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Finding Your Roots - Season 12 - Episode 05: Love & Basketball
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00:04I'm Henry Louis Gates Jr. Welcome to Finding Your Roots. In this episode, we'll meet basketball
00:11superstars Chris Paul and Brittany Griner, two people born to play a game. I was in volleyball
00:21practice and they were like, hey, go dunk this. And I was like, okay. So I just ran with the
00:27ball
00:27and just dunked it. Literally the next day, the coach came and was like, you come on over
00:34here to basketball when you get done today. I'm just crazy competitive, right? I don't
00:40care what it is. So if we playing checkers, if we playing chess, if we playing cards or
00:44whatnot. What if you're playing with a six-year-old child? Are you still ruthless? Absolutely.
00:50To uncover their roots, we've used every tool available. Genealogists comb through paper
00:58trails stretching back hundreds of years. That is cool. While DNA experts utilize the latest
01:06advances in genetic analysis to reveal secrets that have lain hidden for generations. My palms
01:14are sweating over here. And we've compiled it all into a book of life, a record of all of our
01:21discoveries. It's mind-blowing. And a window into the hidden past. If you was to make this into a
01:29feature film, you would look at it like, that's not true. There's no way that that happened.
01:34Did you think we'd get back this far this quickly? No, I didn't think it would go like this. Honestly,
01:40I'm like, shook right now. Chris and Brittany are both phenomenal athletes. In this episode,
01:49we'll explore what lies behind their greatness. Could it be that they were molded in ways they
01:56never could have imagined by the lives of their ancestors?
02:39Chris Paul is basketball royalty. The future Hall of Famer, a 12-time NBA All-Star,
02:49is one of the greatest point guards ever to play the game. Second all-time, both in
02:56steals and assists. His secret, practice, practice, practice.
03:05Chris is legendary for his work ethic and for the passion he brings to the court. Traits
03:14that were first nurtured in him by his father.
03:18When you're a kid, you take on the likes of your parents. My dad was a huge, huge football
03:25and basketball fan. And as a kid, my dad coached us. So now having kids and going to their games
03:32and seeing the people that take the time to actually coach them and go to practices and whatnot,
03:37my dad did that for my team, my brother's team. And it's crazy to think he still found time to
03:44go to work.
03:45Yeah, that's amazing.
03:47Yeah, that's amazing.
03:47Unbelievable. But the biggest thing that my dad did was when I was in the fifth grade,
03:52he had a basketball court built for us at our house.
03:55Wow.
03:56Right? And when I say that, it wasn't a full court by any means, but there was this hill behind
04:00our house.
04:01And actually our football coach had a cement company.
04:04Uh-huh.
04:04Right? So he came and laid down like pavement, like right down on this hill.
04:09And we put two basketball goals and it was not a full court by any means.
04:14But he basically said, if you guys love this and you really want to do it, here it is.
04:22Chris took his father's words to heart. By the time he was in high school,
04:28he was one of the best basketball players in his home state of North Carolina
04:34and was being recruited by the top colleges in the country.
04:39An accomplishment made even more remarkable by the fact that Chris stands barely six feet tall.
04:47And back then, he was even shorter.
04:51I was always the smallest guy on the team, you know?
04:57And I was the kid that used to like pray for height.
05:00When I went to bed at night, I was like, God, please just make me tall.
05:03Please don't. And it still hasn't happened.
05:07But you got to work with what you got.
05:09When did you first realize not only that you were good,
05:13but that you had a special talent and you could make a career out of basketball?
05:17Right. Even when I went to college, I didn't know I was going to the NBA.
05:21Uh-huh.
05:22Right? I hoped.
05:23But when I got to college, my work ethic went up just a little bit more.
05:27Uh-huh.
05:27Right? And now you start to have a little bit of inclination
05:32because people can hype you up and say that you're really, really good, but you know.
05:36Uh-huh.
05:37Right? They can't hype you up so much.
05:38Uh-huh.
05:39But as I continued to get better, I started to say like, man, I might be able to do this
05:45for a living.
05:47Chris, of course, has done much more than just make a living at basketball.
05:52In 2005, after two years of college, he was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets and won Rookie of the
06:02Year.
06:04He's gone on to thrive in a league of much taller men through an unparalleled combination of talent and effort,
06:14becoming one of the highest paid athletes in the world.
06:19And through it all, Chris has never lost his grounding.
06:24He remains intensely grateful to the people and the game that have brought him so much.
06:34I've been in the NBA now since I was 20 years old.
06:36Uh-huh.
06:36Right? And at 39, there's a lot of things that I did and experienced like when I was a child
06:44and coming up.
06:44But then when I got into the NBA, there's been a lot of things that have been taken care of
06:49for me.
06:50Uh-huh.
06:50Right?
06:51Uh-huh.
06:51And so I didn't go through the struggles that my parents went through in trying to get a house.
07:00Uh-huh.
07:00Right? And working that type of job to try to accumulate wealth.
07:05All of this happened for me at 20 years old.
07:08Uh-huh.
07:08Do you still feel joy, pleasure in the game?
07:12Absolutely.
07:13Did you ever burn out as a player?
07:15No. No. I don't think I ever burnt out as a player.
07:18But I'll tell you something wild that happened this summer.
07:22I went into the house and I told my wife, I just need to go outside and shoot.
07:26Uh-huh.
07:26Right? Just go outside and shoot because at some point, you almost get programmed to every time you go to
07:33a gym, it's to train.
07:34Uh-huh.
07:35Right? And I fell in love with the game as a kid just in the backyard.
07:39Uh-huh.
07:39Right? Just playing around with my brother, practicing things and whatnot.
07:43So I went outside and just shot for 45 minutes.
07:46Wow.
07:47And just dribbled and started to use my imagination.
07:49And I won't say I fell out of love with the game.
07:52Uh-huh.
07:53Ever, you know, but just sometimes just remind yourself why you love it so much.
07:59Right. For the pleasure of it.
08:00Yes.
08:02Just like Chris, Brittany Griner is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, a 10-time WNBA All-Star and three
08:13-time Olympic gold medalist, widely recognized as one of the greatest players in history.
08:26But Brittany's story is fundamentally different from Chris's.
08:31Growing up in Houston, Brittany towered over her peers from a young age and suffered mightily for it.
08:41I hit my big growth spur probably seventh grade until 12th grade.
08:46It was just a constant, like, uphill climb for me.
08:50Uh, seventh and eighth grade also was big on the bullying.
08:54The, you know, the girls pointing out how I look different than everybody else, literally physically coming up to me
09:00and touching my chest and saying, like, look, she has no chest.
09:03Like, she is a man.
09:05Mm.
09:05Um, just my voice wasn't as, I guess, high-pitched as everybody else's.
09:12Mm-hmm.
09:12Um, so yeah, got a lot of picking on, pointing at, like, just being told how different I am from
09:18everybody else.
09:19I recall when you said that, just to have someone touch you.
09:22Yeah, that was a tough time back then.
09:24Oh, I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
09:26Yeah.
09:27Ironically, Brittany's height would provide her salvation.
09:31She started playing basketball in ninth grade when a coach saw her dunking a volleyball on a dare.
09:41Within a year, she was dominating on both offense and defense and attracting attention from college coaches across the country.
09:53That's when I really felt like, okay, I got this.
09:57I started getting a lot more, um, scholarships as well, like, flooded.
10:03And it wasn't like the typical, like, oh, we're just sending this out to the kids.
10:07Here's like, you know, you could come to this school.
10:10It was more like, no, we want you to come here.
10:13Like, you could tell it was a little bit more tailored to me.
10:15And I was like, oh, I'm liking this, this feeling wanted.
10:19From going from, you know, being bullied before high school and not being the cool kid and just kind of
10:26being on the outside to now, I am the cool kid.
10:29I am the athlete.
10:30And people want you.
10:31Brittany Griner, superstar.
10:37Brittany's star has risen higher than anyone ever could have imagined.
10:42She led Baylor University to an undefeated season and a national championship before becoming an icon in the WNBA.
10:54She's also used her talents to impact the world well beyond sports.
11:00A prominent social activist, she's championed women's equality, LGBTQ rights, and after her infamous imprisonment in Russia, she's been advocating
11:16for Americans detained overseas.
11:23But Brittany told me that many of her greatest triumphs have occurred in private, stretching all the way back to
11:30when she was a teenager and she came out to her family, something her father initially found hard to accept.
11:43Brittany Griner, superstar.
11:43He didn't want another strike against me.
11:47Mm-hmm.
11:47Already a woman.
11:48Mm-hmm.
11:49Already black.
11:50Mm-hmm.
11:51Two strikes, now you add and you're gay too.
11:55Like, he just knew the battle that I would have.
11:58Mm-hmm.
11:58He wasn't homophobic.
12:00He wasn't scared of gay people or hated gay people.
12:03It was just he just didn't want me to have to deal with that uphill battle.
12:07Mm-hmm.
12:07He wanted me to be able to get deals with brands and stuff because he saw my potential
12:12Mm-hmm and he knew that brands will hold that against me of course like not saying that it was
12:18right
12:18But like I can understand you know because at first I was just upset like why is my dad like
12:25like he don't love me
12:26But he like is he disappointed in me?
12:29But it was more so he just didn't want me to have to deal with that
12:32That uphill battle and you could tell it didn't really put that much of a hindrance in between us
12:38Because he was at literally every single game. Yeah, and now I mean you see us now. We're great. You
12:46can't separate us
12:48My two guests have achieved incredible success both on and off the court
12:53But along the way they've had little time to learn about the ancestors who may have laid the groundwork for
13:00their accomplishments
13:01That is about to change
13:06I
13:07Started with Chris Paul and
13:10With his paternal grandmother a woman named Charlena Sloan
13:15Charlena has been Chris's biggest fan for as long as he can remember and the two share a profound bond
13:26My grandmother is she's everything, you know, and um
13:31she
13:33And I'm tripping so
13:38She calls or texts me after every game. Oh wow
13:42And she's in North Carolina. Obviously, I played for the Clippers
13:47On the west coast all these teams on the west coast
13:50So if my game starts at seven o'clock pacific time, that's ten
13:55Her time, right?
13:57My grandmother watches every game and she texts me or call me after every game
14:02Every guy I could pull out my phone and show you our text thread after the games and
14:07she
14:09Has just always been a constant. Wow, that's a blessing. Oh, absolutely
14:17Chris's grandmother was born in 1944 in Anderson County, South Carolina
14:25And we were able to trace her roots in that county back more than a century
14:30All the way to a man named James Clinkscales
14:35James is Chris's fourth great-grandfather
14:39We found him in the 1870 census for Anderson County
14:45Living with his parents
14:48Zachariah and Sina Clinkscales
14:52Dang
14:52So you just read the names of your fifth great-grandparents
14:56Great great great great great great grandparents
14:58That's crazy
14:59So first of all, what's it like to see that you carry DNA from all those people
15:04Man, it's um
15:05It's wild
15:08We had this question at our house the other day where we was talking about if you had the choice
15:12Would you go back and learn who your great great great great great grand people were?
15:17Or would you rather go in the future and learn who your kids kids kids kids kids are?
15:22Okay, right
15:22What did you say?
15:24I said I want to go back
15:25Yeah
15:25I said I want to go back and to actually be sitting here actually going back
15:30That's wild
15:33Unfortunately, this story was about to take a painful turn
15:39Zachariah and Sina were both born around 1815 in South Carolina
15:45Which means almost certainly they both were born into slavery
15:55Searching for evidence of their lives
15:57We focused on a white slave owner with their same surname
16:04Mary Clinkscales
16:06In the 1860 census, Mary filed a slave schedule
16:11Indicating that she owned 13 human beings
16:16There are no names on this schedule
16:19Only the color, gender, and age of each enslaved person
16:26But given what we knew about Chris's family
16:30Several entries stood out
16:32One mulatto male age 49
16:35One mulatto female age 39
16:38One mulatto male age 12
16:41One mulatto male age 7
16:44One mulatto male age 4
16:46We strongly believe that you are looking at your fifth great-grandparents
16:51Zachariah and Sina
16:53Their three sons
16:55As well as your fifth great-grand-uncle
16:59Robert Bob Clinkscales
17:01Listed there as property
17:03With no names
17:04That's crazy
17:07So you'd be right there enslaved with your kids
17:10Mm-hmm
17:11Oh, yeah
17:12What would they have a four-year-old doing?
17:14You know, maybe bringing a cup of water to people
17:17You know, they're growing into the job
17:20So whatever the lowest-level task was
17:23They would give it to the children
17:26And as a mom, how are you able to take care of these kids?
17:31Yeah, well, precisely
17:33How do you think it was possible for Zachariah and Sina to raise a family together in enslavement?
17:37And think about this
17:39Knowing at any moment
17:41Since you had no control
17:43They could take you?
17:44They could be taken and sold down the river
17:46Yeah, I think about, um, how protective I am of my kids
17:51Mm-hmm
17:51And, um, I cannot imagine
17:55Them having three kids, twelve, seven, and four
17:58And probably seeing the things that might have been done to them
18:01Mm-hmm
18:02You know, and powerless
18:04And you can't do nothing about it
18:08Regrettably, the relationship between Chris's family
18:11And the family that enslaved them
18:14Did not end when freedom came
18:18We uncovered a labor contract from the year 1866
18:23It shows that Mary Klinscales hired Chris's ancestors
18:28To work her plantation under what was known as a share wage agreement
18:35These agreements were common across the Jim Crow South
18:39And they were not favorable to the formerly enslaved men and women who signed them
18:47These said free persons agreed to board and clothe themselves
18:51And to obey all orders from said owner of plantation
18:55Or her agent
18:57And also do hereby agree to work for the said Mary Klinscales
19:01In the capacity of laborers
19:03And faithfully, honestly, diligently, and to the best of their skill and abilities
19:09To perform such labor in the care of said plantation
19:13Signatures
19:13Zach, his mark
19:15Cena, her mark
19:16Bob, his mark
19:17James, his mark
19:19Wow
19:20This is very likely the first labor contract
19:23That anyone on your entire Klink scale
19:27A branch of your family tree ever signed
19:30And it was the first time they were ever, at least theoretically, compensated for their work
19:36What do you think that meant for them, that moment?
19:38You remember when you signed your contract?
19:40Yeah
19:40This is their contract
19:43That's a whole different feeling
19:45Yeah, a whole different feeling
19:48Yeah, I'm still processing
19:51According to this agreement
19:54Chris's ancestors were to work Mary Klinscales' land
19:58At her direction
20:00Much as they had under slavery
20:04And they were to be paid
20:06Not with cash
20:07But with a portion of the crops
20:12That's crazy
20:14I mean, you're free, technically
20:17But...
20:17Does that sound like freedom?
20:18Not at all
20:19No
20:20And in a good crop year
20:22Share wages could offer better returns than cash wages
20:25But in a bad crop year
20:27Share wage laborers did very poorly
20:29And your ancestors had very little control
20:32Over how the crop would turn out
20:34They were rolling the dice
20:36And on top of that, people working on shares
20:38Had to pay for their own food and clothing
20:41During the year
20:43While they're waiting on the harvest
20:44Right?
20:46Yeah, so they were basically just working to stay alive
20:49You got it
20:49It was called slavery by another name
20:52That's crazy
20:53Chris, what's it like to know that your ancestors had to go through that?
20:56You know, imagine you get the news
20:58We're free, finally, we're no longer property
21:02And then they're thrown into a labor contract like that
21:06It literally makes me think about
21:10How strong their minds had to be
21:12Right?
21:13Like their will
21:15It would have been so easy to give up
21:17But given their situation
21:21They...
21:22Whether they complained or not
21:24They figured it out
21:27Chris is correct
21:30Zachariah and Sina
21:31Did indeed figure it out
21:35They likely worked at least 10 hours a day
21:38Six days a week
21:40Growing cotton
21:41But they survived
21:44And they moved their family forward
21:49Incredibly
21:50By 1880
21:52Their son James
21:54Even had a small farm
21:55Of his own
21:57What do you think kept your 5th grade grandparents going?
22:00Because after all
22:01If they hadn't gotten up
22:02Done the 10 hours in the field
22:04There'd be no Chris Paul
22:05Yeah
22:06To me it immediately goes back to
22:11Like how they had to be wired
22:13You know, and
22:16The perseverance
22:18The ability to fight through
22:20And the ability to
22:24I can't imagine
22:25Being able to I guess see the bigger picture
22:29And knowing that
22:31Whatever they endured at the time
22:34That hopefully
22:36It would mean a better life for their kids
22:38Right, a better day is coming
22:39And for my grandkids
22:41It puts stuff into a whole different type of perspective
22:46Much like Chris
22:48Brittany Griner was about to gain a new perspective
22:52On an entire branch of her family tree
22:57Following her maternal roots
22:59We traveled from Brittany's hometown of Houston, Texas
23:02To New Orleans, Louisiana
23:06And introduced Brittany
23:07To her third great-grandmother
23:10A woman named Catherine Neal
23:14Oh, wow
23:15You've never heard this name before?
23:17Mm-mm
23:18Well, Catherine was born around
23:20May 1868
23:22Three years after the end of the Civil War
23:24In Louisiana
23:25In 1883 when she was about 15
23:27She married a man named Felix Balthazar
23:30And Felix is your third great-grandfather
23:34Your great-great-great-grandfather
23:36Felix Balthazar
23:37Ever hear of him?
23:38No
23:40Did you know you had roots in New Orleans?
23:42No, I thought it was youth
23:43You do?
23:44Yeah, I didn't know that
23:45Did you think we'd get back this far this quickly?
23:48Nah, I didn't think it would go like this
23:50Honestly, I'm like shook right now
23:56Catherine and Felix had at least nine children together
24:01Including Brittany's great-great-grandmother, Laura
24:06But sadly, five of the children died in infancy
24:11And in the Louisiana State Archives
24:14We saw that Catherine's health suffered as well
24:20State of Louisiana versus Catherine Balthazar
24:24In this case, it is ordered, judged, and decreed
24:29That the said Catherine Balthazar be declared insane
24:32And that she be incarcerated in the State Insane Asylum
24:37At Jackson, Louisiana
24:39Any family stories about this?
24:41No
24:42Yeah
24:43None at all, that's wild
24:44In 1898, Catherine was committed to the East Louisiana State Hospital
24:50Segregated, state-run mental hospital
24:52Located in Jackson, Louisiana
24:54And you could see photos of it
24:56From the early 1900s on your left
24:58Wow
24:59What's it like to see that?
25:02I mean, that makes me very upset
25:04That somebody in my family had to go through this
25:06And the family members had to go through this too
25:09Seeing her in there, or not seeing her in there
25:12I don't know
25:12If they, you know, was able to even visit her
25:17The hospital's files show that Catherine was committed in 1898
25:25Released, and then readmitted two years later
25:30The files also contain a transcript of an interview that a doctor conducted with Catherine
25:38Offering a harrowing glimpse into the kind of care that she was receiving
25:45What kind of place are you in?
25:47Kind of a storeroom?
25:49Are you crazy?
25:51That is what they say
25:53Did you ever see any ghosts?
25:57Yes, sometimes
26:00Was it a white or negro ghost?
26:02Wow, that's crazy
26:04Is it cold?
26:05No, I was just so old
26:06This is wild
26:09I'm sorry
26:10They were white
26:12What did they say to you?
26:14They didn't say much
26:15Try to be good
26:17Did you ever see God?
26:19No
26:20Those are your ancestors' actual words
26:23How does it feel to read that?
26:25I mean, the answers to these questions are weird
26:28Mm-hmm
26:30And then the questions too though
26:32Honestly, like
26:35I feel like the questions are weird too
26:37You mean like
26:37I mean
26:38Do you see negro ghosts or white ghosts?
26:40What kind of question?
26:41I mean, that was a weird one
26:43I mean
26:43Right?
26:44That was a weird one
26:44And then did you ever see God?
26:47I'm just like, okay
26:50I'm not saying someone couldn't
26:52But it's a very hard thing to prove
26:59We don't know why Catherine was asked these questions
27:03Or how to interpret her answers
27:07But she would never leave the hospital
27:12She died within its walls in 1939
27:17More than 40 years after she was committed
27:23How does it feel to learn this?
27:25To learn that you're
27:26I mean, you were incarcerated
27:27Your ancestor was incarcerated
27:29Yeah, she was legit incarcerated is what happened to her
27:33I mean, I hate that that happened to my ancestor
27:35I thought I was the only one honestly
27:39That have been in like that
27:42I just hate that she had no voice
27:44No wonder I love
27:46Maybe it's just embedded in me
27:48The fact that I want to give people voices that didn't have voices
27:50Like, maybe there's a deeper reason to why I feel like that
27:55This could be it
27:58Digging deeper into the past
28:00We encountered another story
28:03That resonated with Brittany's life today
28:07It begins over a hundred years earlier
28:10With her seventh great-grandparents
28:13A couple named Marie Kwan Kwan
28:17And Pierre Matois
28:20Records show that Marie was born into slavery
28:23In Louisiana
28:25Around 1742
28:28While Pierre was a white man
28:30Born in France around the same time
28:37They met in Louisiana in the 1760s
28:41When Pierre leased Marie from a neighbor
28:45So that she could work in his home
28:48Over the next ten years
28:51They would conceive several children together
28:55A fact that outraged a local priest
28:58So much so that he filed a complaint
29:03Against the couple
29:05Reading it over
29:07Brittany began to have serious reservations
29:11About Pierre's treatment of Marie
29:13During those ten years
29:17I mean, the fact that she was
29:20What, loaned out, basically?
29:22To, uh...
29:23She's a slave!
29:24She's literally a slave
29:26And, I mean, was it against her will at first?
29:30And then she fell for him?
29:31Or was it she felt mutual?
29:33Like, those are the questions that are going through my head
29:35We don't know how it started
29:37But we know how it ended
29:38Okay?
29:39Please turn the page
29:42I know I got a lot of questions when I get home
29:46This is the same record we just showed you
29:48Only we've highlighted a different portion
29:49Would you please read that transcribed section?
29:52Cawin Cawin
29:53Mm-hmm
29:55Mm-hmm
29:55Mm-hmm
29:56In whose house and company
29:57The said unmarried negress
29:59Has produced five or six mulatto children
30:03Not counting the one with whom she is now pregnant
30:06Mm-hmm
30:07This cannot happen in the house of an unmarried man
30:10And an unmarried woman without the public thinking and judging
30:14There to be illicit intercourse between the two partners in concubinage
30:21You got it
30:22From this there has ensued a great scandal and damage to soul
30:28Damage to soul
30:30This white man is living with his lover
30:33They have six children, right?
30:36Mm-hmm
30:37And this priest is going nuts
30:39And he files a complaint against them
30:41I mean, the priest has said
30:42This is a sin in the sight of man and God
30:45And they said, we got to do something about it
30:47I know, that priest was losing his wig
30:49Oh, my God
30:52We have no idea how Brittany's ancestors felt about the priest's accusations
30:58But we do know how they responded
31:02In July of 1778, less than a year later
31:08Pierre purchased Marie from her owner
31:10And then he freed her
31:15Ooh
31:16What do you think that was like for Marie, finally to get her freedom?
31:20I mean, I would think she would feel safe
31:22This man has done everything for her
31:25Honestly, like, she has a family through him
31:27He bought her and set her free
31:30And made sure she had her freedom
31:33There are a lot more cases of a white male
31:36Mm-hmm
31:37Fathering children with a black woman who was never freed
31:40Yeah
31:41Now, Brittany, did he love her or not?
31:43He loved her
31:45Although Marie was now free
31:47She and Pierre still faced a terrible problem
31:51They had seven children who remained in bondage
31:55Because the law dictated that the children of an enslaved woman
32:00Followed the condition of their mother
32:02And thus were the property of her owner
32:06Even if the man who had fathered them was free
32:10Fortunately, Pierre had a solution
32:13He did what the law demanded
32:16And purchased each of his children
32:19And emancipated them
32:21Securing his family's freedom
32:23For generations to come
32:28Now that's a story
32:29That's a story?
32:30That's a story
32:31That's a story I can be proud of, honestly
32:34And then, um, it makes me think those ten years were not hell for her
32:39Now, like, to someone that did all that
32:42And then to go by the seven children, um, as well
32:47To go above and beyond and do that as well
32:49Let you know, like, he actually did care
32:51Like, at some point, his mind changed
32:53And I can respect a family member that, that does that
32:57Like, yeah, you had some bad intentions, maybe, potentially, in the beginning
33:01But I see you made a change
33:03I can respect somebody that makes a change
33:08Like Brittany, Chris Paul was about to meet an ancestor
33:12Who'd completely changed the trajectory of his family
33:18The story begins in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
33:23With Chris's fourth great-grandfather
33:26A man named Peter Oliver
33:29Chris had heard of Peter before
33:33Indeed, he knew that Winston-Salem
33:36Had long been planning to name a park after his ancestor
33:41But Chris wasn't sure what Peter had done
33:44To deserve such an honor
33:50The answer lies in the archives
33:53Of a North Carolina branch of the Moravian Church
33:56In 1786
33:59This church purchased Peter from a slave owner in Virginia
34:05And then baptized him
34:08Likely at his own request
34:11And who gives the name?
34:13The Moravians
34:14The Moravians
34:14Yeah, now we don't know if he said, I want to be Peter
34:17Or if they said, your name is Peter
34:19But he got the name from the Moravians
34:21Yeah, in that moment of baptism
34:24Initially, he was known simply as Negro Oliver
34:26Then when he's baptized
34:28Then when he's baptized, he takes on the Christian name Peter
34:31And after 1786, he's known as Peter Oliver
34:34How do you think he felt that day?
34:36Probably felt about as normal as he possibly could
34:40I mean, as normal as you could in 1786
34:44But to actually have a name and not be called Negro
34:47Right, right, right
34:52The Moravians were unusual in that they allowed enslaved people into their congregations
35:00And treated them as religious, if not necessarily as social equals
35:07Providing opportunities generally unavailable to other enslaved people
35:13For Peter, these opportunities would prove life-changing
35:19Roughly a year after his baptism
35:21He was purchased by a master potter named Rudolph Kreist
35:28Pottery was a valuable craft at the time
35:30And Peter would rapidly excel at it
35:33Becoming one of the only documented African-American potters of his era
35:40In all of North Carolina
35:44This is wow
35:45What's it like to see that?
35:48And it's just so much connectivity
35:51Right, and you realize everything happens for a reason
35:54And the stories that we sort of all tell about ourselves
35:58Were always connected to something
36:00Something that came before us
36:02And it's amazing to hear, right
36:05Like, this is a different connection with Peter Oliver
36:08Than just sort of like a park being renamed in our hometown
36:13And even though I wasn't in slavery or anything like that
36:17The way he used pottery is kind of how I looked at the game of basketball
36:23That's right
36:23And it's been able to take me and my family outside of our hometown
36:28And show us the world
36:30A skill at which he excelled
36:32And which the society placed value on
36:36For sure
36:39Moravian records show that by 1799
36:42After just 13 years in their congregation
36:46Peter had not only mastered pottery
36:49He'd also joined a choir
36:51And a firefighting team
36:55And he'd done something else as well
36:58Something that must have required extraordinary effort
37:02Chris, he'd also learned to read and write
37:06He was different
37:07He's a bad brother, man
37:09Yeah, especially
37:11Because reading and writing was sort of forbidden
37:14So when, it makes you wonder
37:16When was that taking place?
37:18Who was teaching him?
37:19Right, well his master was saying
37:21Obviously, he's so bright
37:24Let's teach him to read and write
37:25Right
37:26He probably said, look, I'm more valuable to you
37:28If you let me learn to read and write
37:30For sure
37:30You know, did the rope-a-dope on him
37:33We didn't have time to do all this
37:38Unfortunately, despite everything he'd accomplished
37:41Peter remained enslaved
37:44But that was about to change
37:47In 1800, he was sold yet again
37:51This time to a Moravian man who lived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
37:57And we believe that Peter himself pushed for this sale
38:02So why the Pennsylvania?
38:04Please turn the page
38:07Chris, you're looking at an amazing document
38:10It's an affidavit presented to a man named Frederick Kuhn
38:14One of the associate judges in Lancaster County
38:18Would you please read that transcribed section?
38:21Peter Oliver verily believes that he is entitled to his freedom by virtue of the laws of Pennsylvania
38:28Having been held as a slave by virtue of the said bill of sale in this Commonwealth
38:34And that deponent is not confined or restrained of his liberty for any other cause whatsoever
38:40And further saith not
38:43Signed, Peter Oliver, sworn before me, June 13, 1800
38:48He goes to a judge and says, Your Honor, I believe that I am a free man in the Commonwealth
38:57of Pennsylvania
38:57And that was part of probably why he got sold up to Pennsylvania
39:00Bingo! That's right
39:01They were enabling his freedom
39:04Yep, yep
39:05Because Pennsylvania had abolished slavery
39:08Had abolished slavery
39:09Right, and North Carolina didn't abolish slavery till the Civil War made it abolish slavery
39:15They did him basically a favor in selling him up north
39:20Isn't that amazing?
39:22Yeah, yeah, absolutely
39:26There is a final beat to this story
39:30In 1802, less than two years after winning his freedom in Pennsylvania
39:36Peter returned to the South
39:38Got married
39:41And settled on a four-acre farm
39:43That he leased from the Moravian Church
39:47Outside of Salem, North Carolina
39:50Wow
39:52He goes back to North Carolina
39:53Which is why your family is from North Carolina
39:56Why my family is from North Carolina
39:57Yeah
39:58So he went up to Pennsylvania
40:00Got his freedom
40:01Got his freedom
40:01And said, I'm going back home
40:03Came back down
40:04So he must have loved North Carolina
40:06Because me, I would have stayed in Pennsylvania
40:07Right, right
40:09What do you make of this?
40:11It's even more meaningful now
40:14Because of course you know of your immediate family
40:17I always knew that I was born and raised there
40:19But knowing that it traces back all the way to
40:231802
40:24It's amazing
40:25Yeah, and to move away and to come back
40:29What he demonstrated is exactly why they put in a park and all of that
40:37Yes
40:37In Winston
40:38Yes
40:39You know, and the importance of this is
40:41I mean, I remember my mom getting on Zooms with the family members or whatnot
40:45Talking about Peter Oliver and me
40:47I'd be like, okay, okay
40:49You know, but you don't know what you don't know
40:51No, of course
40:52Right, so
40:52Yeah
40:53To hear all of the information that I heard today
40:57It makes me understand why
40:58Yeah, he was a go-getter
41:03We'd already traced Brittany Griner's mother's roots in Louisiana
41:08A place she'd never associated with her own family
41:12Now, turning to her father's ancestors
41:16We found ourselves on more familiar terrain
41:19Brittany's home state of Texas
41:23The story begins with Brittany's great-great-grandfather
41:27A man named Henry Adams
41:30Brittany knew that she has relatives who still carry the Adams surname
41:34But she had no idea where it came from
41:41We tried to learn
41:44And ended up back in the slave era
41:48Pouring over the estate records of a white Texan
41:52Named Thomas Adams Sr.
41:55They list 36 enslaved human beings
41:59Among them is a boy named Henry
42:04Worth $125
42:07A sight that caused Brittany to recoil
42:14I mean, seeing a value placed on any person is just
42:19It's like I can't really imagine it
42:22I can because I know the history
42:23The sick history
42:25But to see that
42:27It's just
42:28It's just a boy
42:29It's just a kid
42:30Henry was around two months old
42:33Hmm
42:34And I got a seven-month-old at home
42:36I couldn't imagine him being born into this
42:41Like...
42:44And the Adams Sr.
42:46Yeah
42:46So got the name from
42:50Slave owner
42:50Yep
42:51There's your great-great-grandfather Henry
42:53Listed as the property of a white man named Thomas Adams Sr.
42:58Given a value in an estate record
43:01Just like you would do a sofa or a cow or a horse
43:04I'm literally gonna say a cow or a pig or an animal
43:07Like...
43:09Like, that's just sad
43:11I mean, two months old
43:13I mean, like...
43:16Ain't even started life yet
43:17No
43:18Already belonging to somebody else
43:23Thomas Adams Sr. was one of the wealthiest men in his county
43:28When he died in 1859
43:29He was worth around $40,000
43:33Or roughly $1.5 million in today's money
43:40A big part of that wealth was human property
43:47And as we combed through his estate records
43:50We came upon Henry's parents
43:52Sam and Pallas Adams
43:55As well as a curious detail
43:59According to this record
44:01Sam was 32 years old
44:03And Pallas was 12
44:04And they already had a child
44:06Your great-great-grandfather Henry
44:08But we puzzled over this
44:10We don't know if Pallas's age is correct there
44:13Her age on census records suggest
44:15That she was about 25, not 12
44:18So we can't be sure
44:19But it's possible that Pallas had Henry before her 13th birthday
44:23I mean, it's possible
44:26I mean, it wouldn't be uncommon back then
44:28It wasn't like they'd care
44:29I mean, people had kids way earlier
44:31But that's crazy to think
44:33That she had already lived that much life at 12, 13
44:40This story was about to take an even more troubling turn
44:44Thomas's estate records
44:46Were filed in January of 1859
44:50Meaning that his slaves were divided up amongst his heirs
44:55More than six years before the abolition of slavery
45:00Which raised a chilling question
45:03So what do you think happened to your family?
45:05Were they able to stay together?
45:07Or were they split up?
45:08Oh, they all got split up
45:09I mean, they probably took joy
45:11I know some people took joy in splitting up families
45:14Because they didn't want them to be together
45:17Or have a sense that all you're supposed to do is work
45:19I don't need to worry about your wife, your kid, or any of that work
45:22So I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't split up every single person on here
45:27Please turn the page, let's see
45:30This is the same estate inventory we just showed you
45:33Only we've highlighted a different portion
45:35Would you please read that transcribed section?
45:40To Abel Adams
45:42Pallas, age 12 years
45:44To Harmon Adams
45:46Henry, age 2 months
45:50To Thomas Adams, Jr. Sam, age 32
45:54You were right, your family, even the two-month-old baby separated from his parents
45:59Your ancestors were split up among three different sons of their enslaver
46:05Pallas goes to Abel, Henry, to Harmon, and Sam to Thomas Adams, Jr.
46:12Inhumane
46:13It makes me look at the people that we got this name from
46:17Like, we literally took a name from these inhumane people
46:21It makes me look at the name Adams so different
46:25And I know there are some really good Adams out there on my side of the family
46:28But it makes me look at that name differently of where we got it from
46:35Happily, Brittany's ancestors were able to reunite when freedom came
46:42In the 1870 census, they were all living together in the same household
46:49But this census also tells us something far less joyful
46:55Just a few doors down from Brittany's family
46:59Lived a man named Fabian Adams
47:02One of the sons of Thomas Adams, Sr.
47:06The very same man who had enslaved them
47:09How about that?
47:12While Fabian didn't inherit any of your ancestors from his father's will
47:15The fact that the families were living so close
47:18Five years after the end of the Civil War
47:21Suggests that your ancestors, even though they were free
47:23Still had to work for the people who had held them in bondage
47:27Oh, 100%
47:28When I saw the occupation, farmer, white
47:30And then I see farm labor, farm labor
47:33Oh yeah, they was definitely still working there
47:35Can you imagine living next to the people who used to own you?
47:38And not getting paid properly either, probably
47:41Sharecropper
47:42Yeah
47:42Here, boy, put that X there
47:44You know?
47:45That's all, they just, the new, new age slavery
47:48That's all it was for them
47:49Like, that's crazy to still live there
47:52Just the trauma of that, knowing
47:53Because they, I mean, they lived it
47:55They were separated, brought back, spread out through the siblings
47:58Brought back together
48:00Fabian didn't own any, but he's definitely benefiting from y'all working there now
48:04And, you know, like it or not, and it shouldn't surprise us
48:07But most formerly enslaved people stayed where they had been enslaved
48:12Because they didn't have a choice
48:13They couldn't read, they couldn't write, that was illegal
48:16The system was rigged against them
48:17Yeah, where were they supposed to go? With what money?
48:22Brittany's questions are good ones
48:24And the answers would prove sobering
48:28Her ancestors would not leave the county where they'd been enslaved for almost a century
48:34But that doesn't mean that they wouldn't make progress
48:40By 1910, less than 50 years after the end of the Civil War
48:45Her great-great-grandfather, Henry, had not only managed to become a landowner
48:50But his children had too
48:54And seeing the journey of her family laid out
48:57From slavery to freedom
49:00Would prove deeply moving to Brittany
49:04Your people are survivors
49:05Do you feel a connection?
49:07I feel a deep connection
49:10It just makes me
49:12Understand myself
49:14A little bit more
49:15Like, knowing my background, my history
49:17You think you're blazing your own path in life
49:20But you're really kind of like reliving some of the things and some of the choices
49:24Even places where you're living
49:26That your ancestors went down
49:29Yeah
49:29And it's kind of cool to walk the same road that they walked in the same sense
49:33It was a hard road they walked
49:35But, I mean, I wouldn't be here today if they wouldn't have walked this road
49:39If any of these little small things would have changed
49:42A husband not been somebody's husband
49:45They would have fought, they would have ran
49:47You know, tried to escape
49:49That could have altered everything and I could not be here
49:53That's right, poof!
49:54Yeah, you know, as much as I want all this to change and just be all happy-go-lucky
49:58Without this happening, I might not be here right now
50:03That's right
50:03So, I'm super appreciative of this information, that's for sure
50:09I know my family is going to be very appreciative of this
50:12What's your father going to say?
50:14He's going to be blown away
50:15I already know, he's going to be, he's going to be shocked
50:18He's going to be like, what?
50:19He's going to try to figure out how y'all figured all this out
50:26The paper trail had now run out for each of my guests
50:31It was time to show them their full family trees
50:34Oh my goodness
50:37Now filled with names they'd never heard before
50:41This is awesome
50:43Yeah, I'm going to put this up in my house
50:45Thank you, thank you
50:48For each, it was a moment of joy
50:51Offering the chance to connect with the women and men
50:55Who laid the groundwork for their success
50:59To see this is the wildest thing ever
51:03I think it just makes, makes me appreciate things a lot more
51:10Right? Even though I know I should already
51:12But just understanding what many generations have went through
51:19Before me in order for me to be sitting right here with you
51:22My ancestors had some fight in them
51:27To, to make it through, to push through
51:30Living next door to the people that had them enslaved
51:32To being put in a, an insane asylum
51:38And having to deal with that and cope
51:41It definitely helps me understand me a little bit more
51:43Yeah
51:44My fight, it all comes from, from my family
51:48Everything that I've been through, everything I've gotten through
51:50How I've gotten through it, it makes sense
51:53That's the end of our journey with Brittany Griner and Chris Paul
51:58Join me next time
52:00When we unlock the secrets of the past for new guests
52:04On another episode of Finding Your Roots
52:08Our story is, is that we, to be angry with him
52:08Through our lives
52:09Our lives are all known to bebold
52:09And, in the past for new guests
52:10We are all known to the past for new guests
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