

SHE IS SURVIVED BY HER SON, ROY WOOD JR." I THOUGHT I WAS ROY WOOD JR. GATES: HOW ABOUT THAT?

WOOD JR.: LIKE, FOR REAL, WHAT DO I DO NOW?

AM I ROY WOOD JR. JR.?

LIKE, WHAT DO I DO WITH MY NAME?

GATES: BRO.

WOOD JR.: WHAT DO?

GATES: I THINK LEGALLY YOU'RE ROY WOOD JR., BUT ACTUALLY YOU'RE ROY WOOD III.

WOOD JR.: YEAH, WOW.

GATES: ONCE WE GOT OVER THE COMPLICATIONS INVOLVING ROY'S NAME, WE BEGAN TO EXPLORE THIS BRANCH OF HIS TREE.

MOVING BACK FROM THE ORIGINAL "ROY WOOD" WE CAME TO HIS FATHER, ROY'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER WILLIAM WOOD, A BRICKLAYER, WHO, IN 1900, OWNED HIS HOME AND A FARM, WITHOUT A MORTGAGE!

THIS WAS A MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR A BLACK MAN IN THE JIM CROW SOUTH AND A DELIGHTFUL REVELATION TO ROY!

BUT AN EVEN BIGGER REVELATION WAS STILL TO COME.

TRACKING BACK FROM WILLIAM WOOD TO HIS FATHER JEFFERSON WOOD, WE FOUND ROY'S ANCESTORS IN THE 1870 CENSUS FOR GEORGIA, THIS IS THE FIRST CENSUS RECORDED AFTER EMANCIPATION AND THUS THE VERY FIRST CENSUS IN WHICH FORMERLY ENSLAVED PEOPLE ARE LISTED BY NAME, AGE, AND BIRTHPLACE.

AND HERE, LIVING NEXT TO JEFFERSON WOOD, WAS A MAN WITH A BIRTHPLACE THAT WE VERY RARELY SEE.

WOOD JR.: "WOOD, SAMUEL, 80 YEARS OLD, BORN IN AFRICA."

GATES: YOU JUST MET YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SAMUEL WOOD, BORN AROUND 1790, IN AFRICA.

ROY, WE CAN TAKE YOUR FAMILY'S TREE STRAIGHT TO A MAN BORN IN AFRICA.

THAT'S AMAZING.

BY NAME.

WOOD JR.: BY NAME.

GATES: THIS IS EXTRAORDINARILY RARE.

I, FOR EXAMPLE, HAVE NO IDEA WHEN MY AFRICAN ANCESTOR CAME.

BUT NOW YOU KNOW, SO, YOU HAVE A DIRECT AFRICAN CONNECTION THAT YOU CAN SEE THERE IN WRITING.

WOOD JR.: AND IT WAS ALWAYS THERE, AND YOU ALWAYS KNEW IT, BUT YOU JUST NEVER, IT JUST NEVER CONNECTS.

GATES: HE IS THE PROGENITOR OF THE WOOD LINE OF YOUR FAMILY IN AMERICA.

WOOD JR.: JUST, I DON'T KNOW WHY I FEEL PROUD.

GATES: UH-HUH.

WOOD JR.: BUT I FEEL PROUD.

I FEEL, I FEEL THAT.

(SIGHS).

AND YOU JUST WONDER WHAT SOMEBODY LIKE SAMUEL WOOD WENT THROUGH.

GATES: OH YEAH.

WOOD JR.: TO MAKE SURE THAT JEFFERSON WOOD WAS ABLE TO SURVIVE.

GATES: YEAH, AND THRIVE.

WOOD JR.: I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW YOU BEGIN TO-TO HONOR SOMEONE'S SACRIFICE.

GATES: I THINK YOU'RE DOING A PRETTY GOOD JOB.

I THINK IF OLD, UH, SAM CAME POPPING BACK, HE'D BE PROUD.

HE'D TELL YOU, "HOW COME YOU AIN'T THE THIRD, THOUGH?"

WOOD JR.: YEAH.

GATES: HE GOES, "I AIN'T HAD MUCH EDUCATION, BUT YEAH, I CAN COUNT TO THREE."

WOOD JR.: "SENIOR, JUNIOR, JUNIOR?

WHAT?"

GATES: SAMUEL'S SACRIFICE WAS PERHAPS EVEN GREATER THAN ROY IMAGINED.

HE WAS LIKELY BROUGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE LAST WAVE OF ENSLAVED PEOPLE WHO ARRIVED THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1790 AND 1808, WHEN THE INTERNATIONAL SLAVE TRADE BECAME ILLEGAL.

MEANING THAT SAMUEL LIKELY CAME AS A CHILD, POSSIBLY A VERY YOUNG CHILD, MAKING IT ALL THE MORE INCREDIBLE JUST HOW FAR ROY'S FAMILY WAS ABLE TO RISE.

WOOD JR.: I WISH MY DAD COULD SEE THIS, MAN.

I THINK HE'D BE PROUD, TOO.

I THINK MY DAD WOULD BE PROUD TO KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT HE'S FROM THIS LINE OF SURVIVORS AND PEOPLE WHO OWNED HOMES AND PROPERTY.

THESE PEOPLE WHO WERE EDUCATED, AND THESE PEOPLE WHO STILL MANAGED TO RAISE A FAMILY AND DO EVERYTHING THEY POSSIBLY COULD IN SPITE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES AROUND THEM, GENERATION AFTER GENERATION AFTER GENERATION.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY TRACED LEWIS BLACK'S MATERNAL ANCESTRY, MAPPING OUT HIS FAMILY'S DIZZYING JOURNEY TO AMERICA ACROSS EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST.

TURNING TO HIS FATHER'S ROOTS, WE CONFRONTED SOMETHING FAR SIMPLER, LEWIS WANTED TO KNOW THE SOURCE OF HIS SURNAME.

ACCORDING TO HIS FAMILY, THE NAME "BLACK" HAD BEEN BROUGHT TO THE UNITED STATES BY HIS GRANDFATHER, BUT BEYOND THAT, ALL WAS A MYSTERY, AS HIS GRANDFATHER HAD DIED YOUNG, TAKING HIS STORY WITH HIM.

WE BEGAN TO RECONSTRUCT THAT STORY IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

BLACK: "THE GROOM, LOUIS BLACK, AGE 28.

OCCUPATION, JUNK BUSINESS.

BRIDE, JENNIE FREYER, AGE 22."

GATES: THAT'S YOUR GRANDPARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE.

BLACK: THAT'S RIGHT.

YES.

WOW.

I'VE NEVER SEEN HIS, UH, NAME.

GATES: OH, REALLY?

BLACK: I MEAN I KNEW HIS NAME, I HAD JUST NEVER SEEN IT ON A... GATES: ON A DOCUMENT.

BLACK: ON A DOCUMENT.

AND IT'S L-O-U-I-S.

I'M L-E-W-I-S. GATES: YEAH.

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

BLACK: IT'S REALLY SOMETHING.

I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO REALLY TRACK ANYTHING ABOUT HIM SO JUST HAVING ANYTHING, AND THAT HE WAS IN THE JUNK BUSINESS, WHICH IS VERY SIMILAR TO MY BUSINESS.

GATES: YOU'RE CRAZY.

BLACK: TWO STEPS AWAY FROM SHOW BUSINESS.

UM, SO THAT, UH, WHICH IS FASCINATING, 'CAUSE THAT I DIDN'T KNOW, 'CAUSE THERE WAS NO, MY FATHER, I, MY FATHER DIDN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING.

DIDN'T TALK, YOU KNOW.

AND MY GRANDMOTHER DIDN'T REALLY KNOW, TALK ABOUT IT MUCH, SO IT, IT WAS NO, THIS IS REALLY, ONE OF THE REASONS I WAS EXCITED ABOUT THIS WAS, WAS GETTING SOME SENSE OF WHO I WAS NAMED AFTER.

GATES: AS A "JUNK DEALER," LEWIS' GRANDFATHER WAS A BIT FURTHER REMOVED FROM SHOW BUSINESS THAN LEWIS HAD IMAGINED.

HE MADE HIS LIVING COLLECTING AND RESELLING SCRAP METAL.

IT WAS TOUGH WORK AND A VERY COMMON OCCUPATION FOR JEWISH IMMIGRANTS AT THE TIME.

TRYING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HIS LIFE, WE UNCOVERED A SERIES OF CLUES IN THE 1910 CENSUS FOR MANHATTAN.

BLACK: "LOUIS BLACK, LODGER, 21, SINGLE.

PLACE OF BIRTH, RUSSIA.

THE YEAR OF IMMIGRATION, 1905."

WOW.

"OCCUPATION, METALS LABORER."

GATES: THAT'S YOUR GRANDFATHER RENTING A ROOM IN NEW YORK CITY IN THE HOME OF A FAMILY CALLED THE GERSONS, A SIX-PERSON FAMILY.

AND, BUT THE KEY PIECE OF INFORMATION ON THAT CENSUS IS HIS IMMIGRATION YEAR, 1905.

BLACK: '05.

GATES: RIGHT.

YOUR GRANDFATHER LEFT RUSSIA FOR THE UNITED STATES AS A TEENAGER, ARRIVING IN 1905, WHEN HE WAS NINETEEN YEARS OLD.

BLACK: YEAH.

PHEW.

GATES: PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

BLACK: WOW.

GATES: I WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING.

BLACK: HERE WE GO.

GATES: LOOK AT THIS.

THIS IS A PASSENGER LIST ABOARD THE SS SAXONIA.

IT SAILED FROM LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, AND ARRIVED IN BOSTON ON OCTOBER 5, 1905.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED PASSAGE?

BLACK: "LEIB BLECH, 19 RACE, HEBREW."

RACE?

WOW.

"FINAL DESTINATION, NEW YORK CITY, BY WHOM WAS PASSAGE PAID, SELF, WHETHER IN POSSESSION OF $50 AND IF LESS HOW MUCH,$40.

(SIGHS).

THAT'S AMAZING.

AND "LEIB BLECH."

GATES: YES.

BLACK: BECAUSE I'VE ALWAYS WONDERED THE "BLACK" CAME FROM.

GATES: NOW YOU KNOW.

BLACK: LIKE, I ASKED 100,000 TIMES.

NOBODY KNOWS.

THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY, WHEN THEY GOT OFF THE BOAT, IT'S, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE WE... GATES: YEAH, "THE GUY NAMED."

BLACK: AND THEY'LL SAY, "YOU'RE SCHWARTZ, YOU'RE LEWIS SCHWARTZ."

NO.

NO.

NO.

THERE WAS NO SCHWARTZES.

NO.

IT'S NOT THIS, IT'S NOT THAT, YOU KNOW.

SO THIS IS REALLY, NOW IT'S REALLY CLEAR.

GATES: YEAH, THAT'S THE REAL DEAL.

BLACK: FINALLY, AFTER, UM, REALLY, SINCE I WAS, UH, LIKE ELEVEN YEARS OLD AND STARTED ASKING QUESTIONS, FINALLY SOMEBODY CAME TO THE DOOR THAT HAD THE ANSWER.

GATES: OH, THAT'S BEAUTIFUL.

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: THIS IS AS FAR BACK AS WE COULD TAKE LEWIS' GRANDFATHER.

WE BELIEVE THAT HE CAME FROM A PART OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE THAT IS NOW IN UKRAINE, BUT WE CAN'T PROVE IT.

THE REGION WAS DEVASTATED DURING WORLD WAR II AND OUR RESEARCHERS ARE OFTEN UNABLE TO FIND ANY TRACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED WITHIN IT.

BUT WHEN WE TURNED FROM LEWIS' GRANDFATHER TO HIS GRANDMOTHER, A WOMAN NAMED JENNIE FREYER, WE HAD BETTER LUCK.

JENNIE IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA IN 1911, WHEN SHE WAS JUST 17 YEARS OLD.

ROUGHLY A DECADE LATER, HER MOTHER CAME OVER AND THE PASSENGER MANIFEST OF THE SHIP THAT BROUGHT HER HERE LISTS THE FAMILY'S HOMETOWN: A PLACE CALLED "CHORNYI OSTRIV", NOW IN WESTERN UKRAINE.

BLACK: WOW.

GATES: SO, YOU FINALLY KNOW WHERE YOU COME FROM.

BLACK: THAT'S SOMETHIN'.

GATES: YOU GONNA VISIT?

BLACK: NO.

GATES: YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE WHERE YOUR PEOPLE CAME FROM?

YOU GO, LIKE, "NO!"

LIKE, "WE LEFT 100 YEARS AGO."

BLACK: REALLY.

IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE GOING BACK TO SEE WHERE THEY WERE TREATED NICELY.

GATES: YEAH, RIGHT.

BLACK: YOU KNOW, "THINGS WERE REALLY GREAT, LET'S GO SEE THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD."

GATES: LEWIS IS RIGHT: HIS ANCESTORS WERE NOT TREATED WELL IN THEIR HOMELAND, NOT AT ALL!

FOR CENTURIES, CHORNYI OSTRIV WAS PART OF THE NOTORIOUS PALE OF SETTLEMENT, WHERE RUSSIA CONFINED AND RESTRICTED ITS JEWISH POPULATION.

LIVING CONDITIONS WERE HARSH, BUT THE SITUATION GREW EVEN WORSE DURING WORLD WAR I, AS RUSSIA WAS CONSUMED BY CIVIL WAR.

SOON, WHITE AND RED ARMIES, POLISH FORCES, AND UKRAINIAN NATIONALISTS WERE BATTLING EACH OTHER ACROSS THE REGION WHERE LEWIS' ANCESTORS LIVED.

SOME TURNED THEIR ANGER AGAINST THE JEWS, UNLEASHING A WAVE OF VIOLENT POGROMS.

BLACK: "WORD CAME THAT THE UKRAINIAN NATIONALIST FORCES WERE ON THEIR WAY.

ABOUT 40 HID IN A CELLAR AS THE TROOPS ADVANCED.

ON THE THIRD DAY THE TROUBLE BEGAN.

THEY HEARD THE SOUND OF SHOTS AND BREAKING GLASS, OF PEOPLE SOBBING.

THEN THE SOLDIERS DISCOVERED THE CELLAR.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN BEGAN TO WAIL.

OLD MEN TO PRAY, BUT THEIR SUPPLICATION AND PRAYER WAS SOON INTERRUPTED BY THE SHOTS OF SOLDIERS AND BY THE GROANS OF THE WOUNDED.

I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THE FIRING LASTED."

PHEW.

YEAH.

GATES: MORE THAN 120 PEOPLE, MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, DIED IN A POGROM IN YOUR FAMILY'S HOMETOWN IN 1919.

BLACK: WOW.

GATES: AND THEN AFTER THE MASSACRE, YOU READY FOR THIS?

THE ARMY PLACED THE BODIES ON DISPLAY TO INSTILL FEAR IN THE LOCALS.

BLACK: WOW.

I ALWAYS KNEW.

THEY ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT THE POGROMS AS WHY THEY LEFT.

GATES: DID THEY?

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING FORCED TO LIVE LIKE THAT?

BLACK: NO, I CAN'T.

MY, UM, SONIA, MY, UH, UM, MY AUNT, ACCORDING TO RECORD, WAS, UH, WAS, UH, WAS IN A POGROM AND THEY, UH, SABER WOUNDS.

GATES: REALLY?

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: LEWIS' GRANDMOTHER JENNIE WAS ALREADY IN AMERICA WHEN THESE POGROMS BEGAN, BUT MOST OF HER FAMILY WAS STILL LIVING BACK IN UKRAINE.

YET SOMEHOW, AGAINST ALL ODDS, THEY NOT ONLY MANAGED TO SURVIVE, BUT BY 1925, THEY ALL HAD MADE THEIR WAY TO THE UNITED STATES.

GATES: AND THERE'S JENNIE LIVING WITH HER SON, SAM, HER PARENTS, BENJAMIN AND SADIE, AND HER FOUR SIBLINGS IN NEW YORK CITY.

BLACK: WOW.

(SIGHS) GATES: JENNIE WAS ONCE AGAIN SURROUNDED BY HER FAMILY.

THAT'S SOMETHING, THAT'S A MIRACLE.

BLACK: IT'S UNBELIEVABLE IS WHAT IT IS.

GATES: YOUR COUSIN, RUTH, WHO IS YOUR SECOND COUSIN, ONCE REMOVED, TOLD US THAT JENNIE USED TO HOST THE WHOLE FAMILY FOR THE HOLIDAYS AT HER APARTMENT IN THE BRONX.

BLACK: YEAH.

GATES: RUTH REMEMBERS HER FONDLY AS A HUGGER AND A PINCHER.

DOES THAT SOUND LIKE YOUR GRANDMA?

BLACK: YEAH, YEAH.

GATES: SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO HAVE THIS HISTORY RESTORED?

BLACK: AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE, WITH MY FATHER'S JUST PASSED AWAY, UM, IN MAY, MY, AND HE WAS 101.

MY MOTHER, MY MOTHER'S, UH, YOU KNOW, 101.

I'M THE ONLY ONE LEFT.

GATES: THAT MEANS YOU'RE GONNA LIVE TO BE 202 YOU KNOW?

BLACK: YEAH, I KNOW.

I SAID THIS.

I'M AFRAID I'M A REPTILE.

(LAUGHTER).

UM, NO, THE, UH, BUT I, YOU KNOW, SO I'M, UH, YOU KNOW, WITH MY BROTHER'S PASSING, I AM THE, THE END OF THE LINE.

UM, I'M THE END OF THIS, OF THIS FAMILY LINE WHICH I THINK IS AND I LOOK AT THIS AND IT'S PROFOUNDLY SAD, BUT IT'S ALWAYS BEEN KIND OF, I'VE ALWAYS PREPARED MYSELF FOR THAT, AND I KNEW THAT WAS, THAT DAY WAS COMING.

GATES: YEAH.

BLACK: WHAT THIS DOES IS GIVE ME A SENSE OF, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THE BOAT THAT CARRIED ME HERE.

GATES: YEAH.

YEAH.

BLACK: IT MEANS A LOT IN TERMS OF MY SPIRIT.

UM, AND IT ALSO... (SIGHS) I'M NEVER DOING THIS SHOW AGAIN.

(LAUGHTER) UH, I HAVE ALWAYS FELT, UM AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE DRIVE WAS IN PART, THE CERTAIN SENSE OF IT WAS THAT SINCE I HAD NO CHILDREN AND THAT I WAS, THAT I... YOU KNOW, THAT MY BROTHER OR I WOULD BE THE END OF THE LINE.

UM, YEAH, HE HAD NO CHILDREN, THAT, UM, UH, THAT I ALWAYS WANTED TO LEAVE SOMETHING BEHIND, A LEGACY.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE DRIVING FORCE WAS.

THAT'S THE DRIVING FORCE.

GATES: WE'D ALREADY TRACED ROY WOOD, JR.'S PATERNAL ROOTS BACK TO THE EARLY 1800'S, INTRODUCING HIM TO HIS THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SAMUEL WOOD, WHO WAS BORN IN AFRICA... NOW, WE SET OUT TO DISCOVER WHAT SAMUEL AND HIS DESCENDANT'S ENDURED AS ENSLAVED PEOPLE IN AMERICA.

IN THE 1850 CENSUS, WE UNCOVERED A SLAVE SCHEDULE FOR A WHITE PLANTER NAMED CARY WOOD IN NEWTON COUNTY, GEORGIA.

WE KNEW THAT ROY'S ANCESTORS LIVED IN NEWTON COUNTY AFTER EMANCIPATION, SO WE WONDERED IF THERE WAS A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE WHITE WOOD FAMILY AND THE BLACK WOOD FAMILY.

THIS SCHEDULE DOESN'T EXPLICITLY TELL US.

IT LISTS CARY WOOD'S HUMAN PROPERTY BY GENDER, AGE AND COLOR, BUT NOT BY NAME.

YET EVEN SO: IT MATCHED UP WITH WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW ABOUT ROY'S ANCESTORS, COMPELLING HIM TO FACE AN AGONIZING REALITY.

GATES: DO YOU SEE ANY PEOPLE WHO WERE AROUND YOUR RELATIVES' AGE ON THE DOCUMENT IN FRONT OF YOU?

WOOD JR.: THERE'S TWO MALES, AGE 55, ONE FEMALE, AGE 25, ONE MALE, AGE 1.

GATES: IN 1850, YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER WILLIAM WOULD'VE BEEN ABOUT ONE OR NOT YET BORN.

HIS FATHER, JEFFERSON, WOULD'VE BEEN BETWEEN TWENTY-SEVEN AND THIRTY.

WILLIAM'S MOTHER, MELISSA, BETWEEN TWENTY-ONE AND TWENTY-FIVE.

YOU SEE THAT FEMALE, AGE TWENTY-FIVE?

YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER SAMUEL, THE AFRICAN, WOULD, WOULD'VE BEEN BETWEEN FIFTY-FIVE AND SIXTY.

WOOD JR.: HELL.

STOP.

STOP.

STOP.

STOP.

STOP.

GATES: IT'S A LOT TO TAKE IN.

WOOD JR.: HOW CAN HE BE, ONE PAGE, NAME, ONE PAGE, PERSON, NAMED, PAGE.

GATES: RIGHT.

WOOD JR.: OVER HERE, YOU'RE JUST REDUCED TO A... (SIGHS).

IS RAGE THE NORMAL EMOTION AT THIS POINT?

GATES: IT IS INDEED.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE AN ANIMAL, TO ROB YOU OF YOUR SENSE OF HUMANITY, TO MAKE YOUR CLOSEST ASSOCIATION BE A PIG, A CHICKEN, A COW, OR A HORSE, WHICH, BY THE WAY, WERE ALSO LISTED IN THE PROPERTY SECTION IN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.

WOOD JR.: WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THAT?

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH, IT'S LIKE YOU WISH YOU COULD JUST TAKE THAT PAIN AWAY FROM THEM, YOU KNOW?

GATES: WE COULD NOT BE CERTAIN THAT THE ANONYMOUS HASH MARKS ON THIS SCHEDULE REPRESENT ROY'S ANCESTORS, BUT WE SOON UNCOVERED A DOCUMENT THAT ERASED ALL DOUBT.

IN 1857, CARY WOOD, THE SLAVE OWNER, PASSED AWAY AND HIS ESTATE RECORDS CONTAIN A LIST OF FAMILIAR NAMES, SHOWING THAT GENERATIONS OF ROY'S FAMILY WERE OWNED BY THIS ONE MAN.

WOOD JR.: "JEFFERSON, MELISSA, WILLIAM, GEORGE, AND SAM."

GATES: WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MUST'VE BEEN LIKE TO RAISE CHILDREN IN SLAVERY?

YOU KNOW REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED YOU WHAT YOU WANTED TO GROW UP TO BE?

WHAT DO YOU TELL YOUR CHILD THAT THEY'RE GOING TO GROW UP TO BE?

THEY'RE GOING TO GROW UP TO BE A SLAVE, YOU KNOW, UNLESS THERE'S A CIVIL WAR, WHICH NOBODY COULD IMAGINE IN 1850.

NO, UH, THE LIBERATION OF OUR PEOPLE WAS NOT INEVITABLE, BELIEVE ME.

750,000 PEOPLE DIED TO END SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.

WOOD JR.: THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE THAT I HAVE IN RAISING MY SON THAT MY ANCESTORS DIDN'T HAVE IN RAISING THEIR CHILDREN IS THAT I CAN GIVE MY SON HOPE.

GATES: ABSOLUTELY.

WOOD JR.: THERE WAS NO HOPE BACK THEN.

GATES: NO HOPE, BUT THEY MADE HOPE OUT OF NO HOPE.

SOMEHOW, THEY MADE, AS BLACK PEOPLE SAY, "A WAY OUT OF NOWHERE."

THEY KEPT, THEY HAD CHILDREN, MULTIPLE GENERATIONS OF CHILDREN, AND THEY BIDED THEIR TIME SO THAT YOU AND I AND PEOPLE LIKE US WOULD ONE DAY BE FREE AND FREE TO FLY IN TERMS OF OUR AMBITION.

AND THEY BIDED THEIR TIME AND KNEW, ONE DAY, IT WOULD COME.

WOOD JR.: YEAH.

GATES: WE HAD ONE MORE DOCUMENT TO SHARE WITH ROY.

IN THE ARCHIVES OF CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA, WE UNCOVERED THE ESTATE RECORDS FOR A MAN NAMED WILLIAM BILLUPS.

WILLIAM WAS CARY WOODS' FATHER-IN-LAW AND WHEN HE DIED, HE LEFT SOME OF HIS SLAVES TO HIS DAUGHTER, CARY'S WIFE.

HIS WILL, WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1816, LISTS HIS HUMAN PROPERTY BY NAME AND INCLUDES A MAN NAMED "SAM", WHOM WE BELIEVE TO BE ROY'S THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER SAMUEL WOOD, THE AFRICAN.

GIVING ROY THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE MUCH FURTHER INTO HIS FAMILY'S PAST THAN MOST AFRICAN AMERICANS CAN EVER SEE.

THAT WILL LISTING THE NAME OF ONE OF YOUR ANCESTORS IS 204 YEARS OLD.

WHEN YOU SAT DOWN, DID YOU, IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS, THINK THAT WE COULD TRACE ANY DOCUMENT ABOUT YOUR FATHER'S FAMILY BACK OVER TWO CENTURIES?

WOOD JR.: MAN, WHEN I SAT DOWN, I THOUGHT YOU WAS JUST GOING TO TELL ME ABOUT A COUPLE OF RADIO STATIONS MY DADDY WORKED AT THAT I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT.

AND MAYBE FIND ONE OR TWO, YOU KNOW, GRANDPARENTS OR SOMETHING.

BUT YOU BROKE IT DOWN, MAN.

THIS IS, THIS IS A LOT.

THIS IS, IT'S A LOT TO PROCESS.

IT'S A LOT OF, I'M PROUD TO CARRY THE WOOD NAME, YET ALSO INFURIATED AND ASHAMED, AND WHAT DO YOU DO WITH BOTH OF THOSE EMOTIONS CONCURRENTLY?

GATES: YOU GOT TO HOLD THEM IN YOUR BREAST AND IN YOUR HEAD BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU SHOULD BE FEELING, ASHAMED OF A COUNTRY THAT WOULD ALLOW SLAVERY TO LAST FOR SO LONG AND ONLY END BY, UH, AN OCEAN OF BLOODSHED.

WOOD JR.: THANK YOU, MAN.

I DON'T, I LITERALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY, BUT THANK YOU.

I DON'T, I JUST, LIKE I WANT TO, I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE AND JUST GO HOME AND HUG MY SON.

GATES: MMM.

WOOD JR.: THAT'S REALLY ALL I'M THINKING ABOUT NOW, JUST LOOKING HIM IN THE EYES AND JUST REMINDING HIM THAT I PROMISE YOU, YOU CAN BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE.

GATES: THE PAPER TRAIL HAD NOW RUN OUT FOR ROY AND LEWIS.

IT WAS TIME TO SEE WHAT DNA COULD TELL US ABOUT THEIR DEEPER ROOTS.

WE BEGAN WITH AN ADMIXTURE TEST, WHICH REVEALS A PERSON'S ANCESTRY OVER APPROXIMATELY THE LAST FIVE CENTURIES, BROKEN DOWN INTO PERCENTAGES BASED ON THE BROAD REGIONS WHERE THEIR ANCESTORS ONCE LIVED.

FOR LEWIS BLACK, THE RESULTS WERE NOT A SURPRISE.

ALL RIGHT, WHAT PERCENT ASHKENAZI JEWISH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

BLACK: UH, 99, 100.

GATES: LIKE IVORY SOAP.

TURN THE PAGE.

BLACK: YEAH, 100%.

GATES: 100%.

BLACK: I WAS HOPING FOR MAYBE, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE, LITTLE TOUCH OF SOMETHING.

YEAH.

GATES: ROY'S RESULTS WERE A BIT MORE NUANCED.

WOOD JR.: WHOA.

GATES: HE'S 89.5% SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN, 8% EUROPEAN AND 1.6% NATIVE AMERICAN, NUMBERS THAT ARE NOTABLE IN SEVERAL WAYS.

THE AVERAGE AFRICAN AMERICAN IS 24% EUROPEAN, SO YOU HAVE A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF AFRICAN ANCESTRY THAN AVERAGE.

AVERAGE IS ABOUT 75% AND YOU HAVE A HIGHER PERCENT OF NATIVE AMERICAN.

WOOD JR.: ALL RIGHT.

WELL, I, I APPRECIATE THIS, THIS, BECAUSE THIS IS VERY UPLIFTING.

THIS IS VERY UPLIFTING, BECAUSE THIS, THIS SHOW IS A ROLLER COASTER.

GATES: IT IS.

IT IS AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER.

WOOD JR.: THIS IS GOOD NEWS, THEN EMOTIONAL NEWS, AND GOOD NEWS.

I LOVE IT.

GATES: MY TIME WITH MY GUESTS WAS RUNNING OUT, BUT I HAD ONE FINAL SURPRISE FOR EACH OF THEM.

WHEN WE COMPARED THEIR DNA TO THAT OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN IN THE SERIES, WE FOUND SIGNIFICANT MATCHES.

EVIDENCE WITHIN THEIR OWN CHROMOSOMES OF RELATIVES THEY DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAD.

BLACK: NO.

NOW, THAT'S PERFECT.

GATES: YOUR DNA COUSIN IS YOUR FELLOW STAND-UP COMEDIAN, MARC MARON.

BLACK: MARC MARON.

WOW.

GATES: ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

BLACK: THAT'S PERFECT.

THAT'S REALLY FUNNY.

GATES: YOU AND MARC SHARE DNA ON SEVEN DIFFERENT CHROMOSOMES.

BLACK: IS THAT RIGHT?

GATES: YEAH.

SO THAT MEANS YOU SHARE AT LEAST ONE DISTANT ANCESTOR IN YOUR FAMILY TREES, AND PROBABLY MULTIPLE COMMON ANCESTORS ON YOUR FAMILY TREES.

BLACK: COMMON ANCESTORS?

GATES: YEAH, MEANING IF WE HAD HIS IDEAL FAMILY TREE AND YOURS, THERE'S BE MORE THAN ONE PERSON WHO WOULD BE THE SAME, LIKE A GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

AND WE KNOW THAT THROUGH DNA, 'CAUSE AS THE BROTHERS SAY, "DNA DON'T LIE."

(LAUGHTER) WOOD JR.: YOU ARE FULL OF SURPRISES.

WHO IS THIS DNA COUSIN?

I ASSUME THEY BLACK?

WELL, YOU KNOW, YOU NEVER KNOW.

GATES: OKAY TURN THE PAGE.

WOOD JR.: HE WAS ALWAYS NICE TO ME WHEN HE CAME ON "THE DAILY SHOW".

GATES: ROY'S MOTHER SHARES AN IDENTICAL STRETCH OF DNA ON CHROMOSOME 22 WITH CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS, MEANING THAT ROY IS A DISTANT COUSIN OF THE LEGENDARY CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, GIVING A FINAL SENSE OF MEANING TO OUR JOURNEY.

WOOD JR.: I CAME HERE BECAUSE I WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MY DAD, AND I WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MY GRANDPARENTS.

GATES: UH-HUH.

WOOD JR.: BUT WHAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME IS MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MYSELF THAT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I WAS IN SEARCH OF, AND THIS EXPERIENCE WILL MAKE ME A FATHER TEN TIMES OVER WAY BETTER BECAUSE JUST UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRIT OF WHAT MY FAMILY WENT THROUGH AND WHAT THEY'VE CARRIED AND WHAT THEY STOOD FOR, AND GOD WILLING, WILL CONTINUE TO STAND FOR IN MY HOUSEHOLD.

YOU KNOW, IT'S A LOT, BUT DAMN, IT WAS WORTH IT.

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR SEARCH FOR THE ANCESTORS OF ROY WOOD, JR. AND LEWIS BLACK.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME AS WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".