PBS’ “GENEALOGY ROADSHOW” SEASON TWO
UNCOVERS FAMILY SECRETS ACROSS THE U.S.
Premieres January 13 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS
GENEALOGY ROADSHOW in New Orleans
Credit:
Pat Garin
|
ArLINGTON, VA; DECEMBER
9, 2014 – From descendants of the infamous pirate Blackbeard to heroes of
the Holocaust, PBS’ GENEALOGY ROADSHOW
uncovers family secrets in the series’ second season, which premieres Tuesday,
January 13, 2015, at 8:00 p.m. ET and airs every Tuesday through February 24
(check local listings). Part detective story, part emotional journey, GENEALOGY ROADSHOW combines history and
science to uncover fascinating stories of diverse Americans in and around St.
Louis, Philadelphia and New Orleans. Each individual’s story links to a
larger community (and in some cases, national) history, to become part of America’s
rich cultural tapestry.
GENEALOGY ROADSHOW
stars genealogists Kenyatta D. Berry,
Joshua Taylor and Mary
Tedesco and features
participants with unique claims and storylines, including a woman seeking to find
out if she is descended from the infamous pirate Blackbeard; a pair of sisters exploring
connections to a survivor of the legendary Donner party; a man hoping to recover
essential family history that washed away in Hurricane Katrina; and a man
learns that the event that drove his family to the City of Brotherly Love
changed the course of history.
Over the course of the series, Berry, Taylor and Tedesco work with participants’ anecdotal
clues, documents and family heirlooms to unite them with histories and people
they never knew existed, as well as to reveal surprising turns and incredible
histories.
“In three great and complex American cities we find engaging
stories, dark mysteries, emotional reveals and more” said Beth Hoppe, Chief
Programming Executive and General Manager of General Audience Programming for
PBS. “In each episode, GENEALOGY
ROADSHOW reaches out to help Americans who are interested in their family
heritage and their community history. It proves that no matter one’s culture
and background, everyone is part of the American story.”
St. Louis, Philadelphia and New Orleans were chosen as representative
of America’s fascinating crossroads of culture, diversity, industry and
history, as well as for their deep pools of riveting stories. GENEALOGY ROADSHOW’s hosts and experts
add color and context to the investigations, ensuring every artifact and every
name becomes part of solving the mystery.
Below are episode descriptions
for each of GENEALOGY ROADSHOW’s six
episodes:
New Orleans –
Cabildo
Premieres, January 13, 2015 at 8:00 p.m.
A team of genealogists uncovers fascinating
family stories at the famous Cabildo, home of the Louisiana State Museum. A
couple whose ancestors hail from the same small Italian town explore the chance
they may be related; a woman is desperate to find out who committed a gruesome
murder in her ancestor’s past; a home held by one family for more than a
century renders a fascinating story; and a woman discovers the difficult
journey her ancestor took on the path to freedom from slavery.
St. Louis – Central
Library
Premieres, January 20,
2015 at 8:00 p.m.
At Saint Louis’ historic central library, a team
of genealogists uncovers fascinating family stories from Missouri’s famous
gateway city. A mystery writer discovers her mother has hidden a life-changing
secret; a woman finds out if she is descended from the infamous pirate
Blackbeard; a mother and daughter seek connections to a famous author; and a
young man seeks connection to the Mali tribe in Africa.
Philadelphia –
Franklin Institute
Premieres, January 27, 2015 at 8:00 p.m.
At Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, a team of
genealogists uncovers fascinating family histories. A man learns that the event
that drove his family to the City of Brotherly Love changed the course of
history; a man may be a Viking descendant; another’s family could have part of
one of history’s biggest scams; a young man hopes to confirm his relation to a
signer of the Declaration of Independence; and two sisters learn their
ancestors were part of the great Irish migration.
New Orleans – Board
of Trade
Premieres, February 3, 2015 at 8:00 p.m.
A team of
genealogists uncovers fascinating family stories at the New Orleans Board of
Trade. A local man seeks to recover essential history washed away in
Hurricane Katrina; a woman discovers she has links to both sides of the Civil
War; another unravels the mystery behind her grandfather’s adoption; and one
man explores a link to the famous New Orleans Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau.
St. Louis – Union
Station
Premieres, February 10, 2015 at 8:00
p.m.
At St. Louis’ historic Union Station, a team of
genealogists uncovers fascinating family stories from Missouri. A musician
hopes to find connections to a famous St. Louis jazz composer; two sisters
explore links to a survivor of the legendary Donner party; an Italian-American
woman finds out if she is related to Italian royalty; and a schoolteacher who
has all the answers for her students has very few about her own past.
Philadelphia – Historical
Society of Pennsylvania
Premieres, February 17, 2015 at 8:00
p.m.
A team of genealogists uncovers fascinating
family histories at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. One woman’s
ancestor may have sparked historic labor laws; a pastor may have an outlaw in
her family tree; a woman learns about slave genealogy and, with the help of DNA
testing, gets the answer she has waited for; and another woman learns her
ancestor may have helped others escape the Holocaust.
PBS LearningMedia, PBS’ destination for educators and
students, offers a range of curriculum-targeted resources that support lessons
on genealogy, immigration, and identity and delve into the personal histories
of well-known icons and everyday Americans. Through discussion questions,
worksheets, and videos, PBS LearningMedia helps teachers to promote inquiry in
their classrooms and strengthen their student’s personal connection to history.
For more information on the latest
digital resources for GENEALOGY ROADSHOW
classroom instruction, please visit pbslearningmedia.org.
GENEALOGY ROADSHOW is
produced by Krasnow Productions. President and owner Stuart Krasnow is a
longtime television industry veteran, having worked for all of the country’s
top broadcasters in news and entertainment, as well as at numerous cable
networks as a creator and executive producer. The series is also executive produced
by TV veteran Carlos Ortiz, who has produced mega-hits for almost every major
network on television. He brings 20 years of development and producing
experience to the table and returns to PBS for his second season on the series.
About Big Mountain Productions
Big Mountain originated the GENEALOGY ROADSHOW format, and recently
aired its second hit season in Ireland on RTE Television. Run by
husband-and-wife team Jane Kelly and Philip McGovern — who are former BBC/RTE
executive producers — Big Mountain originates and produces television shows for
national broadcasters, specializing in hybrid shows that combine great content
and entertainment value, including The
Tenements, Life in the Big House, Craftmaster, Living the Eviction and the
music-mentoring show Jam. For more
information: bigmountainproductions.com.
About
Krasnow Productions
Krasnow Productions is named for its founder and president,
Stuart Krasnow, a 30-year veteran television producer. Under his banner,
Krasnow has developed and produced series in almost every genre of unscripted
television for broadcast and cable networks, including The Weakest Link,
Average Joe, Dog Eat Dog and The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. Krasnow
Productions also sold and produced Searching For…, one of the first
original series to be produced for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network. Additionally,
Krasnow Productions has sold and produced original projects for NBC, A&E,
TBS, GSN, MTV, HGTV, E! and Fremantlemedia.
About PBS
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