Henry Louis Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950), popularly known by his childhood nickname "Skip", is an American

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

, professor, historian, and filmmaker who serves as the

Alphonse Fletcher Alphonse "Buddy" Fletcher Jr. (born December 19, 1965) is an American former hedge fund manager and founder of the Fletcher Foundation. He began his career as a quantitative equity trader at Bear Stearns and later worked at Kidder, Peabody & Co ...

University Professor and the director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He is a trustee of the

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was founded in New York City by businessmen-philanthropists Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman, Lewis E. Lehrman in 1994 to promote the study and interest in American history. The Institute serves te ...

. He rediscovered the earliest known African-American novels and has published extensively on the recognition of

African-American literature African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. Phillis Wheatley was an enslaved African woman who became the first African American to publish a book of poetry, which was publis ...

as part of the

Western canon The Western canon is the embodiment of High culture, high-culture literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that are highly cherished across the Western culture, Western world, such works having achieved the status of classics. Recent ...

. In addition to producing and hosting previous series on the history and genealogy of prominent American figures, since 2012, Gates has been host of the television series ''

Finding Your Roots ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is an American documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is com ...

'' on PBS. The series combines the work of expert researchers in genealogy, history, and historical research in genetics to tell guests about the lives and histories of their ancestors.

Early life and education

Gates was born on September 16, 1950, in Keyser, West Virginia, to Pauline Augusta (née Coleman) Gates (1916–1987) and Henry Louis Gates Sr. (–2010). He grew up in neighboring

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. His father worked in a paper mill and moonlighted as a janitor, while his mother cleaned houses. Later in life, Gates learned through DNA analysis that his family is descended in part from the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people ( ; , , ) are a West African ethnic group who inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, which are collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute more than 50 million people in Africa, are over a million outsid ...

of West Africa. He also learned that he has 50% European ancestry, including Irish forebears; he was surprised his European ancestry turned out to be so substantial. Having grown up in an African-American community, however, he identifies as Black. He has learned that he is also connected to the

multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

West Virginia community of Chestnut Ridge people. At the age of 14, Gates was injured playing touch football, fracturing the

ball and socket joint The ball-and-socket joint (or spheroid joint) is a type of synovial joint in which the ball-shaped surface of one rounded bone fits into the cup-like depression of another bone. The distal bone is capable of motion around an indefinite number of ...

of his right hip, resulting in a slipped capital femoral epiphysis. The injury was misdiagnosed by a physician, who told Gates' mother that his problem was "psychosomatic". When the physical damage finally healed, his right leg was two inches shorter than his left. Because of the injury, Gates now uses a cane when he walks.''Contemporary Black Biography''
Vol. 67.

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

, 2008. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center, Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. After graduating from Piedmont High School in 1968, Gates attended Potomac State College of West Virginia University for one year before transferring to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, from which he graduated in 1973 with a B.A., ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', in history with membership in

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. Gates then became the first African American to be awarded a Mellon Foundation Fellowship. He sailed to England on the '' Queen Elizabeth 2'' and used the fellowship to pursue graduate study in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, receiving an M.A. in 1974 and a Ph.D. in 1979.

Career

After a month at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, Gates withdrew from the program. In October 1975, he was hired by Charles Davis as a secretary in the Afro-American Studies department at Yale. In July 1976, Gates was promoted to the post of lecturer in Afro-American Studies, with the understanding that he would be promoted to assistant professor upon completion of his doctoral dissertation. Jointly appointed to assistant professorships in English and Afro-American Studies in 1979, Gates was promoted to associate professor in 1984. While at Yale, Gates mentored

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. Foster started her career as a child actor before establishing herself as leading actress in film. She has received List of awards and nominations re ...

, who majored in

African-American Literature African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. Phillis Wheatley was an enslaved African woman who became the first African American to publish a book of poetry, which was publis ...

there and wrote her thesis on author

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

. In 1984, Gates was recruited by

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

with an offer of

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

; Gates asked Yale whether the university would match Cornell's offer, but they declined. Gates accepted the offer by Cornell in 1985 and taught there until 1989. Henry Louis Gates Jr

Following a two-year stay at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, he was recruited to

in 1991. At Harvard, Gates teaches undergraduate and graduate courses as the Alphonse Fletcher

University Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

, an endowed chair he was appointed to in 2006, and as a professor of English. Additionally, he is the director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. As a literary theorist and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

, Gates has combined literary techniques of

deconstruction In philosophy, deconstruction is a loosely-defined set of approaches to understand the relationship between text and meaning. The concept of deconstruction was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who described it as a turn away from ...

with native African literary traditions. He draws on

structuralism Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns t ...

post-structuralism Post-structuralism is a philosophical movement that questions the objectivity or stability of the various interpretive structures that are posited by structuralism and considers them to be constituted by broader systems of Power (social and poli ...

, and

semiotics Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is a ...

to analyze texts and assess matters of

identity politics Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...

. As a Black intellectual and public figure, Gates has been an outspoken critic of the Eurocentric literary canon. He has insisted that Black literature must be evaluated by the aesthetic criteria of its culture of origin, not criteria imported from Western or European cultural traditions that express a "tone deafness to the Black cultural voice" and result in "intellectual racism". In his major scholarly work, '' The Signifying Monkey,'' a 1989 American Book Award winner, Gates expressed what might constitute an African-American cultural aesthetic. The work extended application of the concept of " signifyin to analysis of African-American works. "Signifyin(g)" refers to the significance of words that is based on context, and is accessible to only those who share the cultural values of a given speech community. His work has rooted African-American literary criticism in the African-American vernacular tradition. Beer summit cheers

While Gates has stressed the need for greater recognition of Black literature and Black culture, he does not advocate a "separatist" Black canon. Rather, he works for greater recognition of Black works and their integration into a larger, pluralistic canon. He has affirmed the value of the Western tradition, but has envisioned a more inclusive canon of diverse works sharing common cultural connections: Gates has argued that a separatist, Afrocentric education perpetuates racist stereotypes. He maintains that it is "ridiculous" to think that only Blacks should be scholars of African and African-American literature. He argues, "It can't be real as a subject if you have to look like the subject to be an expert in the subject," adding, "It's as ridiculous as if someone said I couldn't appreciate

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

because I'm not

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

. I think it's vulgar and racist whether it comes out of a Black mouth or a white mouth." As a mediator between those advocating separatism and those believing in a

, Gates has been criticized by both. Some critics suggest that adding Black literature will diminish the value of the Western canon, while separatists say that Gates is too accommodating to the dominant white culture in his advocacy of integration of the canon. Gates has been criticized by John Henrik Clarke,

Molefi Kete Asante Molefi Kete Asante ( ; born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an American philosopher who is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies, and communication studies. He is currently a professor in the Dep ...

, and the controversial FBI informant Maulana Karenga, each of whom has been questioned by others in academia.Asante, Molefi Kete (May 6, 2010)
"Henry Louis Gates is Wrong about African Involvement in the Slave Trade"
, Asante.net. As a literary historian committed to the preservation and study of historical texts, Gates has been integral to the Black Periodical Literature Project, a digital archive of Black newspapers and magazines created with financial assistance from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

(NEH). To build Harvard's visual, documentary, and literary archives of African-American texts, Gates arranged for the purchase of ''The Image of the Black in Western Art'', a collection assembled by Dominique de Ménil in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. As a result of research he conducted as a MacArthur Fellow, Gates discovered '' Our Nig'', written by Harriet E. Wilson in 1859 and thought to be the first novel written in the United States by an African American. Later, he acquired and authenticated the manuscript of '' The Bondwoman's Narrative'' by Hannah Crafts, a novel from the same period that scholars believe may have been written as early as 1853. If that date is correct, it would have precedence as the first-known novel written in the United States by an African American. (Note: '' Clotel'' (1853) by William Wells Brown is recognized as the first novel published by an African-American author, but it was both written and published in London.) ''The Bondwoman's Narrative'' was first published in 2002 and became a bestseller. As a prominent Black intellectual, Gates has concentrated on building academic institutions to study Black culture. Additionally, he has worked to bring about social, educational, and intellectual equality for Black Americans. His writing includes pieces in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' that defend rap music and an article in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' that criticizes Black youth culture for glorifying basketball over education. In 1992, he received a George Polk Award for his social commentary in ''The New York Times''. Gates's prominence led to his being called as a witness on behalf of the controversial Florida rap group

2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, formed in 1984. The group was originally composed of DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs), Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won), and Amazing Vee (Yuri Vielot), though its most well-known lineup ...

in an

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

case. He argued that the material, which the government charged was profane, had important roots in

African-American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban communities, by most working- and middle-class African Americans and some Black Canadians. Having its own unique grammatical, voc ...

, games, and literary traditions, and should be protected. When asked by

Chairman Bruce Cole to describe his work, Gates responded: "I would say I'm a literary critic. That's the first descriptor that comes to mind. After that I would say I was a teacher. Both would be just as important." After his 2003 NEH lecture, Gates published in the same year a book entitled ''The Trials of Phillis Wheatley,'' about the early African-American poet. In July 2022, Gates announced that he would serve as editor-in-chief of the ''Oxford Dictionary of African American English'', a new glossary of language that will contain popular phrases used by historical Black figures and modern-day Black Americans.

Other activities

In 1995, Gates presented a program in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series ''

Great Railway Journeys ''Great Railway Journeys'', originally titled ''Great Railway Journeys of the World'', is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figu ...

'' (produced in association with

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

). The program documents a 3,000-mile journey Gates took through

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, with his then-wife, Sharon Adams, and daughters, Liza and Meggie Gates. This trip came 25 years after Gates worked at a hospital in Kilimatinde, near Dodoma,

, when he was a 19-year-old pre-medical student at

. In September 1995, Gates narrated a five-part abridgement (by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...

) of his memoir ''Colored People'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Gates was the host and co-producer of ''

African American Lives ''African American Lives'' is an American television miniseries hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., focusing on African Americans, African American genealogical research. The family histories of prominent people of African American descent ...

'' (2006) and '' African American Lives 2'' (2008) in which the lineage of more than a dozen notable African Americans was traced using

genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

and historical resources, as well as

genealogical DNA test A genealogical DNA test is a DNA-based Genetic testing, genetic test used in genetic genealogy that looks at specific locations of a person's genome in order to find or verify ancestral genealogical relationships, or (with lower reliability) to ...

ing. In the first series, Gates learned that he has 50% European ancestry and 50% African ancestry. He had known of some European ancestry, but was surprised to learn the high proportion; he also learned that he was descended from John Redman, a mulatto veteran in New England of the American Revolutionary War. Gates has joined the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

. In the series, he discussed findings with guests about their complex ancestries. In the second season of the program, Gates learned that he is part of a genetic subgroup that may be descended from or related to the fourth-century Irish king,

Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall Noígíallach (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. ...

. He also learned that one of his African ancestors includes a Yoruba man who was trafficked to America from

Ouidah Ouidah (English: ; French: ) or Whydah (; ''Ouidah'', ''Juida'', and ''Juda'' by the French; ''Ajudá'' by the Portuguese; and ''Fida'' by the Dutch), and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on t ...

in present-day

Republic of Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. The two series demonstrated the many strands of ancestry, cultural heritage, and history among African Americans. Gates hosted '' Faces of America'', a four-part series presented by PBS in 2010. This program examined the genealogy of 12 North Americans of diverse ancestry: Elizabeth Alexander, Mario Batali,

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

, Louise Erdrich,

Malcolm Gladwell Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published eight books. He is also the host of the podcast ''Revisionist ...

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; born March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, director, and businesswoman. After several guest roles on television, she became recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS day ...

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Igor Mikhail Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theatre director and comedian. He worked across a range of genres and had an aptitude for getting the best out of actors regardless of ...

Queen Noor of Jordan Noor Al Hussein (; born Lisa Najeeb Halaby; August 23, 1951) is an American-born Jordanian philanthropist and activist who was the fourth wife and widow of Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein of Jordan. She was Queen of Jordan from their marriage on ...

Mehmet Oz Mehmet Cengiz Oz ( ; ; born June 11, 1960), also known as Dr. Oz (), is an American television presenter, physician, author, educator and government official serving as the 17th administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sinc ...

Meryl Streep Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...

, and

Kristi Yamaguchi Kristine Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American former competitive figure skater, author and philanthropist. A former competitor in women's singles, Yamaguchi is the Figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, 1992 Olympic champion, ...

. Since 1995, Gates has been the jury chair for the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, which honors written works that contribute to society's understanding of racism and the diversity of human culture. Gates was an Anisfield-Wolf prize winner in 1989 for ''The Schomburg Library of Women Writers''. Since 2012, he has hosted a PBS television series, entitled '' Finding Your Roots – with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.''. The second season of the series, featuring 30 prominent guests across 10 episodes, with Gates as the narrator, interviewer, and genealogical investigator, aired on PBS in fall 2014. The show's third season was postponed after it was discovered that actor

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...

had persuaded Gates to omit information about his slave-owning ancestors. ''Finding Your Roots'' resumed in January 2016. Gates's critically acclaimed six-part PBS documentary series, '' The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross,'' traced 500 years of African-American history to the second inauguration of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. Gates wrote, executive-produced, and hosted the series, which earned the 2013

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

and an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

. In 2022 and 2023, Gates was involved with the creation of

AP African American Studies Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies (also known as APAAS, APAFAM, AP African, or AP Afro) is a college-level course and examination offered to high school students in the United States through the College Board's Advanced Placement ...

, the new college-level course created by the

College Board The College Board, styled as CollegeBoard, is an American not-for-profit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an asso ...

for high-school students.

"Ending the Slavery Blame-Game" op-ed

In 2010, Gates wrote an op-ed in ''

'' that discussed the role played by Africans in the Atlantic slave trade. His op-ed begins and ends with the observation that it is very difficult to decide whether or not to give reparations to the descendants of American slaves, whether they should receive compensation for the unpaid labor of their ancestors, and their lack of rights. Gates also notes that it is equally difficult to decide who should get such reparations and who should pay them, as slavery was legal under the laws of the colonies and the United States. In an article for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', journalist Lisa Miller reported on the reaction to Gates' article: The Letters page of ''The New York Times'' of April 25, 2010, featured criticism and examination of Gates's views in response to his op-ed.

Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstr ...

, professor of history at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, considered Gates's emphasis on there being "little discussion" of African involvement in the slave trade to be unfounded, stating that "today, virtually every history of slavery and every American history textbook includes this information". Author Herb Boyd, who teaches African and African-American history at the College of New Rochelle and City College,

CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

, argued that despite the complicity of African monarchs in the Atlantic slave trade, the United States "was the greatest beneficiary, and thus should be the main compensator". Lolita Buckner Inniss, a professor at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, argued that notwithstanding African involvement as "abductors", it was Western slave-owners, as "captors", who perpetuated the practice even after the import trade was banned. "Up until that recent piece, people would have thought of him as someone who took a cautious and nuanced approach to questions like reparations. Gates has such an eminent reputation", she said, "and so much gravitas. Many of us were troubled."

Cambridge arrest

Following a trip to China, Gates returned home to his residence in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, near

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue (Boston), Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, C ...

on July 16, 2009. The front door was jammed. His taxi driver attempted to help him gain entrance. A passerby called police, reporting a possible break-in after describing to 911 "an individual" forcing the front door open. Cambridge police officers were dispatched. The confrontation resulted in Gates' being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Prosecutors later dropped the charges. The incident spurred a politically charged exchange of views about

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in th ...

and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

throughout the United States. The arrest attracted national attention after U.S. President

controversially declared that the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" in arresting the 59-year-old Gates. Obama and then-Vice President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

eventually extended an invitation to Gates and the Cambridge officer who was involved to share a beer with them at the White House, which they accepted.

Personal life

Gates married Sharon Lynn Adams in 1979. They had two daughters together before they divorced in 1999. As of 2021, Gates is married to historian Dr. Marial Iglesias Utset. In 1974, Gates learned the Transcendental Meditation technique. He reported: Gates is a distant relative of the actor

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his John Lithgow filmography, diverse work on stage and screen. He has rece ...

Awards and honors

* *Gates has received numerous honorary degrees, including a

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

from his alma mater, the University of Cambridge. *Gates was named a

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals workin ...

in 1981. *On April 19, 1989, Gates was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society. *In 1989, Gates won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for editing the 30 volumes of "The Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers". *In 1993, Gates was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. *In 1995, Gates received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

presented by Awards Council member

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

. *Gates was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1995. *Gates was listed in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' among its "25 Most Influential Americans" in 1997. *''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

'' magazine listed Gates among its "100 Most Influential Black Americans" in 2005, and in 2009, included him on ''Ebony''s "Power 150" list, as well as on its 2012 Power 100 list of the most influential African Americans. *In 2002, the

selected Gates for the

Jefferson Lecture The Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities is an honorary lecture series established in 1972 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). According to the NEH, the Lecture is "the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished ...

, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

.Jefferson Lecturers
at NEH Website. Retrieved January 22, 2009. His lecture was entitled "Mister Jefferson and the Trials of Phillis Wheatley". It was the basis of his later book ''The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers'' (2003). *Gates received the

National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the humani ...

in 1998. *Gates was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

in 1999. *Gates received the 2008 Ralph Lowell Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the highest honor in the field of public television. *On October 23, 2006, Gates was appointed the Alphonse Fletcher Jr. University Professor at Harvard University. *In January 2008, Gates co-founded '' The Root'', a website dedicated to African-American perspectives, published by

The Washington Post Company Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company) is a diversified American conglomerate holding company. Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, it was formerly the owner of ''The Washington Po ...

. *Gates serves as the chair for the Selection Committee for the Alphonse Fletcher Sr. Fellowship Program that is sponsored by the Fletcher Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Fletcher Asset Management. *He is on the boards of many notable institutions, including the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

;

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

;

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is an organization based in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Bank Center) in October 2004. The organization seeks to “represent th ...

; the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

; the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

; the Studio Museum of Harlem; the

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is an American civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Although LDF ca ...

; HEAF (the Harlem Educational Activities Fund); and the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

, located in

Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...

. *Gates is a member of the

Council of Foreign Relations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

. *In 2006, Gates was inducted into the

after tracing his lineage to John Redman, a free African American who fought in the Revolutionary War. *In 2010, Gates became the first African American to have his

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

fully sequenced. He is also half of the first father-son pair to have their genomes fully sequenced. Knome performed the analysis as part of the '' Faces of America'' project. *Gates's six-part PBS documentary series, ''The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross'', which he wrote, executive-produced, and hosted, earned the 2013

and an

. *In December 2014, Gates was announced as one of 14 recipients of a 2015 Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for his documentary series ''The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross''. *In 2019, Gates received the Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award, 2019 – for "The Annotated African American Folktales," which he edited with Maria Tatar. *In 2020, Gates received an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for his PBS documentary series, ''Reconstruction: America after the Civil War''. *Gates was awarded the 2019 ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' Literary Award, an annual recognition for lifetime achievement (past recipients including

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

, and

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

). *In 2020, Gates received the 400 Years of African American History Commission's Distinguished 400 Award. *In 2020, Gates was honored with the Louis Stokes Community Visionary Award. *In 2020, Gates received the Muhammad Ali Voice of Humanity Award. *In 2020, Gates was named a Walter Channing Cabot Fellow by Harvard University. *In 2020, Gates earned an NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction – for his book '' Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow''. The book was also named one of ''The New York Times'' "100 Notable Books of 2019" and one of ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

''s "100 Must-Read Books of 2019". *In 2021, Gates was the recipient of the

Association for the Study of African American Life and History The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is a learned society dedicated to the study and appreciation of African-American History. The association was founded in Chicago on September 9, 1915, during the Natio ...

's (ASALH) Inaugural Luminary Award. *In 2021, the National World War Two Museum in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

recognized Gates with its American Spirit Award. *In 2021, Gates was honored by

PEN America PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922, and headquartered in New York City, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression in the United States and worldwide th ...

with its Audible Literary Service Award. *In 2021, Gates was named a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and elected to the Johnsonsians (Society). *In 2021, Gates received the PBS Beacon Award. *In 2021, Gates received the MIPAD 100 Network's Most Influential People of African Descent Lifetime Achievement Award. *In 2021, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania honored Gates with its Founders Award. * In 2021, Gates became the seventh recipient of the

Don M. Randel Award for Humanistic Studies. *In 2021, Gates received the Gold Honor Medal, for "distinguished service to society and humanity", from The National Institute of Social Sciences. *In 2022, the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...

honored Gates with its Literary Lights Award. *Gates's web series, "Black History in Two Minutes (Or So)", which he executive produces with Robert F. Smith and Dyllan McGee, earned five Webby Awards, including for Best Podcast: Documentary and Best Video Series: Education & Discovery (2020), Best Podcast: Documentary and Best Social Video: Discovery & Education (2021) and Best Social Video: Discovery & Education (2022). *In 2023, artist Kerry James Marshall donated his portrait of Gates to the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge. *In 2024, Gates was awarded the prestigious Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement by the American Academy of Sciences and Letters. *In 2025, Gates was awarded the Vilcek Prize for Excellence in Literary Scholarship.

Bibliography

Authored books

* * American Book Award * * *With

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...

, ''The Future of the Race'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. * * * * * * * * * * * *With Donald Yacovone, ''The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross,'' SmileyBooks, 2013. * *With Kevin Burke, * *With Tonya Bolden, * * *

Edited books

* ''Reading Black, Reading Feminist: A Critical Anthology'', Penguin Publishing Group, 1990, *With Nellie Y. McKay, ''The Norton Anthology of African American Literature''. W. W. Norton, 1996. *With

Kwame Anthony Appiah Kwame Akroma-Ampim Kusi Anthony Appiah ( ; born 8 May 1954) is an English-American philosopher and writer who has written about political philosophy, ethics, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Appiah is Prof ...

, ''The Dictionary of Global Culture''. Vintage, 1998. * *With Kwame Anthony Appiah, (CD-ROM) * Hannah Crafts, '' The Bondwoman's Narrative''. New York: Warner Books, 2002. *With Hollis Robbins, ''In Search of Hannah Crafts: Essays in the Bondwoman's Narrative''. New York: Basic/Civitas. 2004. *With Hollis Robbins, ''The Annotated ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' ''. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. * *With Donald Yacovone, ''Lincoln on Race and Slavery''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009. *With Kwame Anthony Appiah, ''Encyclopedia of Africa: Two-Volume Set''. Oxford University Press, 2010. *With

Maria Tatar Maria Magdalene Tatar (born May 13, 1945) is an American academic whose expertise lies in children's literature, German literature, and folklore. She is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, and Chair of the Committee o ...

, ''The Annotated African American Folktales'', (Liveright-W.W. Norton, 2017), *With Hollis Robbins, ''The Penguin Portable Nineteenth Century African American Women Writers'' (Penguin, 2017) *With Andrew S. Curran,
Who's Black and Why: A Hidden Chapter from the Eighteenth-Century Invention of Race
' (Harvard University Press 2022)

Articles

* *"Who's Afraid of Black History?", an op-ed by Gates on February 18, 2023, in ''

Critical studies and reviews of Gates' work

;''Loose canons''

Filmography

*''From Great Zimbabwe to Kilimatinde'' (narrator and screenwriter), ''

'',

, 1996 *''The Two Nations of Black America'' (host and scriptwriter), '' Frontline'',

WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Affiliated stations and facilities WGBH-TV is the Flagship (broadcasting), ...

, February 10, 1998 *''Leaving Cleaver: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Remembers Eldridge Cleaver'', WGBH, 1999 *''Wonders of the African World'' (screenwriter and narrator), BBC/PBS, October 25–27, 1999 (six-part series) **Shown as ''Into Africa'' on BBC-2 in the United Kingdom and South Africa, Summer 1999 *Credited for his involvement in '' Unchained Memories'' (2003) *''America Beyond the Color Line'' (host and scriptwriter), BBC2/PBS, February 2/4, 2004 (four-part series) ''America Beyond the Color Line With Henry Louis Gates Jr.''
nbsp;–

(2004). *''

'' (screenwriter, host and narrator), PBS, February 1/8, 2006 (four-hour series) *''Oprah's Roots: An African American Lives Special'' (screenwriter, narrator, and co-producer), PBS, January 24, 2007 *'' African American Lives 2'' (host and narrator), PBS, February 6/13, 2008 (four-hour series) *''Looking for Lincoln'' (screenwriter, host/narrator, and co-producer), PBS, February 11, 2009 *''Faces of America'' (screenwriter, narrator, and co-producer), PBS, February 10 – March 3, 2010 (four-hour series) *'' Black in Latin America'' (executive producer, writer, and presenter), PBS, April 19 – May 10, 2011 *'' Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' (executive-producer, screenwriter, and host-narrator), PBS, March 2012 to present *'' The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross'' (executive-producer, writer, and host), PBS, October–November 2013 (six-part series) *'' Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise'' (writer, presenter, and narrator), PBS, November 15, 2016 (four-part series) *'' Africa's Great Civilizations'' (executive producer, writer, and presenter), PBS, February–March 2017 (six-part series) *''Reconstruction: America After the Civil War'' (executive producer and presenter), PBS, April 9/16, 2019 (four-hour series) *''

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...

'' (actor),

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, October 2019 (television series) **Cameo as a digital presentation of a fictional version of himself as

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

of an alternate United States *''Making Black America: Through the Grapevine'' (host and writer), PBS, October 2022 (four-part series) *''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' as the voice of himself in "Carl Carlson Rides Again" (aired on February 26, 2023) *''Great Migrations: A People on the Move'' (host), PBS, January 28–February 18, 2025 (four-part series)

References

External links

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Harvard Faculty webpage
Bibliography of Gates's publications and responses to it
*
''Wonders of the African World Program with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' – PBSArticles on Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
from ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

''
Archive of contributions
to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''
Gates speaking
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

–

National Book Festival The National Book Festival is an annual literary festival held in Washington, D.C. in the United States; it is organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, and was founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 19 ...

, October 12, 2002
Interview with Henry Louis Gates, Jr
''Public School Insights'', August 19, 2008 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Henry Louis 1950 births 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 21st-century American male writers Academics from West Virginia African-American agnostics American agnostics African-American historians African-American history of West Virginia African-American non-fiction writers African-American television personalities Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge American Book Award winners American anthologists American documentary filmmakers American essayists American genealogists American literary critics American literary theorists American male essayists American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American people of English descent American people of Irish descent American people of Yoruba descent American online publication editors American rhetoricians Black studies scholars Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences fellows Charles H. Revson Foundation Cornell University faculty Duke University faculty Educators from West Virginia George Polk Award recipients Harvard University faculty Historians from Massachusetts Historians of African Americans Living people MacArthur Fellows Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the Sons of the American Revolution National Humanities Medal recipients People from Keyser, West Virginia Writers from Lexington, Massachusetts People from Piedmont, West Virginia Post-structuralists Potomac State College alumni Television personalities from West Virginia The New Yorker people Writers from West Virginia Yale College alumni Yale University faculty 21st-century American non-fiction writers

Early life and education

Career

Other activities

"Ending the Slavery Blame-Game" op-ed

Cambridge arrest

Personal life

Awards and honors

Bibliography

Authored books

Edited books

Articles

Critical studies and reviews of Gates' work

Filmography

See also

References

External links