Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates Jr., a new four-part PBS series from the producers of 'African American Lives' and 'African American Lives 2' premieres February 10, 17, 24 and March 3 at 8 p.m. on PBS

Presented and written by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr, 'Faces of America' takes the quest begun in the 'African American Lives' series to a new level to provide an understanding of American identity and history.

Featuring Elizabeth Alexander, Mario Batali, Stephen Colbert, Louise Erdrich, Malcolm Gladwell, Eva Longoria, Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Nichols, Her Majesty Queen Noor, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Meryl Streep, and Kristi Yamaguchi.

Exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the series, including extra footage and commentary from Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at http://www.pbs.org/facesofamerica.

What made America? What makes us?  These two questions are at the heart of the new four-part PBS series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Building on the success of his previous projects, African American Lives (2006), Oprah's Roots (2007), African American Lives 2 (2008), and most recently Looking for Lincoln (2009), Harvard scholar  Henry Louis Gates, Jr. turns again to the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 renowned Americans.  Filmed throughout Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, the series premieres nationally Wednesdays, February 10, 17, 24 and March 3, 2010 from 8-9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).

Looking beyond the African American experience to the wider immigrant story, Professor Gates unravels the American tapestry, following the threads of his guests' lives back to their earliest origins around the globe. Along the way, the many stories he uncovers - of displacement and homecoming, of material success and dispossession, of assimilation and discrimination - illuminate the American experience.

Professor Gates' guests include professor and poet Elizabeth Alexander, who composed and read the poem at President Barack Obama's inauguration, chef Mario Batali, comedian Stephen Colbert, novelist Louise Erdrich, journalist Malcolm Gladwell, actress Eva Longoria, musician Yo-Yo Ma, director Mike Nichols, Her Majesty Queen Noor, television host/heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, actress Meryl Streep, and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

Each guest underwent dense genotyping to trace his or her father and mother's ancestry and admixture (i.e. their percentages of European, Asian, Native American and African ancestry). In the process, one guest learns of a relation to Albert Einstein, another of a link to Charlemagne, and two others will come to find that they are distant cousins.

"We will reveal in rich detail the fascinating stories about our guests' ancestors, both since their arrival as immigrants to the United States, and before their arrival here, in the countries from which they emigrated," says Professor Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. "We hope to show how immigration of peoples from around the globe so profoundly has reshaped what it means to be 'an American' and continues to affect how we talk about identity today."

To date, less than 10 people have had their entire genome sequenced. Working with genomics corporations Illumina and Knome and geneticists at the Broad Institute and the Harvard Medical School, the series makes medical history by documenting on film, for the very first time, the sequencing and interpretation of the full human genome. In Faces of America, Professor Gates and his father, Henry Louis Gates, Sr., become the first African Americans and the first father/son pair to experience the process.

Accompanying the broadcast is a far-reaching educational outreach component involving teacher training workshops in January and February. In addition, a companion website (http://www.pbs.org/facesofamerica) will offer resources for viewers to pursue their own family genealogy as well as information on the research, scholarship and science featured in the series.  

Corporate funding is provided by The Coca-Cola Company and Johnson & Johnson.  Additional funding is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Atlantic Philanthropies, and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  Additional support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.

Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a production of Kunhardt McGee Productions, Inkwell Films and THIRTEEN for WNET.ORG in association with Ark Media.  Henry Louis Gates, Jr., William R. Grant, Peter Kunhardt, and Dyllan McGee are executive producers. Barak Goodman and Sue Williams are senior producers.